Heather’s mixtape

Double-bassist and director of Classical Evolution, Heather Bird shares her mixtape of music which reminds her of childhood musical encounters, teenage hearthrobs, student music making, living and working in Spain and performing at the Proms for the first time…….

Brandenburgs – apparently when I was a baby my dad would put the headphones from his big wooden stereo on me and play this. I’d sit there for hours and yell the place down if they took the headphones off before the end of a phrase. Strange kid….My grandma bought me a penny whistle when I was 18 months and I worked out bits of 3 and 5 on it.

Dvorak- my mum’s favourite piece and she adored Du Pré. She died when I was 12 and was so supportive of my flute playing. She wanted me to take up the cello as well as the flute. Bass is an improvement on that I suppose! Still can’t listen to this without crying.

Mahler 2. Mum took me to see the Hallé playing this when I was 4. The bit where the flutes go mad in the last movement is the reason I took up the flute.

Save All Your Kisses For Me. I had the best grandma in the world. She was a school cook in Liverpool. I would phone her every day from when I was 6 and we would sing this down the phone to each other.

So What – first heard this when I was about 10 and completely fell in love. Would improvise over the kind of blue album for hours on my flute. Have lost count of how many copies of this album I’ve bought.

Lloyd Cole. My first love. Several ex-boyfriends bear a striking resemblance….

Sueños de autostop!! I lived near Cádiz for three years and played in a band with some Argentinian guys. They introduced me to this band Me Daras Mil Hijos which translates as “I’ll give you 1000 sons. Optimistic. This reminds me of me, my kid and my band driving down the Costa de la Luz to gigs in Sevilla and Granada singing along to this. Very happy time of my life and amazing musically to work with these incredible musicians.

Nielsen 5. I got put in Symphony Orchestra at the RNCM in my first week. We did Nielsen 5 and toured it to Denmark and Sweden. It was my first real taste of top class playing. I was thinking about leaving the RNCM for various reasons and this made me stay. I also accidentally offered the queen of Denmark a free pint of carlsberg accidentally in Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen.

Stone Roses. This album was the theme tune to my late teens.

Took my son to see them a couple of years ago and he said that I was mum dancing. How time flies…..

Brahms. Played my first prom back after a break to be a parent with the OAE under Marin Alsop. It was stunning and working with her was an immense privilege. It was great to get back to that level after the parent break as you always wonder in the back of your mind if you will get to that point again. It was a wonderful gig and the OAE are definitely my favourite orchestra to work with. I felt very lucky that night.