Remain Composed

A podcast featuring interviews with people who write music. How do composers start new pieces? How do they take an idea and develop into a work of art? In Remain Composed, we meet people writing different kinds of music, at different stages in their careers, to find out what influences them and how their processes work.

Remain Composed is a music podcast hosted by William King, with 28 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

William King hosts Remain Composed, a music show with 28 episodes published.

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  Episode #1

  David Önaç on Atlantic Requiem, slave ships, structure and improvisation and carnivals

  Oct 3, 202636 minS2

  David Önaç is a composer, pianist, director and educator. He’s on Remain Composed ahead of the premiere of his latest work for orchestra, choir and soloists. Atlantic Requiem will be performed in London on 11 October 2026. David explains the purpose of the piece, which has been commissioned by the charity Culture& with support from Lloyds of London, the insurance company which has apologised for its historic role in insuring slave ships. The work is intended to memorialise the lost lives of enslaved Africans during the transatlantic trade of the 18th and 19th Centuries. And it aims to acknowledge the significant contribution of their descendants to transatlantic culture. David discusses the emotional task of turning the idea for this piece into a reality, and explains why he decided to use only 10 notes throughout - 5 black and 5 white. David describes how he balances the improvisatory nature of gospel, jazz and Caribbean influences with the structured elements of the more classical western traditions in his work. Featured recording : This episode of Remain Composed includes a short section of Carnival from David Önaç’s Five Etudes for solo piano, originally composed as a group of four. It’s performed by the composer.

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  Episode #26

  Vivek Haria on rivers, collaboration, Jainism and maths

  Jul 18, 202629 minS1

  Vivek Haria is, broadly speaking, a chartered accountant by day and a composer by night. He tells Remain Composed about what overlap there is between his two fields. Vivek tells us about the new song cycle about rivers he's written for the Swaledale Festival which was premiered there recently. He tells us how he immersed himself in the landscape and literature about rivers as part of preparing the piece. Vivek tells us he loves collaborating with performers. He says a piece only really begins when he reaches the final double barline. We also learn about the influence of his Jain roots on his own philosophy and music.

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  Episode #25

  Anna Clyne on visual art, augmented orchestras and contemporary music programming

  Jul 11, 202632 minS1

  Anna Clyne is a GRAMMY-nominated and Ivor Novello Award-winning composer. She is one of the world's most in-demand living composers. Anna tells Remain Composed about the relationship between music and visual arts. She often paints works to alongside her pieces of music, which she says gives her space to reflect. Anna tells us about the 'augmented orchestra' she's been developing with her husband and sound engineer Jody Elff. It's a technological development, designed to give more creative options to Anna as a composer.

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  Episode #24

  Cameron Biles-Lidell on nature, architecture, harps and community

  Jul 5, 202632 minS1

  Cameron Biles-Lidell is a composer based in North Wales. He tells Remain Composed he enjoys writing programme music, often based on landscapes or landmarks, and he also writes absolute music. He says he’s always thinking about evoking mood, image or feelings in his music. Discussing how he gets his ideas flowing, Cameron says he always starts by going for a walk or at least getting out of his house. Cameron says he often relies on tropes to communicate the story behind a piece to the audience quickly, and he likes it when his music is described as filmic. He says he fell in love with orchestral music by listening to great film music. And he says the comparison shows that his music connects with a wide audience. Cameron has written several places inspired by the area where he lives. He says music based on places can create a cultural resonance with locals, and transport listeners from other places.

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  Episode #23

  Chloe Knibbs on female composers, humour, and performance

  Jun 27, 202631 minS1

  Chloe Knibbs is a composer currently studying for a PhD at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. In her work, she explores ways of being inspired by historical women composers. Chloe tells Remain Composed about writing her 40 minute work Prism for piano and electronics, using material by and telling the story of the French composer Marie Jaëll (1846-1925). Chloe tells us she enjoyed combining humour with a serious message. Chloe also discusses her fascination with the English composer Ethel Smyth (1858-1944), about whom she’s written two opera scenes. Chloe says she enjoys projects most which have a lengthy ideas phase, and a piece is not finished when the score is complete - as she feels the performance is a crucial part of the creative process.

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