After making history last year as the first woman to conduct the First Night of the BBC Proms, and now enjoying her first season as Chief Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Principal Guest Conductor of the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Karina Canellakis makes her way to the Barbican on Sunday 8 March for a lush programme of Ravel and Strauss. Ahead of the concert, we caught up with the conductor to chat about her concert season so far, her experience as a violinist-turned-conductor, and to hear her thoughts on the concert programme put together. 

We caught up with Hollie Harding and Des Oliver to talk about their musical backgrounds and composing icons, and to learn what we can expect from their curations. 

A composer whose music has been described as 'shimmering' and 'dramatic', Elizabeth Ogonek was a participant on the LSO Panufnik Composers Scheme in 2013. At the end of her time on the scheme, she was commissioned to write a 10-minute composition, performed by the Orchestra in a main season concert of the Barbican stage. This year, once again, Ogonek's music finds its way onto the Orchestra's stands, as we perform her work All These Lighted Things, commissioned while she was Mead Composer-in-Residence for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and premiered by the CSO in 2017. Here's a sneak peek of what's in store.

In December 2014, Elim Chan became the first female winner of the Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition, subsequently becoming Assistant Conductor of the Orchestra for one year. Since then, she's returned to guest conduct the Orchestra every season. Ahead of her concert on 27 February, we caught up with the young composer to find out more about where her career has taken her since then, what it's like to be a conductor, and the programme she has put together for the LSO.