Will Todd recently appeared on the podcast ‘In Conversation’, hosted by Opera Holland Park’s Director of Opera, James Clutton.
Will gives an insightful and entertaining overview of his musical career, making it vital listening for music lovers of all kinds.
Will to James Clutton
“My parents loved listening to music. What was brilliant about their tastes in music was that it was very broad. My dad loved his jazz records, my mum loved country ballad type music, and my sisters, who were a bit older than me, were bringing in pop music from the time.”
This background helped him appreciate diverse musical styles, explaining his genre-transcending work. His older sister’s orchestra involvement and his church choir membership were crucial in inspiring his love of composition and improvisation.
Above: Will plays, and sings, his own ‘I Flew High in My Dreams’ from ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’.
When Will is feeling the stress of multiple commissions, for which he is extremely grateful, he always makes time for improvising on the piano half an hour before he starts, to remind himself of why he loves his craft.
Will
“It reminds me that, above everything else, I enjoy putting some chords together.”
The bulk of the interview is dedicated to Will discussing some (though by no means all) of his most notable projects, which you can jump to easily through timestamp.
These include his Mass in Blue, and Opera Holland Park’s commissions Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Christmas Carol, and Help Me Believe, a piece about the Grenfell Tower tragedy which involved many of those affected in the choir.