The Works：Highlight of studio performances in 2014: Mara Measor &Teriver Cheung, Deserts Chang, Wa

The Year of the Ram is almost upon us. But before it arrives we’re going to spend this week’s show celebrating some of the great musicians and performances we’ve had in our studio in the Year of the Horse. Some performances you may have seen before, but we’re also including two special performances we haven’t previously broadcast.
In part one, the distaff side: three female singer-songwriters based at various spots around the world. Deserts Chang is from Taiwan. Wanting Qu was born in Harbin, but now lives in Vancouver. And locally born musician Mara Measor came to our studio from her current home city of New York.
We begin with Mara, who recorded an performance for us with guitarist Teriver Cheung. The song was “I Want to Be Your Bride”, and it’s a song that seemed particularly close to her heart and particularly timely. Just a few weeks after singing it for us, Mara was married in New York.
And we’re kicking off part two with an instrumental emphasis. The piano and the euphonium.
In early November, we were delighted to be meet one of the world’s best-selling living composers and pianists. Ludovico Einaudi, is known and applauded not just for his instrumental albums, but also for his movie soundtracks. In our studio, he treated us to the beautifully reflective piece “Una Mattina”. You may have heard it in the movie “Intouchables”.
On a much brassier note, an instrument you don’t hear so often … and we had two of them. Steven Mead is known as both a player and teacher of the euphonium. He and his wife Misa treated us to a duet, in a performance that became one of our most popular Facebook videos.
We’re going to end this show with the second of the pieces that we recorded but haven’t previously shown. It’s from the locally based ska band The Red Stripes, who specialise in the flavour of the West Indies.