Andrew Ford’s breathtaking range of knowledge and feats of music is showcased in The Music Show (729 ABC Radio National on the AM band and podcasted). This programme, most deeply worthy of its name, has only been going for more than 30 years. Ford, also an award (including Order of Australia medal) winner as a composer and writer, was born in Liverpool and studied music at Lancaster University with eclectic British/Australia composer Edward Cowrie before eventually leaving England to lecture at the school of creative arts at Wollongong University, New South Wales. During that time, leading to 1995 when The Music Show started, he earned his doctorate for a thesis – on musical word setting from Elvis Costello to Elliott Carter – that showed the breadth of his outlook.
Meantime, Ford has composed music mainly for the concert hall in more than 40 countries. He was composer-in-residence with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, held the Peggy Glanville-Hicks composer fellowship and was awarded the Paul Lowin Award for his song cycle Learning to Howl. He also won the Geraldine Pascall Prize for critical writing. Among Ford’s books are The Memory of Music moving from his Liverpool childhood obsession with the Beatles to his passion for Beethoven, Brahms, Vaughan Williams, Stockhausen and Birtwistle, and to his work as a composer, choral conductor, concert promoter, critic, university teacher and radio presenter.
The respect that Ford has garnered among musicians internationally is reflected in the top-flight guests willing to open up in their interviews with Ford who delights in finding humourous or quirky insights from their background. As with all shows on the sadly buried cultural treasure that is Radio National, The Music Show is bolstered by the behind-the-mike work of its producers: in 2025, Ellie Parnell and Ce Benedict. Their help make it possible to cover the spectrum of music, for example, in recent shows:
* Storytelling, beats and soundscapes on Walpiri Country; and Gordon Kerry’s new Requiem.
* Ozzy Osbourne, the melodic voice of Black Sabbath. *Michael Atherton: A lifetime student of music from ancient Egypt, medieval Europe and beyond.
* Together Alone with Crowded House and talking About Ghosts with Brooklyn-based jazz guitarist and composer Mary Halvorson.
* Ben Lee on mistakes, longevity and the power of pop music.
* Midge Ure on punk, pop and Ultravox and Nine Korbe on opera and advocacy.
* Putting together with pieces with Meredith Monk; Christine Anu wins the 2025 NAIDOC wins
the creative talent award.
* Listening to County with composer James Howard and the Stiff Gins celebrate 25 years.
* Remembering Lalo Shiffrin and how an organ can make a town come alive,
* Brian Campeau’s country-tinged left turn, and Erik Satie from the sublime to the surreal.
And if some or many of those names mean nothing, that’s the 30 plus years gap left by not listening to The Music Show.
Tangents and Trivia.
John Prine, the songwriter’s songwriter
US national treasure
John Prine connects all
the cool people in his
gentle way over decades.
Andrew Ford interviewed John Prine on the Music Show in 2005 and Sarah Kanowski also interviewed him on ‘Conversations’. John died in 2020 but you can hear Sarah’s interview here.
John won five Grammy awards and was inducted into both the Nashville Country Music Hall of Fame, and the Grammy Hall of Fame.
“John and I were the New Dylans together in the early 70s,” said Bruce Springsteen. “He was never anything but the loveliest guy in the world – a national treasure and a songwriter for the ages”
See our story on John Prine here.