Sally Beamish has written nearly 300 works including concertos, ballets, vocal and chamber music. She says music is how she expresses her emotions. Much of her output focuses on the environment, the sea and other elements. She says that after having a miscarriage in 1994, writing a cello solo contributed to her overcoming her grief.

Sally studied the viola, but tells Remain Composed that she's never played a single note of any of her three concertos for the instrument. However, after studying with a violin-maker, Sally's daughter came back with a viola for her. She now plays her own music and other people's.

Sally says she suffers from imposter syndrome all the time, hearing voices questioning her ideas and originality. Sally says she overcame a particularly difficult period of creative block by taking up writing (words) and attending group classes.

Sally also gives Remain Composed a glimpse into her compositional process, including how she writes everything using notation software, and she describes how the Pomodoro Technique helps her maintain focus.

Gavin Higgins is a composer working with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Three Choirs Festival and many other ensembles and projects.

Wind, brass and percussion are central to Gavin’s orchestral music. He says he loves the mix of colours available in orchestras now, and that some composers can be over-timid when orchestrating music for brass. Gavin describes being influenced by his own time playing in a brass band, and the music of Stravinsky.

Gavin wrote a concerto grosso for brass band and orchestra for the BBC Proms in 2022. He talks us through the background of the piece. Gavin says it’s been performed lots since, more than much of his chamber music.

Gavin takes us through the process of collaborating with librettist (and Horrid Henry author) Francesca Simon when writing operas. He says he finds setting poetry much more difficult than a bespoke libretto. Gavin also discusses working alongside choreographers when writing for ballet.

Sophie Daniels is a songwriter and an associate professor of songwriting at the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance, where she founded the UK’s first higher education programmes in songwriting.

Sophie explains what makes an “almost perfect song”, including the importance of craft and reflecting human experience. She also says everyone can write songs, and the process is often thought of as being more complicated than it needs to be.

Sophie tells Remain Composed about the two EPs she's released under her artist name Liberty’s Mother. They're about baby loss and misogyny in the music industry.

Sophie says songs are vital to our shared sense of humanity, and AI-written music threatens that.