When writing about musicians, it’s usual to see a familiar career path – the opportunities offered, the progressive filling of a familiar-looking CV. In the case of conductors, for example, it usually involves a journey through established orchestras or ensembles, each post gaining in responsibility and prestige; for pianists a competition win perhaps, followed by city-hopping recitals; for a singer, a progress through the route of roles that suit a certain voice type. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But neither is it the only way – or, for some artists, the right one.

Take our February issue's cover artist, the conductor John Wilson, whose journey continues to defy predictability. I first encountered him in relation to his vibrant performances of MGM scores, followed by equally fine recordings of Elgar, Copland and others. Now come two discs of completely thrilling music-making from a hand-crafted ensemble under the newly revived Sinfonia of London name. Given the path of building his own orchestras, often for repertoire or recording-only projects, Wilson is very well known by specific audiences for specialist projects (not least to viewers of the BBC Proms), but maybe not fully appreciated for the full breadth of his work. He is an artist who knows his own mind – and it’s a refreshingly open one, the only criteria for repertoire being its quality and his own tastes, demonstrated by the way references to Eric Coates, Paul McCartney and Schubert all sit naturally in the same points of discussion. Best of all, he’s an artist who adores recording, the legacy of which is destined to be a discography of the highest quality, comprising a refreshingly unorthodox mix of repertoire.

The mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey could also be said to fit into an unorthodox career trajectory, one that might sit within the wonderfully odd-shaped box shared by the likes of Barbara Hannigan or, in another discipline, violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja. Lindsey’s first Alpha recording turned out to be of Kurt Weill songs, which sits neither neatly nor obviously among her other albums of contemporary repertoire, Monteverdi, Scarlatti, Handel and Haydn. All credit to her, too, for following her own path.

Perhaps that’s something that defines our age – not just culturally but in wider society too: a bold openness to thinking differently, to challenging comfortable consensus and the accepted ways of doing things, whether that be forging new paths, or sometimes reviving old ones. Add in the equally independent-minded pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, and the trio of musicians we focus on in our newest issue of the magazine rather neatly captures the variety and diversity of the sort of intriguing artists most compellingly shaping music today. Throughout the year, we’ll profile many more such thought-provoking figures. As we step into a new decade, perhaps the only thing that’s certain is the uncertainty of what shape the years ahead will take. It’s in this mould that the most fascinating artists of our age, or indeed any age, are formed – and like all great artists they will be both chronicler and catalysts of whatever that future might be. We promise to keep our ears and minds open to telling their stories.

martin.cullingford@markallengroup.com

This article appeared in the February issue of Gramophone: find out more about the issue