Click here to listen to her seven chosen tracks on Spotify, each of which comes with the insights from Anna below.

Anna’s choices in her own words:

1. To the Stars - Kristina Arakelyan (performed by Grace Francis)

Kristina Arakelyan is one of my current favourite composers. She is a very talented pianist and writes instinctively for voices & keyboard instruments alike. I love the rippling texture she explores after the inquisitive opening of this piece and its unexpected harmonic twists and turns.

2. Beau Soir - Debussy arr. Heifetz (performed by Coco Tomita)

Now to a classic but performed with incredible elegance by a young violinist whose playing I find really exciting. I first heard Coco play when she was competing on BBC Young Musician and was just blown away by the sheer emotion in her rendition of this piece. I confess I haven’t been able to stop listening to it since it was released.

3. Partita for 8 singers: Sarabande - Caroline Shaw (performed by Roomful of Teeth)

The Partita for 8 singers is an extraordinary piece which plays with our expectations of what we vocal music should sound like. In the Sarabande I hear immense beauty, and love the exploration of how singing grows out of breath. There is an extended passage at the end of the piece which utilises overtone singing, producing a really magical soundscape which always reminds me of stars glistening in the night sky.

4. Messe a six voix: Kyrie - Valentin Villard (Academie vocale de suisse romande)

This piece was a relatively new discovery for me, and I discovered it via Frank Martin’s Mass for Double Choir. They inhabit remarkably similar sound worlds, both referencing the polyphonic mass tradition & fusing Latin & Germanic influences. Valentin Villard is a young Swiss composer who, like Martin, also studied in the Netherlands, and I find his music and its performance on this recording hauntingly beautiful.

5. Danse Macabre - Saint-Saens arr. Lemare (performed by Olivier Latry)

I couldn’t resist including a little bit of organ music, and this recording comes from one of my all time favourite organists. I love the way he teases out the organ’s power to be a storyteller, finding light, shade and humour in Saint-Saens’ music. It’s also a great demonstration of the breadth of colour that the organ can produce, demonstrating everything from bells and soft flutes right through to the formidable sound of the full organ.

6. Mother of God here I stand (with Sarod Improvisation) - John Tavener (O/Modernt, Soumik Datta)

I always love hearing reworkings of traditional repertoire that make you sit up and hear the original in an entirely new way. Tavener’s ‘Mother of God here I stand’ is a piece which draws its power from its simplicity. The original chorale-like material is heard here performed extremely slowly by the strings, whilst Soumik Datta improvises on the Sarod over the top. The result is incredibly moving.

7. Girl Crazy Suite

I adore the energy with which Barbara Hannigan throws herself at everything she does, and this recording of a new arrangement of Gershwin’s ‘Girl Crazy’ is no exception. It is orchestrated to reflect its pairing on an album with Berg’s Lulu Suite, and the result is intense and incredible! I thoroughly recommend taking 13 minutes out of your day to watch Hannigan sing & conduct simultaneously - the energy of this performance is just electric!

If you’ve enjoyed listening to Anna's playlist, let us know. There may be a track it’s reminded you of, that you’d like to share with us in return. We’d be pleased to pass it on. Do get in touch with us at members@philharmonicsociety.uk.