Diwali Downunder

Young pianist Lana Ritchie explains how her father's purchase of an electric keyboard for their Tawa home changed her life. Watch the Kapustin “Jazz” concerto Lana would love to play here.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Australian composer Dr Natalie Nicolas has been studying the link between music, calm and catharsis; does she have a magic formula? PS: We've got some candidates in the episode details. Try this cathartic music by Max Richter.A calming number by Natalie.Cathartic and calming? Barber’s Adagio for Strings. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Rachel Weston was a child actor, made it to the final of the Mobil Song Quest, and she continues to blaze her own unique trail as a musician in London. Watch a bit of Children of Fire Mountain here.Rachel sings a number from The Sound of Music.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

German musician Tanja Tetzlaff explains why she took her cello onto a glacier. Watch Tanja playing on thinning ice here.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

World famous in Rotorua, the New Zealand Aria competition is 80 years old. We speak to the woman keeping it going in an age when arts funding is hard to find.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

As Indian Kiwis prepare to celebrate one of their biggest festivals of the year we speak to Basant Madhur, Indian classical music trailblazer in Aotearoa.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

To mark World Stroke Day on October 29th; stroke treatment by stealth. Christchurch music therapist, Esther Simpson, explains how music enables stroke survivors to rehab without realising it.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Rae de Lisle learnt how injury can curtail a pianist's career the hard way, now she passes on those lessons to a new generation of New Zealand musicians. Listen to Rae playing Ravel here.Look at Rae’s website.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Younger people may not know it, but they're flocking to classical music. John Mietus is conducting Armageddon Live; an orchestral fest of music from comics, sci-fi, fantasy and gaming.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Opera singer, teacher, conductor Elisha Fa’i-So’oialo is bringing her knowledge and love of the Pasifika choral tradition to the country's biggest choir festival.Watch Robert Wiremu's stunning arrangement of "Whakaaria Mai" with Elisha Fa’i-So’oialo singing mezzo soprano hereGo to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details