Interviews, Q&amp;As and feature articles<br />

Theatre Unlocked 1: George Floyd remembered, a classic transformed, and a call to action re climate change

THEATRE UNLOCKED A Broadway legend in concert lends musical buoyancy to this week's ever wide-ranging theatrical array

A Broadway legend in concert lends musical buoyancy to this week's ever wide-ranging theatrical array

We're easing out of lockdown, haircuts are being had, and the theatre continually shape-shifts to accommodate these changing times. All credit to the 14 writers who have conjoined forces in urgency and haste to create 846, a collection of audio plays responding to the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement.

First Person: Royal College of Music Director of Programmes Diana Salazar on a transformation in learning and teaching

FIRST PERSON: DIANA SALAZAR Royal College of Music Director of Programmes on a transformation in learning and teaching

The RCM’s corridors are quieter than usual but commitment to musical learning resounds

I wasn’t the only one who felt emotional when I left our beautiful building in South Kensington for the last time before lockdown. By that stage in mid-March the corridors had become quiet. The sense of loss was palpable: no concerts, no playing together, no conversation, no sound.

theartsdesk Q&A: horn player Sarah Willis

SARAH WILLIS Q&A Midnight recording sessions & late-running buses: Mozart in Havana

Midnight recording sessions and late-running buses; playing Mozart in Havana

Horn player Sarah Willis joined the Berlin Philharmonic in 2001. She juggles her position with spells of teaching, interviewing soloists and conductors for the Berlin Philharmonic's Digital Concert Hall and hosting an online series of Horn Hangouts, interviews with musicians streamed live on her website and archived on YouTube.

Theatre Lockdown Special 13: Early Lloyd Webber, vintage Rattigan, and a Dame or two in conversation

THEATRE LOCKDOWN 13 Early Lloyd Webber, vintage Rattigan & a Dame or two

Medeas past and present conjoin across a characteristically eclectic theatre week

Stop the presses! For the first time in nearly four months, The Arts Desk can point to the first of several live theatre events amongst the highlights of the coming week: the tour across the nation's car parks to multiple drive-in audiences of Horrible Histories: Barmy Britain, a previous West End mainstay that has adapted with these strange times.

Ennio Morricone 1928-2020: A lost afternoon in his apartment in Rome

ENNIO MORRICONE 1928-2020 A lost afternoon in his apartment in Rome

Recalling a 2003 meeting with the 'Mozart of film music'

Ennio Morricone was a genius, or as close to that description as makes no odds. If we mean someone who created a unique body of work, one that changed culture, had a distincive style and was massively influential, then Morricone fitted the bill. theartsdesk's Joe Muggs was discussing today on Facebook and Mixmag his influence on dubstep and Jamaican music, for example.

'She spoke through her violin': Steven Isserlis on extraordinary meetings with Ida Haendel (192?-2020)

STEVEN ISSERLIS ON MEETING IDA HAENDEL 'She spoke through her violin'

One great and characterful instrumentalist remembered by another

So Ida has left us – a legend has departed. What a violinist! What a woman! Magnificent, unique, incorrigible – she was a law unto herself.

Theatre Lockdown Special 12: An American rarity, a British savoury, and fresh Apples

Nigel Slater is back, as is Richard Nelson's Apple family for a second time via Zoom

Can this weekly lineup really now be three months old?  As we move towards at least some degree of relaxation on the social restrictions that have long been in place, the offerings of theatre online continue to afford many a reason not to leave your laptop.

‘We are still standing and planning for the brightest future we can’: Svend McEwan-Brown on the survival of a festival

SVEND MCEWAN-BROWN, EAST NEUK FESTIVAL DIRECTOR 'We are still standing and planning for the brightest future we can'

East Neuk Festival Director finds generosity, humanity and a hunger for culture in a crisis

They say that you discover who your true friends are when you find yourself in direst need. East Neuk Festival, our success story on the Fife coast, which should have been happening this week, faced the deepest crisis in its 16-year history this spring when, due to the pandemic, 2020’s festival was cancelled.

'Composing supports children to understand music from the inside': educator Nancy Evans on a revolution in primary schools

'COMPOSING SUPPORTS CHILDREN TO UNDERSTAND MUSIC FROM THE INSIDE' Educator Nancy Evans on a revolution in primary schools

Birmingham Contemporary Music Group's Director of Learning outlines a bold new project

Next month (July 2020) marks 20 years since I started work at Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, initially as their first Education Manager and then in my current role as Director of Learning and Participation.

Theatre Lockdown Special 11: Shakespeare-as-rave, a starlit Old Vic, and, yes, those singing nuns

THEATRE LOCKDOWN SPECIAL 11 Shakespeare-as-rave, a starlit Old Vic, and those singing nuns

Some celeb-heavy revivals and a kids-friendly showstopper feature amongst this week's lineup

Might we be nearing light at the end of the lockdown tunnel? It definitely seems that way, with the news in recent days that social life beyond the home may be resuming soon, at least after a fashion. All the while, theatrical offerings continue to come thick and fast, all the while offering up a cheeringly broad away of online prospects.