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Front Row: Regina King, classical music for kids, Northern Irish literature

12/01/2021

Regina King, classical music for kids, Northern Irish literature

BBC Radio 4 - Front Row, Regina King, classical music for kids, Northern Irish literature

Oscar-winner Regina King on her directorial debut One Night In Miami.

Oscar-winning actress Regina King on her directorial debut, One Night in Miami, inspired by the real-life meeting between Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke and Jim Brown.

Oscar winning actress Regina King tells Kirsty about her debut film as a director, One Night in Miami, inspired by the real-life meeting between Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke and Jim Brown on the night that Ali (then still called Cassius Clay) defeated Sonny Liston to win the heavyweight World Champion title.

Europe's first classical music station especially for children was launched yesterday. Fun Kids Classical will play music by composers including Beethoven, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saens and Grieg; with performances from young artists such as cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, saxophonist Jess Gillam and violinist Jennifer Pike. The pianist Lang Lang, whose International Music Foundation encourages children to engage with music, is the new station's Ambassador. Matt Deegan, Fun Kids Classical's station, manager talks to Kirsty Lang about the need for such a radio station, and his ambitions for it.

This year sees the 100th anniversary of the creation of Northern Ireland. Although the region is synonymous with the poetry of Seamus Heaney or the plays of Brian Friel, its recent literary reputation has tended to languor in the shadow of its southern neighbour. But today, as issues connected to Brexit and the status of the border with the EU have Northern Ireland back in the news, there is also cohort of younger writers from the region demanding attention. Kirsty talks to novelist Jan Carson, who has a new series of short stories, The Last Resort, serialised on Radio 4 alongside memoirist Darran Anderson, whose new book Inventory, is published next month, about what makes the region such a rich setting for fiction and nonfiction now. 

Presenter: Kirsty Lang
Producer: Oliver Jones
Studio Manager: Nigel Dix

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