Future Classic Women Awards – Ayoub Sisters

Hello and welcome to Future Classic Women Awards with me, Stefania Passamonte, on Women's Radio Station, the program where we search for the most amazing new female artists on the classical panorama. Today on Future Classic Women Awards, we have two very special guests. They are Youp Sisters. Hello, Sarah and Laura. Hi! Moren sa! So very happy to have you back. Back on Future Classic Women Awards, and you are full of surprises for this episode, full of amazing collaborations and exciting things that have been happening, you know, since our last chat. And it's incredible how fast the time goes and how many things have you done. I mean, yeah, it doesn't feel like that long ago, but I, I guess it's about a year, summer, yeah, since we last saw each other. You were like my first guest. Yeah, I think so. And we're back on. We've just given, you know, the winner of the first cycle, so I'm very happy to start again with you. And so, um, you've been collaborating a lot with other artists, you've been gone, you went solo with, uh, auto-producing singles and amazing, you know, um, songs. The latest single, and that's why you're here today, was just released on the 24th of May, and that's Rasputin. Do you want to tell us something about this? Sure, so Rasputin is a song by Bon Iem, which is a piece of music actually. Bon Iem was one of the few artists that our dad would play in the car back in the day where there was the cassette. Yep. So we grew up listening to Bon Iem and only recently we thought actually the track Rasputin, we could probably do something really interesting with it. And it is a very interesting piece of music which starts off with a balalaika introduction and it's instrumental for a good minute and a half before the vocals come in. It's very folk-like. So we decided to kind of strip that back into just cello, violin and overdub so that it sounds like a string orchestra. I see. Yeah. Ah, wonderful. And so who is doing the arrangement for these things? We both do it. You do it together? Yeah. I mean, that's— quite unique. I mean, it's amazing you're playing, you're, you know, performing and arranging and coming up with such clever ideas. We spend a lot of time together. That is the secret to it, isn't it? So the first song we want to listen today is Fatma in collaboration with The Swingle. So how that happened? We were really fortunate 2 years ago to go on tour with the Swingles. We were both supporting Gareth Malone, so that was the first time we actually met them and got to hear them sing up close, and they are really, really fantastic. They're one of, if not the best vocal groups I've ever, ever heard. And we kept in touch after the tour, and we kept saying, you know, maybe we should, we should do something together. We should record something or even film a video, and we actually decided to do both. We decided to film and record 2 songs, and one of them we had the honor of choosing a piece of Egyptian music by a composer called Omar Khayrat. And once again, this is a composer that our dad introduced us to, once again with a cassette in the car. We used to listen to this song when we were younger, and it's a very kind of dramatic piece of music. It was actually used in a film, and we thought maybe we could— which film? It's Layla al-Abdullah ala Fatma. Or Fatima for short. And we decided to add vocal parts for them and not add any lyrics, but just kind of like, "Lahs" and "Mmms" and add a violin and cello part. And we released that video just a couple of months ago and it really, really boomed. It did really well. And actually Omar Khayrat saw the video. We got to meet him recently and he's like, He said how much he enjoyed the arrangement and how happy he was with it, which was really, really nice. Absolutely. So how do you, I mean, do you deal with copyright song? Like, did you have a chance? Very good question. It's something that musicians are not really prepared. Normally you get other people behind you doing it. Yeah. Hard work. There are different degrees of what you need if you're just putting a video on, on YouTube, then it is the copyright holder's responsibility to find those that do YouTube covers and make sure that if that person wants to monetize that video, then they're sharing revenue. So it's, it's, it's, it's even. They own the copyright of, of the, the music, but you've created a new arrangement, so it should be shared. If you're selling the music, if you're going to actually put that on say iTunes or Google Play, then you need to obtain a mechanical license and this is all things that we've learned over the last couple of years. There's actually a really great book called Everything You Need to Know About the Music Business by Donald Passman, who's a music industry lawyer from the States, which I've almost read from COVID to cover over the last 3 years. It was given to me by a good friend and really kind of educating yourself on all these little, especially for us, we love writing covers and interpreting pieces of music that has been written by other people, whether still living or not. And you do need to know what your rights are just to be able to protect yourself and make sure you're not treading on anyone's toes and doing everything absolutely fair. And what is really beautiful is the fact that you're taking pieces of popular music and bringing them to classical. And so that means you're bringing classical somehow to really a more popular audience and being able to open up doors that are otherwise somehow closed, isn't it? So yeah, so I really like to listen to Fatma now from the Ayyub Sisters with the Swingles. Whoa, and this was Fatma from the Ayub Sisters with the Swing Girls. We will be back after a short break. Welcome to Women's Radio Station. I'm Sarah Louise Ryan and welcome to Love Lessons Live on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Future Classic Women Awards with me, Stefania Passamonte, on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Julie May Is Listening. Hi, this is Anna Kennedy and we're at Women's Radio Station supporting women's well-being, and we're talking all things autism. Women, the possibilities are endless. That's what makes us different. Hi, I'm Falguni Desai of Action Coach. Are you a business owner with more than 5 employees? Do you want to grow your business? I'm a London-based business coach who helps small and medium-sized businesses to grow and make a profit. I will help you identify the strengths and weaknesses in your business and then work with you to improve it using a structured framework. To find out more, contact me on 07721 654640 and book your 1-hour complimentary one-to-one coaching session. Thank you. Hi, I'm Tracy Whedon of Brownhill Insurance Group. We are an award-winning family-run insurance broker covering a wide range of insurance products ranging from commercial lines to personal household high net worth, and fine art. You can contact us on 0208 658 4334 or visit our website www.brownhillgroup.co.uk for your free, no-obligation quotation. At Brown Hills, we've got you covered. Hi, I'm Hazel Butterfield, a blogger, book lover, and mental health advocate, and you can listen to my show Get Booked here at Women's Radio Station daily at 5 AM and 5 PM. Throughout my shows, we'll talk about the books I've read, new releases, chat to authors, publishers, and book enthusiasts, all with a theme and aim of supporting women's emotional well-being. If you have a book to tell us about, get in touch at presenters@womensradiostation.com. Join me on my show and share my love of books and writing. Hi, I'm Valentina Barbacci, and I'm the executive director of Media Matters for Women. We're a registered charity operating in Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and we produce and share podcasts via Bluetooth on mobile phones, focusing specifically on women and girls excluded from information due to extreme poverty. We empower those living in rural areas with media that transforms how they access, own, and share information. To find out more and be part of this movement, come check out our website at MediaMattersForWomen.org. You're listening to Women's Radio Station, supporting women's well-being. Women's Radio Station's creating a global network for the empowerment of women, and we want you to be involved. Join us on Instagram and Twitter @WomensRadioStation, that's Women's Radio S-T-N, or Facebook Women's Radio Station to keep up to date with all our exciting programs. Welcome back to Future Classic Women Awards on Women's Radio Station, the program where we search for the most amazing new female artists on the classical panorama. Today our special guests are the wonderful Ayoub Sisters. Sarah and Laura, I've seen your amazing pictures In the desert? What is classical music doing in the desert? You tell me about it. Well, a year ago actually, we were very fortunate to feature in Vogue Arabia, so that involved a photoshoot actually in the middle of the Western Desert in Wadi El Hien, which is just a couple of miles off of Cairo, and Yes, so we were in the middle of the Egyptian summer wearing these amazing clothes. And then at the end of the photo shoot, we did a music video as well. Yeah. So it was an amazing experience. Gosh, we learned a lot. Yes. How is it modeling? Not just the modeling, it's just battling with the elements. Yeah, exactly. I mean, you've got sun, you've got sand, and you've got wind, and that combination and you're trying to land a decent picture that's going to be in Vogue Arabia. You're pretending nothing is happening. Yeah. And when you're musicians and you're not quite used to that side of things, yeah, it was straight in the deep end. Absolutely. So, I mean, you've been touring then in Egypt. Yeah. How is classical music doing in Egypt, for example, and particularly your crossover with Western music? If, I don't know. Yeah, well, we brought our first album to the Cairo Symphony Orchestra and the Cairo Opera House in January, and we presented a very, very mixed and varied program to a full capacity audience that really, really, I think and hope, loved the concert. I don't think many people actually knew what they were signing up for, funnily enough, because The song you just heard, Fatima, had come out just a couple of months before. I think everybody was expecting something along those lines. A lot of people saw the video, saw we were coming, bought a ticket, and had never even set foot inside the Cairo Opera House before. We were getting messages from people saying, is there a dress code? Actually, there is a dress code. Men have to wear a tie. Oh, really? And it's females really should be smartly dressed. But it's not— doesn't have to be evening dress? No, it doesn't need to be, but people do make an effort. It is very nice actually that they keep that tradition. But let's say 90% of people had never actually been before, so they didn't know. So we had to tell people, make sure you bring a tie. And for a lot of people, that was their first time watching a classical concerts, a classical symphony orchestra, and it really went well. We managed to kind of show the complete 360 side of what we do. We presented core classical music, we presented very not classical music, we played songs like Uptown Funk and Billie Jean, and we also presented some Arabic music in a kind of more Westernized style. And we managed to take that to Cairo and to the Alexandria Opera House just a couple of months ago. So it was a real, real honor for us to get to do that and for Egypt to kind of host our first time playing that full album with an orchestra was a real honor. Fantastic. So, I mean, how is Do you think you will be performing more and getting more inspiration by Egypt culture, for example, or classical music you might, for example, extend to other type of music? Well, I think what we've discovered is that we have a real base in Egypt. We are really appreciated over there. And I wonder whether that's because people do bond with us because we are Egyptian, but we were born and raised outside of Egypt. And usually people that kind of make a name for themselves outside of the country that they're from and then return back to it, they're greeted with a lot of love and warmth. And we've definitely felt that. And we've been back, I mean, we've maybe made 8 or 9 trips over the last 12 months. We've been almost there every month for the last year doing various things, whether it's concerts or events or trying to do a different kind of work, like more outreach music education work that again is completely untapped. I know fine well that in the UK we have a big problem that people are wanting to cut funding into the arts. However, I'm very aware that many big names are already talking about this. In Egypt, no one is doing it. So I kind of, we both kind of feel a sense of responsibility to make sure that we're trying to do our bit over there because you have lots of people over here that are fighting, fighting the good fight. Well, if I may say, I mean, I come from Italy, it's a very musical country, But music education is a big problem too. I mean, unless you do— you pass the competition to get into the music conservatories that in Italy are free, other than that, you really get little or nothing. And the main problem of that is that you cut out, first of all, a very important way of educating the children in everything, because learning an instrument helps mentally as well, with mathematics, with logic, with concentration. With so many other aspects. And at the same time, it's, you know, cutting off a big part of audience that may come to concerts. So there is a responsibility, you know, for these big orchestras and theaters and everything as well to help educate and appreciate classical music. Not necessarily you have to learn an instrument, But, you know, at least to be able to enjoy and know why you like so much, for example, when there is so many classic rock pieces that they are taken from classical music. I still remember Santana, the first time I heard the album Corazón Espinado, and I was listening to the song and I was like, I know 'Oh, this song, how is that possible?' And then suddenly it hit me, he took 'As It Is,' the theme from Brahms' Symphony No. 3. That is one of my favorites. And then he made it, you know, rock with the guitar, and it was— and then, you know, people think, 'Oh, that's just rock and roll, I'll never go listen to.' There is so much to it, isn't it? Absolutely. So the other song we want to listen today, so it's Billie Jean. So you want to tell us something about this song? Yeah, so Billie Jean is on our first album. And again, that's another piece of music that we listened to as we were kids. We loved Michael Jackson and we found ourselves again playing it, but in a very different style. And we kind of manipulated that kind of pounding 4/4 rhythm into a 6/8 like waltz, so rewrote the track for string accompaniment and solo cello and violin. Wonderful. So the orchestra is? It's the Royal Liverpool— No, no, it's not. It's the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the RPO. It's very early. Yes, the RPO. It's very early because last night you were at the concert. Yes, we actually do have an excuse. We got back very late last night from a concert, and that's And also today is bank holiday Monday, and thank you for listening as well. I don't know what happened to the weather. It was supposed to be a lovely hot, you know, bank holiday, and that'll come tomorrow when we're back at work. Yeah, of course, isn't it? Well, let's listen then to Billie Jean. And this was Billie Jean with the Ayub Sisters and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. We will be back after a short break. 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We give practical help to get people back on track. Whether you're thinking of having a baby, trying to get out of an unhappy relationship, or just unsure what benefits you may be entitled to, we can help. Visit turn2us.org.uk. Welcome to the Women's Radio Station, supporting women's well-being. Women's Radio Station can give voice to your brand with a wide range of sponsorship opportunities, including individual programs. We can tailor your experience for you. For more information on how you can sponsor a show, go to womensradiostation.com. Women's Radio Station, supporting women's well-being. Welcome back to Future Classic Women Awards on Women's Radio Station, the program where we search for the most amazing new female artists on the classical panorama. Today our guests are the Ayoub Sisters, Sarah and Laura. So Sarah, we were— and Laura, who wants to answer first? What's the question? So we're talking about outreach. And about the fact of bringing classical music to Egypt and to countries that are not, you know, to audiences that are not used to classical music. And I actually saw you with another guest of Future Classical Women Awards, Nadine Benjamin, in tour with the Činiki Orchestra. And that's one of the most impressive examples of diversity in classical music. How Did you get to go with the Tichynky Orchestra? How was the experience? What have you done with them? We got introduced to Tichy, and actually I think we've known about her for a while. She's quite a figure in the classical music scene, and we introduced ourselves to her. We said we are Egyptian, Scottish, and we'd love to collaborate with the orchestra, and we were fortunate to do just a few projects in the last month with the orchestra, and It's been really special, actually, because Laura and I haven't played in orchestra for a while, but this was such a nice welcome back. Like you were part of the orchestra. Yes, we were part. Not soloists. No, no, we were part of the orchestra, to be part of a larger force than just a duo. And yeah, we met people from Cuba, from Jamaica, from South Africa. We met another Egyptian in the orchestra, which was amazing. And yeah, the standard of players is quite exceptional. And it's such a brilliant organisation with a brilliant message and it's still in its infancy. It's only been around for 3 years and already taking the classical world by storm. Absolutely. And I mean, I think it's the whole concept itself that should be— it's kind of surreal, the fact that in 2020, we have to fight for this, isn't it? Should be so— no, you know, I, I don't know. When I've been a— I come from Italy, and in Italy yet 99% of Italians are white. Although, you know, since the Roman Empire we've been, uh, you know, having culture with contact with all the cultures and bringing in everything. So typical Italian is not necessarily, you know, brown eyes and brown hair. My mom is blonde with green eyes. My grandpa was blonde with blue eyes. Got friends that are redhead, so it's totally mixed. And then I've been in America. My husband is American and some of his best friends are African American, so black, and you— I can't even think about the fact that skin is something you have to think about. It's like having blonde hair or black hair to me. Yeah. I think the strangest thing for me, or the thing that made me realize how oblivious I personally was, was the first concert that we did in Bristol, St. George's, maybe 10 days ago now. And that was the first time that I'd really walked out as a performer onto a stage, looked out into the audience and saw many, many black faces and thought, this is actually, this is unusual. And then I thought, why is this unusual? And— Why are you noticing that? Why am I? Because, and is that because they don't feel that I hope that they wouldn't feel that they're not welcomed, but I know for a fact that they are all champions of this orchestra and the message that Chi-Chi and all of the players are fighting to put across. And it was just the most amazing thing to see. And it was an amazing thing to watch their reaction to our playing. We had people that were being moved to tears from just the very first note that we played. And the next day we went into the Malcolm X Community Center and once again we had people that maybe have not listened to a classical symphony orchestra up close before or even classical music that were again moved to tears and just so proud of people from their culture that are really making a very clear and direct point that classical music is for everyone. Absolutely. And we're just really lucky that we got the chance to play with this orchestra. Absolutely, yeah. You know, when I was little, I remember I was a big fan of the Russian pianists, you know, Orlovich, Soskinazi, Richter. So it was more about being of a different culture in that sense, and different, you know, I was a bit passionate of Russian writers—Bulgakov, you know, Chekhov, and these big—Tolstoy, I never really liked it, to be honest. Russian music, Russian composers, and so it just happened that they are white, but it's not a question of being— I mean, I think diversity in classical music has always been a fact of what can you bring into music. So Russians bring the passion, that is part of their culture. Italian brings what they bring, French, German, you know, American are quite strong. When I'm in America, funny enough, I always listen to so many American artists that we don't even know here. And a lot of American composers that you not necessarily listen normally into the concert hall in Europe. And so being— now I heard, I check, with the Chiniquy Orchestra that they're bringing in African composers as well. Did you have a chance to play African music? Yes, we played a piece of music called Starburst by a black composer called Jesse Montgomery. And again, very, very groovy piece of music. Actually, it was very difficult. I hope we did it justice in the end. And I think, again, that's one of the points that Chi-Chi tries to make in every concert at least one piece of music by a Black living or not living composer, which again is just, just one small thing to show that— why not? Absolutely. But you know, in Italy, for example, I know that the theatres, they have to cast one Italian composer because it's Italy, because it's state-funded. I don't know if in UK is the same, you have to have at least one British composer, so why not to have at least one black composer or, you know, the Egyptian composer if you are in Egypt, for example, makes perfect sense. And that's the beauty of music because you can just mix anything. When music is beautiful, it doesn't really matter who's playing it, where it's coming from or whatever. You just want to enjoy a moment of harmony and pureness, really. Yeah. I was just on Monday to the first night of the opera with the Andrea Chenier. And there is that aria of the dead mother. And I could see everybody in the audience crying, basically. I don't know what is it with that particular aria, but the music is the aria that has been featured in Philadelphia, the movie with Tom Hanks. And this one is about to die and sharing about this La Mamma Morta. She's saying, you know, I'm alone. I'm left alone. My mom died. To protect me from the revolutionary, the French Revolution, who was trying to kill me because she was an aristocrat. And somehow she suddenly found love, and love told her you have to live because life is made of love, and music is made of love, isn't it? It doesn't matter the color. There's no boundaries at all. Absolutely. And that's why the fact of outreaching to anyone, any age, any social, you know, background. Yeah, actually one of the best things was the amount of young people. Even just last night, there was a young girl that I was looking at throughout the whole concert. She just looked so, so engaged. And then I remember something that I heard Sheku, the cellist, say that when he was younger, when he used to watch classical concerts, he was kind of looking at the orchestra like, there's no one that looks like me in here. And I would hate for that to ever be a reason not to pick up an instrument. So I was so, again, glad to see young kids at these Chinnukey concerts seeing people that they can physically relate to, and hopefully that would encourage if they ever thought that there was a lack of figures that they can kind of project a role model onto, that that's hopefully something that we're now able to do for them. Wonderful. Now, talking about mothers, the next song we want to listen to is Mother's Pride. Do you want to tell us something about the song? Yes. So, gosh, 2 years ago we were very fortunate to perform at the TV BAFTAs and we were given a brief to perform George Michael's Mother's Pride. So we listened. We didn't know this piece actually until we were told about it. And we had to come up with an arrangement for the show. And the piece is kind of, it's got a piano accompaniment, George sings on top, and there are panpipes. So not a lot to go on for a cello and a violin. So gosh, we kind of put our heads together and we had very short time to actually deliver this piece of music that I remember we got to the studio and one of the producers said, what other instruments or what other people do you need to make the track happen? And we hadn't prepared a score and we said, we'll just do it. So you'll hear the track and you'll hear what sounds like, again, a string orchestra, but that was just Laura and I in a studio for 6 hours playing all the little bits here and there. Oh, the part. Yes. That is amazing. Let's listen then to Mother's Pride. I think— And how beautiful this was, Mother's Pride with the Ayub Sisters. We will be back after a short break. Welcome to Women's Radio Station. I'm Sarah Louise Ryan and welcome to Love Lessons Live on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Future Classic Women Awards with me, Stefania Passamonte, on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Julie May Is Listening. Hi, this is Anna Kennedy and we're at Women's Radio Station, so supporting women's well-being, and we're talking all things autism. Women, the possibilities are endless. That's what makes us different. Hi, I'm Falguni Desai of Action Coach. Are you a business owner with more than 5 employees? Do you want to grow your business? I'm a London-based business coach who helps small and medium-sized businesses to grow and make a profit. I will help you identify the strengths and weaknesses weaknesses in your business and then work with you to improve it using a structured framework. To find out more, contact me on 07721 654640 and book your 1-hour complimentary 1-to-1 coaching session. Thank you. Hi, I'm Tracy Whedon of Brownhill Insurance Group. We are an award-winning, family-run insurance broker covering a wide range of insurance products ranging from commercial lines to personal household high net worth, and fine art. You can contact us on 0208 658 4334 or visit our website www.brownhillgroup.co.uk for your free, no-obligation quotation. At Brown Hills, we've got you covered. Hi, I'm Hazel Butterfield, a blogger, book lover, and mental health advocate, and you can listen to my show Get Booked here at Women's Radio Station. Daily at 5 AM and 5 PM. Throughout my shows, we'll talk about the books I've read, new releases, chat to authors, publishers, and book enthusiasts, all with the theme and aim of supporting women's emotional well-being. If you have a book to tell us about, get in touch at presenters@womensradiostation.com. Join me on my show and share my love of books and writing. Hi, I'm Valentina Barbacci, and I'm the executive director of Media Matters for Women. We're a registered charity operating in Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and we produce and share podcasts via Bluetooth on mobile phones, focusing specifically on women and girls excluded from information due to extreme poverty. We empower those living in rural areas with media that transforms how they access, own, and share information. To find out more and be part of this movement, come check out our website at MediaMattersForWomen.org. You're listening to Women's Radio Station, supporting women's well-being. Women's Radio Station's creating a global network for the empowerment of women, and we want you to be involved. Join us on Instagram and Twitter at Women's Radio Station, that's Women's Radio STN, or Facebook Women's Radio Station to keep up to date with all our exciting programs. Welcome back to Future Classic Women Awards on Women's Radio Station. Our special guests today are the fantastic Ayoub Sisters, Sarah and Laura. Sarah and Laura, I mean, people heard you playing, but you know, Laura, you play the violin, main instrument, but you also play the The cello, am I right? Piano. The piano, right. The piano instead. Laura is an amazing pianist and cellist. Do you play the violin? I think I've seen you swapping instruments. I did start on the violin, but then moved on to the cello eventually. All right. So any recommendation to a younger musician, you know, in doing more than one instrument or sticking to one, for example? It's a good question because that was one concept I battled with my whole life, actually. Because whenever I'd hear a new sound, I wanted to be the one creating it. So when I went away on an orchestra course and I heard brass and woodwind and percussion, that blew my mind and I wanted to try it. Eventually my mum was like, focus on 2 instruments, that's enough. And I was fortunate enough to study those 2 instruments at conservatoire level at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. And I've kept that going and we also write as well. So you could say we almost do 3 instruments because that's a third major. I mean, composition is a big thing. Isn't it? You don't just wake up one morning and you can write an orchestra score or these type of things, isn't it? Yeah, you need to kind of hone in that craft, and if you can make time for it, I think being diverse is the key in the industry today. It's all great being a soloist and being a virtuoso on the piano or the violin, but having that adaptability and being able to play crossover, being able to improvise, record, or play another instrument is only an asset to in my opinion. Well, one odd question, you know, this is the fourth part and normally we go for the odd question. Have you ever thought about another career if you were not making it as a musician? I am, I do love property. What? I love the idea of developing a building, looking at floor plans. Are you a big fan of Location Location Location? Design, absolutely. I'm all over that. Oh, Grand Design, maybe in my next Next life, who knows? We'll see. Well, this life too, you know, that's part of life. You need to live somewhere. Yes, that's true. And you, Laura? I was kind of torn between medicine and music during that period of time at school where you, you had to make those kind of decisions. But no, I don't, I don't— you need to really, really love medicine in order to to get through even just the 5 years of university and then the years of becoming a junior doctor and then night shifts and then there's, there's— it's not easy. Yeah, but Laura, it's the same with piano, isn't it? With music. Yeah, but then I love practicing. Oh gosh. Yeah, that's the difference. You really need to feel the call somehow, right? I wasn't quite sure that it was for me. Absolutely. So what's What's next? Recording and touring. We're going on tour in, gosh, not very long, maybe about 5, 6 days' time. Oh, wow. Yes. But soon is Sara's birthday, isn't it? That's our first concert. The first concert. Yeah. How to celebrate big. So where is that going to be? So we firstly have 2 concerts with the RSNO who we haven't played with in a while, so that'll be very nice to go back and do the RSNO Proms with them. Fantastic. In Inverness and in Perth, in Scotland, of course. And we also have one more in Scotland, which is actually a live radio recording, which is in front of a live audience, which will be performing a short classical— For which radio? That's BBC Radio 3 in June. Oh, fantastic. We'll listen to it. What are you going to play? We're going to be playing— actually, you'll like this— we'll be playing Danse Macabre, the piece that we won the Big Music— your signature piece, I think. Actually, we'll be presenting a new piece of music by a wonderful Egyptian composer called Mohammed Saad Baisha, Mawla Dushikh, which is a great fiery virtuosic piece which actually includes a quarter tone being played by the violin. So if it appears like I'm playing out of tune, I'm not. It is actually written like that, and we'll hopefully be presenting something Scottish as well for our Glasgow audience. Is it difficult to play out of tune? I do it all the time. No, the quarter tone is a very distinct— it's a scale. It's not playing out of tune. It is like a flavor, and we are still trying to wrap our heads around it by trying to sing it. And then if you can sing it, you can hopefully translate that on the strings. But it's amazing when you hear it done properly. It's not out of tune. It's a different scale. It's just a foreign scale. Yeah. And any new album or single coming up? Yeah, we've been doing lots of recording, and we just released our first single on last Friday. We recorded 2 more tracks last week, which will be coming out hopefully in the next couple of months. And we're writing any chance that we get to write, we write. And really that is the main focus for us moving forward is to be mostly dropping singles as regularly as we can be, to just be giving people music to listen to. So one big question, you know, we launched last last year, Album Day, uh, that was in October, and that would be the second Album Day in October again, around the middle of October, around our birthday, Laura. And talking about the importance of an album versus singles, do you think there is this big difference between releasing an album or releasing, you know, many singles, like in this case maybe putting them together, or— I think the most important thing is building an audience. And how do you do that? There's many ways, but giving an audience something to enjoy and also something to retain their attention. I think the trouble is if you only record albums, let's face it, albums take a long time to make. If you really, if you do it properly, you want to write something good and it takes time to record and then to perfect and then mix and then master and then marketing strategy and all that kind of thing, it can mean that you have very long gaps unless you're Ariana Grande and can produce 2 in the space of 5 months, which is crazy. So it's— for us, we've— there has been a big gap, so we're now trying to shorten the gap by actually presenting new music regularly, and we've decided that singles is the best way to do that for the time being. And so we're listening to your latest single, Rasputin. And this was Rasputin with the Ayoop Sisters from their latest single. If you have any question that you would like to ask to our guests or nomination for our future Classic Women Awards, please email presenters@womensradiostation.com or tweet us @WomensRadioStationSTN. Again, a big thanks to Sarah and Laura Ayoop. You've been listening to Future Classic Awards, and live every day, 10 AM and 10 PM London time. Welcome to Women's Radio Station. I'm Sarah Louise Ryan, and welcome to Love Lessons Live on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Future Classic Women Awards with me, Stefania Passamonte, on Women's Radio Station. Hello and welcome to Julie May Is Listening. 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