WATCH Scala Radio Sessions Live and celebrate our second birthday

To celebrate our second birthday we're making our Scala Sessions Live programme available on YouTube on Friday 5 March. Watch the show on this page and discover more about the artists on this page.

And remember, you can hear Angellica Bell in her new show from 10am on Saturdays and Sunday from Saturday 6 March 2021.

Vitamin String Quartet

Strictly speaking, the Vitamin String Quartet isn’t an actual quartet. At least not of the same group of players. Having released a whopping 300 albums+, the record label behind the Vitamin String Quartet has brought together various stringed instrument players to perform inventive and often electrifying arrangements of well-loved pop and rock tracks, music that has reached a considerable audience in its own right.

What powers the VSQ’s musical vision is a curiosity for hearing what the artistic triumphs of the pop and rock world into the string instrument equivalent. What unites each rendition is a smile-inducing intimacy borne out of pragmatism and resourcefulness.

That such a small collection of musicians can evoke the emotions the original track triggered is as much a tribute to the VSQ’s musical arranger as it is to the original songwriter and singer themselves.

If you’re looking for an illustrative examples, be sure to search out Vitamin String Quartet and ‘Happy’. Joyous stuff. VSQ’s rendition of the Beatle’s ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’ has a cheeky vitality that pays due homage to the Lennon and McCartney original.

For those of a certain age their tidy arrangement of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida will evoke the bittersweet memories of tub-thumping crowds (remember them?). The tracks from the early 2000s like INXS’ Never Tear Us Apart has less of an ambient recording feel about it, although Celine Dion’s ‘Power of Love’ fares better.

Wouldn’t It Be Nice in the hands of the VSQ surfaces the folksy elements of the Beach Boys original. Elton John’s I’m Still Standing has a tidy quality to it, but Madonna’s Ray of Light is (like the original) a thing of unparalleled beauty, exposing the brilliance of the original track.

In the Scala Radio Sessions second birthday celebration, Vitamin String Quartet play Portugal The Man’s ‘Feel It Still’.

Rachel Portman

British composer Rachel Portman became the first female composer to win an Academy Award, which she received for the score of Emma.

She was also the first female composer to win a Primetime Emmy Award, which she received for the film, Bessie.

She has received two further Academy Nominations for The Cider House Rules and Chocolat, which also earned her a Golden Globe Nomination.

Rachel was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2010 and is an honorary fellow of Worcester College, Oxford.

She has written stage and concert works, among them commissions from the BBC Proms and Houston Grand Opera.

Dreamers' Circus

Danes Nikolaj Busk, Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, and Ale Carr have played Nordic tunes for ten years or so now, manifesting a heady kind of musical hugge in everything they create. Their 2020 album took us all at Scala Radio by surprise, triggering daydreams of scenes of thick woolly socks and mugs of steaming hot chocolate.

North of Trondheim from Blue White Gold is reminscent of McCartney's Blackbird. Bridge of Tears has a dark kind of simplicity to it. And there's a buoyant kind of hope to be found embedded in the violin part of the title track Blue White Gold. This album won't disappoint.

In the Scala Radio Sessions second birthday celebration, Dreamers' Circus play Farther into It from their 2015 album Second Movement.

Papagena

Papagena is an a-cappella vocal group set up to explore the wealth of music from medieval times to the present day written specifically for female voices. No props, microphones or gimmicks, just five stunning voices form Papagena. The singers are all classically trained and include amongst their number a conductor, saxophonist, composer, opera and oratorio soloists.

But the group’s programming defies pigeonholing; Papagena juxtaposes classical repertoire with traditional folk, medieval and contemporary music to create programmes that can span nine centuries, from 12th century abbess Hildegard of Bingen to Joni Mitchell, from Byzantine hymns and lilting Celtic ballads to Norwegian lullabies, from Purcell to Katy Perry. Papagena writes and arranges some of its own material and also commissions new arrangements and pieces from an eclectic range of composers, including recent offerings from Jim Clements, John Duggan and Errollyn Wallen with a future commission from Janet Wheeler,

The group has toured the UK extensively, giving performances at numerous Music Festivals and events. Papagena has released two recordings on the SOMM Recordings label, the latest of which, Hush! was released in Spring 2020 and the previous album The Darkest Midnight reached #1 in the Amazon download charts and #6 in the UK Classical charts in December 2018.

Riopy

Riopy - pianist Jean-Philippe Rio-Py - writes and performs music that is contemplative and reflective. Oscillating patterns at the piano keyboard create a gentle reassuring movement that lulls and caresses. In a year that has seen many of lives and experiences turned upside down, the apparent simplicity of Riopy's musical ideas and orchestrations are themselves are a manifestation of the way many studio-bound instrumentalists have to work in lockdown.

Apex Singers

The Apex Singers were formed in 2019 and were planning on a series of live concerts for 2020. But when COVID hit, the a-capella vocal group quickly pivoted and crowdfunded their debut album. Hiraeth was a firm favourite amongst Scala Radio listeners throughout 2020, the Apex Singers dry close-to-the-mic sound really resonated in the first weeks of a remote isolated experience. This combined with the strong folk element the group's music draws upon, makes for a heartfelt, sometimes melancholy, often uplifting sound. Be sure to check out Homeward Bound (be sure to have a hankie to hand), and The Booley House.

Sam Sweeney

After embarking on a solo career, releasing his debut solo album The Unfinished Violin on Island Records and touring it to sell-out crowds in 2019, Sam is releasing his highly anticipated second solo album, Unearth Repeat, on Hudson Records in March 2020.

Moving on from his five year connection to the First World War, which inspired his first album and captured the nation’s hearts through appearances on Antiques Roadshow and BBC Breakfast, alongside BBC Radio 2, 3, 4 and 6Music, Sam is making music on his own terms, with a stellar line up of his favourite musicians and a massive sound.

Jess Gillam (and Sam Becker)

Saxophonist Jess Gillam's growing reputation as a musician, educator, and broadcaster has is a reflection of both her talent and effervescent personality.

Over the past year she's brought joy to listeners and inspired young musicians alike with a variety of lockdown mashup projects, and in 2020 the release of her second album on the Decca label 'Time'.

If you're in a hurry to get your head around why the album has received the plaudits it has (you really should take as much time as you possibly can), pay close attention to Thom Yorke'sSuspirum, and Anna Meredith's electrifying pop-infused Bubble Gun (_choreographed by the National Youth Orchestra in its original format in 2014 below),_ both indicative of Gillam's enviable attention to detail.

Gillam's rendition of Bjork's Venus as a Boy is a gloriously sultry affair. And whilst we're biassed (and happy to admit it), Transit of Venus by Joby Talbot is a remarkable compositional and performance feat that conjurs up a magical place where time has stood still. A musical panacea for a lockdown frazzled mind.

In Piazolla's centenary year Jess Gillam accompanied by her double bass playing housemate Sam Becker plays music from Histoire du Tango.

Sarah Willis

Horn player Sarah Willis has a hip-swinging side hustle which came to prominence last year (we like to think in part down to us at Scala Radio) and threatens in the nicest way to cast a shadow on Willis' already considerable reputation as a member of the horn section in the Berlin Philharmonic.

If you're not already across her Cuban-infused album of last year Mozart y Mambo then take a moment to explore what on a first listen might seem like an unlikely collection: the music of Mozart with the Latin rhythms - the kind of musical mashup you'd imagine from a touring musician.

After all, the life of a touring musician is all glamour, right? Well, no. But close your eyes when you listen to Sarahnade Mambo (which also happens to conclude our Scala Session second birthday), and picture a musician on a night off in the streets of Rio making friends with the locals. Willis knows how to bring a smile to everyone's faces through joyous musical arrangements.