Improvisation

Our guest for the finale of S2 is *GASP* Sir Simon Rattle! He joins us with inspiring stories from his amazing conducting career, plus tips on keeping your confidence and why it's very important to understand who pays National Insurance. We have literally never been this starstruck.

Because everyone knows that playing with other people is the best part of being a musician. The excellent (and hilarious) violinist Pekka Kuusisto is our guest for this episode on musical collaboration, where we learned how it feels to be a sixth desk violinist.

Jazz trumpeter Alexandra Ridout is our guest for this totally spontaneous episode (in which Sam, predictably, is the most chillaxed member of the BBCYM podcast team). Does anyone... sing?

OK, so we're not even gonna pretend that we manage to crack this in the time available – but we did call up the lovely Miloš, who gave us some helpful pointers. Plus: Sam's new single and WHO IS THAT WOMAN IN ZEYNEP'S GARDEN?!

Zeynep is scared of heights. Sam is scared of falling. So whose brilliant idea was it to record this episode on the London Eye? The amazing composer Anna Meredith is our guest for this special edition on FEAR. Also featured: Jess and Zeynep playing the podcast theme tune on a TEENY TINY PIANO

That stands for historically informed performance, btw. So what happens if you find out that your favourite composer was a big ol' Nazi? And does knowing that Brahms loved whisky affect how you play his music? (We all know what Zeynep thinks.) Conductor Jessica Cottis is our guest.

Exams and competitions are a fact of life for most of us. Do they matter? Our guest is the cellist (and multi-competition winner) Natalie Clein.

In which Jess reveals the full extent of her stationery addiction. Bet you've bought a diary by the end of this episode.

Are labels still important when it comes to music? Is genre even a Thing? Do music fans really care any more - and should performers? Our guest is the pianist-composer-entertainer Chilly Gonzales.

We know it's important, but physical health often gets shunted to the bottom of the list come concert time. So this week we're talking health, fitness, and why cucumber sushi is the ultimate pre-gig snack. Our guest is the kickass trumpeter Alison Balsom.