Welcome to episode 189 of Sweetman Podcast with support from our sponsors – T Leaf T, Yeastie Boys and La Petite Chocolat.

Now – as you probably know, as well as the usual platforms (this site, soundcloud, iTunes/Apple) you can now get to Sweetman Podcast on Spotify – follow it there and have it saved in your Spotify library.

Claire Cowan is a composer, performer, arranger – she is also the leader of The Blackbird Ensemble which is currently touring its Bjork: All Is Full of Love show around a few NZ centres.

So Claire and I talked about that – and her newly commissioned score for the Royal NZ Ballet. She’s also been composer in residence for Orchestra Wellington, as a teen she was the first recipient of the NZSO mentoring scheme; she’s been a member of the SJD band and has created TV and film scores for a range of documentary work.

This was my first time meeting Claire and it was  thrill to talk to her – she’s been referenced a couple of times on the podcast by previous guests and I’ve seen performances of some of her works over the years and was familiar with some of her recordings. So it was great to find out a bit more about her and her working process.

She’s a huge talent. I enjoyed meeting her and having this conversation – so I hope you enjoy hearing it. And do please check out her work.

Here now is episode 189 of Sweetman Podcast – my chat with Claire Cowan.