Living Gratefully: James Williams opens up to Mona Siddiqui

In this podcast, Mona Siddiqui speaks to James Williams, the managing director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Having grown up with music in a happy home, James speaks about his mother’s strong influence, his love for brass instruments and the associated sense of community, and the reasons why he had to give up on his aspiration of playing the tuba professionally. An advocate of the creative arts and youth justice, James sees his role as managing director of the RPO as keeping orchestral music relevant to a society’s needs, sharing his passion more widely, especially in the challenging times of Covid-19.  For James, music heals both physically and mentally. 

Om Podcasten

In a time like no other we have known before; a time when we are living closely with some, distantly from most others, this podcast series examines human relationships, how we form them and what they mean to us, against a background of what it means to feel gratitude.Our host, scholar and broadcaster Mona Siddiqui, asks the probing questions, and her guests – musician Ricky Ross, author Val McDermid, former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams among others – open their hearts and minds. Living Gratefully examines how gratitude shapes our relationships with others, and how cultural relationships shape public discourse.