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PODCAST

Braving the Stave

Hosted by Jonathan James and joined by Angharad Smith, a.k.a ‘JJ & Haz’ , this bubbly duo delve through all music and genres, sharing with you their personal favourite pieces, along with some musical jokes that add a playful and informal feel to the podcast. Working as part of Arts Active"s Cardiff Classical programme, we run lots of exciting extras alongside it to support the concerts. Check out the Arts Active website for more - www.artsactive.org.ukGot any comments for JJ and Haz? Email them

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All Episodes

29:31

Upbeats: Season 5, Episode 3 (Braving The Trumpet)

Braving the Stave ·

2025/11/25

JJ and special guest, composer Richard Barnard, explore the character and impressive range of the trumpet, from blood-curdling battle calls to breathy jazz ballads. Then Richard reveals the inner workings of his piece for Matilda Lloyd, trumpeter extraordinaire. Support the show www.artsactive.org.uk Email a2@artsactive.org.uk X @artsactive Instagram artsactivecardiff Facebook artsactive #classicalmusic #artsactive #drjonathanjames #bravingthestave #musicconversations #funfacts #gues...

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36:43

Upbeats: Season 5, Episode 2 (Braving Halloween 2025)

Braving the Stave ·

2025/10/27

Haz’s healthy obsession with Horror prompts discussions on Welsh Halloween traditions, from apple-bobbing to tail-less black pigs, a swap of scary musical scores and diverse examples of ‘night music’. For some good cheer, there are also favourite moments from ‘West Side Story’ - all inspired by the Lumas Winds’ programme. Mae obsesiwn iach Haz ag arswyd yn ysgogi trafodaethau ar draddodiadau Calan Gaeaf Cymru, o siglo afalau i foch duon di-gynffon, cyfnewid sgoriau cerddorol brawychus ac engh...

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35:51

Upbeats: Season 5, Episode 1 (Braving The Loss of...

Braving the Stave ·

2025/09/26

To see in this new series, JJ and Haz say farewell to summer with the music of half-light, slumber and nocturnes. Along the way you'll find out why we should feel sorry for Janacek's postman, who the mysterious Silke Schäfer is, and why Swiss tea bags have a superior design. Support the show www.artsactive.org.uk Email a2@artsactive.org.uk X @artsactive Instagram artsactivecardiff Facebook artsactive #classicalmusic #artsactive #drjonathanjames #bravingthestave #musicconversations #funfact...

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34:51

Upbeats: Season 4, Episode 20 (Braving The Viola)

Braving the Stave ·

2025/06/18

After getting some stereotypes out of the way - viola jokes, composers who played viola, best viola shreds - Haz and JJ explore the wonders of the instrument, from how it got its name, via lesser known orchestral moments, through to solo works that put it on the map. Along the way: Lionel Tertis' big-hipped viola, and the connection between violists and basketball players. The perfect end to the season! Support the show www.artsactive.org.uk Email a2@artsactive.org.uk X @artsactive Instagram...

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21:00

Upbeats: Season 4, Bonus episode 2: Interview with...

Braving the Stave ·

2025/05/21

JJ interviews Christiana Mavron ahead of the Mavron Quartet's performance in the Arts Active Lunchtime Concert Series, on 3rd June 2025. Cardiff Classical Lunchtime Recitals: The Mavron Quartet - Arts Active Tickets Support the show www.artsactive.org.uk Email a2@artsactive.org.uk X @artsactive Instagram artsactivecardiff Facebook artsactive #classicalmusic #artsactive #drjonathanjames #bravingthestave #musicconversations #funfacts #guestspeakers #cardiff #cardiffclassical

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23:27

Upbeats: Season 4, Episode 19

Braving the Stave ·

2025/05/21

Jon and Haz find out why it's best not to say 'neoclassicism' in a hurry before plunging into beautiful reinventions of the past. Along the way, Haz makes the connection between Stravinsky and sweating and Jon discovers Couperin's 'Tic-Toc Choc'. Support the show www.artsactive.org.uk Email a2@artsactive.org.uk X @artsactive Instagram artsactivecardiff Facebook artsactive #classicalmusic #artsactive #drjonathanjames #bravingthestave #musicconversations #funfacts #guestspeakers #cardiff #ca...

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32:49

Upbeats: Season 4, Episode 18 (Braving The Clarinet)

Braving the Stave ·

2025/04/23

JJ and Haz extol the virtues and versatility of the clarinet, from its humble folk beginnings through to its many shapes and sizes of today. Includes the instrument's nicknames, its use in classical and jazz and its resemblance to milk chocolate. Support the show www.artsactive.org.uk Email a2@artsactive.org.uk X @artsactive Instagram artsactivecardiff Facebook artsactive #classicalmusic #artsactive #drjonathanjames #bravingthestave #musicconversations #funfacts #guestspeakers #cardiff #ca...

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18:52

Upbeats: Season 4, Bonus episode 1: Interview with...

Braving the Stave ·

2025/03/27

The duo performing in an upcoming Cardiff Lunchtime series at Eglwys Dewi Sant talk with Jon about how they met, the background to their instruments and the thinking behind their innovative and beautifully considered programme. Support the show www.artsactive.org.uk Email a2@artsactive.org.uk X @artsactive Instagram artsactivecardiff Facebook artsactive #classicalmusic #stdavidshall #neuadddewisant #drjonathanjames #bravingthestave #musicconversations #funfacts #guestspeakers #cardiff

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36:26

Upbeats: Season 4, Episode 17 (Braving the Musical Zoo)

Braving the Stave ·

2025/03/27

With the unusual pairing of a recorder and accordion coming up in a concert, Jon and Haz do a quick survey of other rarer concert instruments. In this 'musical zoo' are instruments that are both haunting and hooting, folk and electronic, and one that reminds Haz of a 'depressed Cor Anglais.' Support the show www.artsactive.org.uk Email a2@artsactive.org.uk X @artsactive Instagram artsactivecardiff Facebook artsactive #classicalmusic #stdavidshall #neuadddewisant #drjonathanjames #bra...

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35:19

Upbeats: Season 4, Episode 16 (Braving Roots Music)

Braving the Stave ·

2025/02/20

Jon and Haz dip their toes into the ocean that is Roots Music, discussing its stereotypes and stigmas, its multiple instruments and crazy time signatures, and why pan pipes make for great massage music. Along the way, Jon talks about his own journey with the Dovetail Orchestra for asylum-seeking musicians, which has bases in both Bristol and Cardiff (at Eglwys Dewi Sant). Support the show www.artsactive.org.uk Email a2@artsactive.org.uk X @artsactive Instagram artsactivecardiff Facebo...

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34:36

Upbeats: Season 4, Episode 15 (Braving the String...

Braving the Stave ·

2025/01/23

JJ and Haz see in the new year with a celebration of the string quartet, testing the claim that it is a 'four-way marriage without the sex'. Haz divulges her pet peeves as a chamber musician, as well as what a 'shig' is and why, amazingly, 'Bridgerton' is keeping the quartet genre alive and kicking.Contact email: A2@artsactive.org.ukSupport the showwww.artsactive.org.ukEmail a2@artsactive.org.ukX @artsactiveInstagram artsactivecardiff Facebook artsactive#classicalmusic #stdavidshall #neuaddde...

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40:06

Upbeats: Season 4, Episode 14 (Christmas Cracker 2024)

Braving the Stave ·

2024/11/20

Christmas Cracker 2024JJ and Haz bring on the 'hygge' with a homage to the wind quintet, bagatelles and boyfriends (Haz's), carols to cherish and avoid, 'disruptive' descants and a whole new genre of 'earnest kitsch'. Nadolig llawen, pawb!Support the showwww.artsactive.org.ukEmail a2@artsactive.org.ukTwitter @artsactiveInstagram artsactivecardiff Facebook artsactive#classicalmusic #stdavidshall #neuadddewisant #drjonathanjames #bravingthestave #musicconversations #funfacts #guestspeakers #car...

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26:53

Upbeats: Season 4, Episode 13 (Braving The Harp)

Braving the Stave ·

2024/11/02

When Jon likens harp music to twinkly bedtime stories, Haz champions the instrument, taking it beyond the usual clichés. Together they consider its Celtic history, how much patience you need to tune it, the most-loved harp effects, and why harpists are the best people to ask to unscrew a jar.Support the showwww.artsactive.org.ukEmail a2@artsactive.org.ukTwitter @artsactiveInstagram artsactivecardiff Facebook artsactive#classicalmusic #stdavidshall #neuadddewisant #drjonathanjames #bravingthes...

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32:40

Upbeats: Season 4, Episode 12 (Braving the Sax)

Braving the Stave ·

2024/09/28

JJ and Haz try to convert each other to the sound of the sax, celebrating its parps, growls and bends. Along the way: why Debussy called the sound 'aquatic', why it reminds JJ of custard, and what it means to be 'Careless Whispered' while at music college. Support the showwww.artsactive.org.ukEmail a2@artsactive.org.ukTwitter @artsactiveInstagram artsactivecardiff Facebook artsactive#classicalmusic #stdavidshall #neuadddewisant #drjonathanjames #bravingthestave #musicconversations #funfa...

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26:05

Upbeats: Season 4, Episode 11 (Braving Sinfonia Cymru)

Braving the Stave ·

2024/08/08

In the new season of Braving the Stave, JJ and Haz give their light-hearted but sharp-eared take on the lunchtime recitals happening every month in Eglwys Dewi Sant. This opening episode ponders whether Patrick Rimes, local folk legend, could play a blancmange, what it would be like to work for an insomniac Count, and the deeper meaning of 'Say a little prayer.'Support the Show.www.artsactive.org.ukEmail a2@artsactive.org.ukTwitter @artsactiveInstagram artsactivecardiff Facebook artsactive#cl...

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28:57

Upbeats: Season 4, Episode 10 (Summer Bangers)

Braving the Stave ·

2024/06/29

JJ and Haz suggest three categories of summer music to enjoy, 'bubble, deckchair and fiesta', before selecting 6 summer bangers to see the sun in. Includes hip jiggling, graffiti and casting issues in Carmen. Support the Show.www.artsactive.org.ukEmail a2@artsactive.org.ukTwitter @artsactiveInstagram artsactivecardiff Facebook artsactive#classicalmusic #stdavidshall #neuadddewisant #drjonathanjames #bravingthestave #musicconversations #funfacts #guestspeakers #cardiff

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36:57

Upbeats: Season 4, Episode 9 (Braving Texture)

Braving the Stave ·

2024/06/08

In this final part to their survey of different musical elements, Jon and Haz imagine cartwheels in Bach, the weight of silence, whether John Dowland had any party hits, how Mariah Carey would sing Twinkle Twinkle and, rather disturbingly, what Jon would look like in a bikiniSupport the Show.www.artsactive.org.ukEmail a2@artsactive.org.ukTwitter @artsactiveInstagram artsactivecardiff Facebook artsactive#classicalmusic #stdavidshall #neuadddewisant #drjonathanjames #bravingthestave #musicconve...

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29:46

Upbeats: Season 4, Episode 8 (Braving Harmony)

Braving the Stave ·

2024/04/27

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30:54

Upbeats: Season 4, Episode 7 (The Magic of Melody)

Braving the Stave ·

2024/04/06

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36:08

Upbeats: Season 4, Episode 6 (Braving Rhythm)

Braving the Stave ·

2024/02/24

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