Leah Broad

I might be most excited about the chapter on Ethel Smyth’s late work The Prison. This is the first comprehensive analysis of the work.

Smyth adapts a metaphysical story from her close friend Henry Brewster.

Tonight!!! Exploring how Beethoven was used during World War II, featuring the only interview Elly Ney's family have given to English language media 😱 this was such a fascinating doc to make

Off to the Courtauld to speak about the women on Katrina Lee's new album of solo violin works! Come join us if you're in London this evening: courtauld.ac.uk/whats-on/chr...

The @womensprize.bsky.social throwing a great party as ever - congratulations to all the shortlisted fiction authors!!!

Off to Kings Place to speak at the EMPOWER panel on women in music!! Really looking forward to chatting with @errollynwallen.bsky.social, Jess Gillam & Heloise Werner about moving forward in classical music 💪🏻🎵

Working on digging them out one by one 😎😂

One of those emails you dream of receiving - the original, believed lost autograph score of Smyth's Mass in D discovered safe and sound in a Liverpool archive!!

*NEW POST*

As we move into March I'm thinking about International Women's Day - why it still matters and how we use it to move forward

Full post on my Substack: open.substack.com/pub/leahbroa...

Oh absolutely!

Although isn't this mostly accounted for by singers/pianists, which nuances the total number a bit?

🎶 Must-read article about the great composer Margaret Bonds ! ❤️

Margaret Bonds: a gifted composer who celebrated Black identity Raised in a world divided by segregation, composer Margaret Bonds used her music to challenge negative stereotypes and celebrate Black identity. Leah Broad speaks to Dr Samantha Ege about the composer

*NEW POST*

Wonderful as ever to speak to Samantha Ege about her work - this time on Margaret Bonds for my choral column in Choir & Organ Magazine!

Read the full article here: www.gramophone.co.uk/choir-and-or...

Photograph of Jessica Duchen (left) and Leah Broad (right) in front of the Myra Hess plaque in the National Gallery, London.

With the wonderful @jessicaduchen.bsky.social at the National Gallery to talk about pianist Myra Hess!! Keep your eyes peeled for this later in the year on Radio 3, & if you can't wait for Myra Hess goodness then Jessica's new biography is out NEXT WEEK www.kahnandaverill.co.uk/product/myra...

Photo of the women's prize longlisted books: Autocracy inc Embers of the hands The eagle and the hart A thousand threads The story of a heart Raising hare Ootlin Why fish don't exist Agent zo By the fire we carry Wild thing The Peepshow Sister in law Tracker Private revolutions

The @womensprize.bsky.social longlist is out today!! So thrilled to be able to celebrate these brilliant books, showcasing an astonishing range of expertise and creative approaches to non-fiction writing ❤️📚

Back on the road recording for Radio 3! Look out later this year for women playing Beethoven during #WWII 👀👀 #classicalmusic #beethoven

Definitely!! Thanks for linking

😱😱😱 incredible, Ty for flagging!

Calling all Smyth-heads! The first single from our new recording is out - Ethel Smyth's rather wonderful Erschienen ist der herrlich Tag (the metadata is a touch wrong, but we're working on that):
youtu.be/30GYhc4R36I

Black and white photograph of compoer Margaret Bonds. She is wearing a pale sequinned top, and a dark skirt. She sits in front of a curtain.

Cover image of the Dessoff Choirs & Orchestra recording of 'The Ballad of the Brown King'. It has a black and white photograph of Bonds.

Margaret Bonds: The Ballad of the Brown King. For the final #musicadvent we're having Bonds' beautiful, celebratory Christmas cantata about the African king Balthazar with a text by Langston Hughes - Merry Christmas all!! open.spotify.com/track/1DyO1A...

Black and white photograph of Vaughan Williams as an older man, holding his cat. He is wearing a suit and tie.

Cover image of a Naxos disc of Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on Christmas Carols and Hodie.

Ralph Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on Christmas Carols. Spoiled for choice on xmassy stuff from RVW, but this for baritone chorus and orchestra is wonderfully relaxing #musicadvent open.spotify.com/track/46tzM8...

Jesus Christ the Apple Tree Elizabeth Poston, The Chapel Choir of Pembroke College, Cambridge, The Pembroke College Girls’ Choir, Anna Lapwood · All Things Are Quite Silent · Song · 2020

Aaaaaaand with the link open.spotify.com/track/14Uhx4...

Black and white photograph of composer Elizabeth Poston. She is standing in a foggy field leaning on a fence, wearing a long cardigan and hair tied back with a scarf.

Cover image of the album 'All Things Are Quite Silent' by the Choirs of Pembroke College Cambridge, conducted by Anna Lapwood. It has a multicoloured abstract suggesting a skyscape over the sea.

Elizabeth Poston: Jesus Christ the Apple Tree. One of THE quintessential Christmas choral pieces, sung beautifully here by the Choirs of Pembroke College Cambridge #musicadvent

Giacomo Puccini (born OTD 1858) and Arturo Toscanini had a stormy friendship. One Christmas, Puccini sent Toscanini a panettone, forgetting they had fallen out. Remembering, he sent a telegram “PANETTONE SENT BY MISTAKE. PUCCINI”. He received a telegram back “PANETTONE EATEN BY MISTAKE. TOSCANINI” 😂

Black and white photograph of Puccini. He has a thick moustache and dark hair, and while facing the camera his face is half in shadow. He wears a dark suit.

Cover image of an album of Puccini's music including Crisantemi, conducted by Antonio Pappano.

Giacomo Puccini: Crisantemi. Happy birthday Puccini! Born #OTD in 1858. Instead of an opera I'm going for the rather wonderful 'Crisantemi' (Chrysanthemums) for strings, one of Puccini's few instrumental works - supposedly written in a single night #musicadvent open.spotify.com/track/0ObV8v...

Black and white photograph of composer Victor Hely-Hutchinson. He is wearing a dark suit with a striped tie, and has a thin moustache.

The cover image of the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra's recording of 'A Carol Symphony'. It has a painting of Father Christmas asleep in front of a fire, with a cat on his lap.

Victor Hely-Hutchinson: A Carol Symphony. Have some exuberant Christmas silliness from Hely-Hutchinson. Takes itself way too seriously, very here for it #musicadvent open.spotify.com/track/4UrJNK...

YouTube video by James Obuntu Rebecca Clarke's "Combined Carols"

Rebecca Clarke: Combined Carols. A fun snippet from Clarke, better known for her mighty Viola Sonata. One of the things I love finding out about Clarke was her sense of humour, which comes through in this lovely arrangement for string quartet #musicadvent www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPhl...

Black and white photograph of Tchaikovsky. He is wearing a dark jacket, and has thick facial hair despite a receding hairline.

Cover of the album 'The Nutcracker Suite' by Duke Ellington and his Orchestra.

Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker. Can't have Christmas without the Nutcracker! This is Duke Ellington's take on the iconic ballet #musicadvent open.spotify.com/track/3pZvvT...

Black and white photograph of the composer Ethel Smyth with her sheepdog Pan. She is wearing a hat and long coat with a shirt, tie, and long skirt with flat patent shoes. They are sitting on her outdoor table, by the window of her house Coign on Hook Heath.

Cover of the premiere recording of Ethel Smyth's 'The Boatswain's Mate', conducted by Odaline de la Martinez. Nadine Benjamin, Edward Lee and Jeremy Huw Williams are the soloists, with the Lontano Ensemble.

Ethel Smyth: The Boatswain's Mate. Because nothing says Christmas like comic opera. If you like Gilbert & Sullivan, try Smyth's suffrage opera for size - it has some wonderful tunes and jokes that still translate a century later #musicadvent open.spotify.com/track/0G5yPK...

Portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven. He is writing the score for his Missa Solemnis, and is wearing a dark coat, wide collared white shirt and a red scarf.

Cover of a 'Beethoven Piano Trios' disc by Pinchas Zukerman, Jacqueline du Pré and Daniel Barenboim. It is a photograph of the three artists against a dark orange background.

Beethoven: Trio No. 5 in D Major, Op. 70. Beethoven was baptised #OTD in 1770, so we're having one of his most spectacular trios, the 'Ghost' - rumoured to be nicknamed after a possible Macbeth opera. Perfect winter vibes #musicadvent open.spotify.com/track/1DLYOf...

Black and white photograph of composer Elizabeth Maconchy. It is taken from the left hand side - she is looking down, wearing glasses, and has short hair curled at the bottom. She wears a dark striped shirt.

Cover image of 'Christmas Music from King's', but the Choir of King's College, Cambridge. It shows two stained glass panels.

Elizabeth Maconchy: Nowell Sing We Now All And Some. If you want xmassy additions to your choral line-up, look no further than this jolly piece. Maconchy's choral works are an under-explored part of her rep & this is characteristically excellent #musicadvent open.spotify.com/track/3mMTTs...