a mic on the podium Michael Seal

I have fond memories of the first time I met Neil Thomson and knew this would be a good interview - a charming man who has spent a lot of time thinking about what we do as conductors.

We discussed the pros and cons of conducting from memory, we also chatted about the role of a conductor at a conservatoire and the role of being an orchestra trainer, and I heard about his experiences with a legendary British conductor who was once described as ”a benign despot”!




If you would like to discover a whole lot more about conductors and conducting, why not subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/amiconthepodium, and, for a monthly fee starting from just £5 a month, you can access two new series of interviews, group Zoom meetings with other fans of the podcast and myself, a monthly bulletin about the podcast and my own career as well as articles, photos, videos and even conducting lessons from myself.

If you listen via Apple podcasts, please do leave a rating and review - it really helps the podcast get noticed and attract more listeners.

If you want to get involved on social media, you can via Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/amiconthepodium) or Twitter (@amiconthepodium).

This interview was recorded on 2nd March 2024 via Zoom.

I could have chatted with Ryan McAdams for many hours - it turned out to be one of the longest episodes yet! We had such an open and honest discussion sprinkled with a lot of humour.

We had a fascinating discussion about the importance of eye contact between players and the conductor, he told me a wonderful quote from Wynton Marsalis that sums up how conductors should view their lives, and I discovered which famous conductor he thought had a ”Hannibal Lecter quality”!

If you would like to discover a whole lot more about conductors and conducting, why not subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/amiconthepodium, and, for a monthly fee starting from just £5 a month, you can access two new series of interviews, group Zoom meetings with other fans of the podcast and myself, a monthly bulletin about the podcast and my own career as well as articles, photos, videos and even conducting lessons from myself.

If you listen via Apple podcasts, please do leave a rating and review - it really helps the podcast get noticed and attract more listeners.

If you want to get involved on social media, you can via Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/amiconthepodium) or Twitter (@amiconthepodium).

This interview was recorded on 16th February 2024 via Zoom.

Part 2 of my chat with Jacobus de Jager, Oliver Cope, Peggy Wu, Kentaro Machida & Riley Court-Wood is here. They are all studying conducting at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow and they were brilliant fun to interview.


In Part 2, they all answered ten questions and we discussed the price of scores and competitions, I discovered what works they are desperate to conduct and never have, and I asked them what is the best piece of advice they’ve received and discovered that one of them came from the wall of a gym!

If you would like to discover a whole lot more about conductors and conducting, why not subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/amiconthepodium, and, for a monthly fee starting from just £5 a month, you can access two new series of interviews, group Zoom meetings with other fans of the podcast and myself, a monthly bulletin about the podcast and my own career as well as articles, photos, videos and even conducting lessons from myself.

If you listen via Apple podcasts, please do leave a rating and review - it really helps the podcast get noticed and attract more listeners.

If you want to get involved on social media, you can via Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/amiconthepodium) or Twitter (@amiconthepodium).

This interview was recorded on 24th January 2024 via Zoom.

In this special episode, I chat with Jacobus de Jager, Oliver Cope, Peggy Wu, Kentaro Machida & Riley Court-Wood. They are all studying conducting at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow and they were brilliant fun to interview.


In Part 1, I discovered what a ”typical” week is like as a conducting student at RCS, we discussed the best way to approach conducting classes with two pianos, and a chat about competitions led us to discuss two recent movie releases that feature conductors!

If you would like to discover a whole lot more about conductors and conducting, why not subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/amiconthepodium, and, for a monthly fee starting from just £5 a month, you can access two new series of interviews, group Zoom meetings with other fans of the podcast and myself, a monthly bulletin about the podcast and my own career as well as articles, photos, videos and even conducting lessons from myself.

If you listen via Apple podcasts, please do leave a rating and review - it really helps the podcast get noticed and attract more listeners.

If you want to get involved on social media, you can via Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/amiconthepodium) or Twitter (@amiconthepodium).

This interview was recorded on 24th January 2024 via Zoom.

Boian Videnoff and I last met 17 years ago yet this felt like we just carried on from where we left off - a lovely chat with a very open and honest conductor.

We discussed the worldview of The Arts and how over time, it has changed so dramatically, we talked about the difficulties involved with starting your own orchestra, and I discovered a potential pitfall when switching between conducting off an iPad versus an old-fashioned paper score!

If you would like to discover a whole lot more about conductors and conducting, why not subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/amiconthepodium, and, for a monthly fee starting from just £5 a month, you can access two new series of interviews, group Zoom meetings with other fans of the podcast and myself, a monthly bulletin about the podcast and my own career as well as articles, photos, videos and even conducting lessons from myself.

If you listen via Apple podcasts, please do leave a rating and review - it really helps the podcast get noticed and attract more listeners.

If you want to get involved on social media, you can via Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/amiconthepodium) or Twitter (@amiconthepodium).

This interview was recorded on 2nd January 2024 via Zoom.

With our similar career paths and backgrounds, Catherine Larsen-Maguire and I had much in common and hit it off immediately. She was frank and open and a joy to chat with.

I heard how the passing of a close friend changed her whole attitude toward her life and career, we both agreed that conducting offstage is a frightening experience, and I discovered how a chance meeting in a Berlin pub, and one beer mat in particular, changed her career path!

If you want to hear the bonus mini-episode attached to this episode, why not subscribe at https://www.patreon.com/amiconthepodium, and, for a monthly fee starting from just £5 a month, you can access two new series of interviews, group Zoom meetings with other fans of the podcast and myself, a monthly bulletin about the podcast and my own career as well as articles, photos, videos and even conducting lessons from myself.

If you listen via Apple podcasts, please do leave a rating and review - it really helps the podcast get noticed and attract more listeners.

If you want to get involved on social media, you can via Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/amiconthepodium) or Twitter (@amiconthepodium).

This interview was recorded on 3rd December 2023 via Zoom.