Freya Parr
Digital Editor and Staff Writer, BBC Music Magazine
Freya Parr is BBC Music Magazine's digital editor and staff writer, editing and writing on all styles of music across both the website and print magazine. She has also written for titles including the Guardian, Circus Journal, Frankie and Suitcase Magazine, and runs The Noiseletter, a fortnightly arts and culture publication. Freya's main areas of interest and research lie in 20th-century and contemporary music. She's a regular sea shanty singer, folk obsessive and occasional flautist, pianist, organist and musical theatre director.
Recent articles by Freya Parr
Happy International Women's Day. Here are the best female composers of all time
Our guide to the best female composers from history, many of whom have historically been wrongly excluded from the canon. Let's put that right – get to know their music now!
The musician George Harrison called 'the Godfather of World Music'
Ravi Shankar's biographer Oliver Craske introduces us to the fascinating musical life of the great sitar virtuoso, composer, father of Norah Jones and Anoushka Shankar, teacher of Philip Glass and friend of Yehudi Menuhin
Think opera's not for you? Try these seven beginner-friendly masterpieces
Want to try opera but don't know where to start? Freya Parr shares the best operas for beginners to the form
Welsh composers: five of the very best
Wales has produced some of the finest singers in musical history, but what about its composers? Here are some of the best Welsh composers you should know about
Ondes Martenot: a guide to this early, eerie electronic musical instrument
We explain the workings of the unusual instrument, the Ondes Martenot, that takes centre stage in Messiaen's Turangalîla Symphony
Stravinsky Rite of Spring: the work that shattered classical music tradition
We explore Stravinsky's groundbreaking ballet The Rite of Spring and its seminal place in music history, before picking out some very best recordings
Desert Island Discs: the most popular classical music choices
We reflect on the programme’s most popular choices, and the BBC Music Magazine team choose the pieces they would happily be stranded on an island with.
Six irresistible Scottish songs you can't help singing along to
Freya Parr shares her favourite six traditional Scottish songs
Irish folk songs: 7 beautiful Irish songs you can't help singing along to
Self-confessed folk obsessive Freya Parr shares her favourite 7 Irish folk songs
The Godfather music: why was Nino Rota's score disqualified from the 1972 Oscars?
Despite being initially nominated, Nino Rota's score for 'The Godfather' was replaced by John Addison's soundtrack for 'Sleuth'.
Lin-Manuel Miranda: 'Anyone who tells you Sondheim isn’t an influence on them is lying'
As the legendary Hamilton creator makes his directorial debut in the film adaptation of Jonathan Larson's musical tick, tick... BOOM!, he tells us all about the music that has shaped his life and work
Mahler Symphony 5: a guide to this journey from darkness to triumph, and its best recordings
We name the greatest recordings of Mahler's legendary Fifth Symphony
Vienna New Year's Day Concert: the famous concert's dark beginnings
How Clemens Krauss and the Nazis set off a Vienna New Year tradition in 1939
Christmas choral music: 11 transcendentally beautiful works for the festive season
What are the greatest songs and choral works written for the festive period?
Just why are choristers' voices so beautiful? Science has the answer
Why are choir boys and girls' singing voices so tuneful? Scientists explain just what makes choristers' voices so special and distinctive
History of carol singing: when did the much-loved Christmas tradition begin?
The history of carol singing may go back as far as the medieval era, and has appeared in literature for many years, but it was during Victorian times it became really popular
Why did the FBI keep a file on him? And more fascinating facts from Leonard Bernstein's eventful life
From West Side Story to the Berlin Wall, here is a short guide to the main events in the remarkable life of Leonard Bernstein
Bach for beginners: 12 great recordings to unlock the Baroque master's magical music
Pianist George Lepauw introduces us to his essential Bach listening
The best classical music for winter
We select our favourite wintry classical music works to accompany your cold winter evenings
Best school hymns: ten tunes we loved to belt out at school assembly
Presenting ten of the best school hymns that everyone looked forward to – and belted at the top of their lungs
Best of Elgar: seven essential works by the great British composer
We choose the best pieces by the legendary figure of English music, Elgar
Best piano concertos of all time: 12 incredible works for piano and orchestra
These are some of the greatest piano concertos - the finest works ever written for piano with orchestra
Hardest classical work to memorise: we asked top musicians to reveal the works that test their grey cells
From Beethoven to Glass, three performers choose the work that they've found hardest to commit to memory
The Lark Ascending: the story of Vaughan Williams's evocative masterpiece, and five great recordings
A guide to The Lark Ascending, Vaughan Williams's much-loved work for violin and orchestra