Pianist Kirill Gerstein on his life in jazz and classical music

Available for 28 days

Tom Service with guests, stories and the perfect classical soundtrack for the weekend! Tom's guest is acclaimed pianist Kirill Gerstein, who talks about his musical life. Kirill started out as a jazz pianist, and then at the age of 12 was discovered in St Petersburg by vibes legend Gary Burton which changed his life. Later he took the decision to focus on classical music and ahead of his performance of Rachmaninov at the BBC Proms, he talks to Tom about how he thinks about music. Every year the Proms features brand new pieces of music, but one of them, premiered in the Albert Hall in 1992, has since gone on to have more than 600 performances and is a modern classic. Composer James MacMillan and percussionist Evelyn Glennie talk to Tom about how they made Veni, Veni Emmanuel. Plus we discover the new instrument that's opening up playing music to disabled musicians. The Clarion is a musical instrument that can be played independently with any part of the body, including the eyes. Tom is joined in the studio by its inventor, Barry Farrimond-Chuong, musician Cass Alabaster and composer Charlotte Harding who has written a new piece for the National Open Youth Orchestra to feature in the Proms.