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to be made for it I think, because it’s such a young instrument and has so many places to
go.”

These new ways of experiencing music, primarily through digital platforms, are at the heart
of This Classical Life, her successful weekly show on BBC Radio 3. It appeals to a wide range
of listeners, and not just the new technology recruits – from experience, much older
gramophone lovers are enjoying her open and diverse approach to music, casting off the
genre stereotypes. “There has been a big range in the response I have had, with all age
groups from primary school children to 90-year-olds. I think the most magical thing about
music is the sense of discovery, and knowing that you can never listen to all the music in the
world. There is always something to discover. Regardless of what age you are, that never
leaves you, the idea of hearing new sounds, stories and different people!”
These principles are at the heart of her approach, both as a performer and a presenter. “I
think listening to new music and finding new artists that they love brings people so much
joy. When you find somebody new you can listen to all their music and find out who they
are, and what they’re like. It’s one of the greatest things to discover.”

Has the lockdown period given her a greater appreciation of music? “It’s been such a
strange time, but it has made me realise even more that I don’t go a single day without
putting on some kind of music. It can completely change the surroundings, it can transform
your mood, it can make you think a different way, and it can really transform a day. You can
be locked down like we have been inside our houses, but listen to music and suddenly
you’re in a completely different country, thinking completely different thoughts, and you’re
with someone else. It’s an amazing thing.”

Gillam has done a good deal of work over Zoom in the last few months, setting up the hugely
successful Virtual Scratch Orchestra during lockdown. It brought musicians of all abilities
together for the closest experience to live performance they could achieve in isolated
conditions – and in total 900 people were assembled online for a distanced account of Let It
Be.

Although Zoom has to an extent saved live music during the Coronavirus pandemic, there
are still keen limitations, as Gillam freely admits. “Technology is amazing, and it’s incredible
that we can still be a part of something bigger and still connect via the internet in the way
we can, but nothing will be able to replicate the feeling of playing with other people in a
room, or playing to other people. I’ve been taking part in the Royal Albert At Home concert,
and practising playing to a screen is the most bizarre feeling. There is no clapping, no
communication with the audience, no way of judging how it’s going! It’s the most inhuman
experience in a way but at the same time you know people will watch it and you hope they
will enjoy it. It’s a very strange feeling.”

Her set for the Royal Albert Hall was typically varied, including music
from Marcello to David Bowie – which puts me in mind of how important the saxophone
was through his music. Gillam emphatically agrees. “He played the saxophone himself, and
often in his music it acts as a catalyst for the next section, or the next drop, or the next rise
in emotion and intensity. The way he would use it, he deployed it as an instrument to take
things to the next level.”
She has also used Zoom for lessons with her teacher, renowned British saxophonist John
Harle. “I’m just finishing my Masters year at Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and I