Making A Maestro

Twenty of Europe’s most exceptional young conductors step into the Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition knowing each round could mean sudden‑death, that one slip of the baton might signal disaster, and that only one competitor will win the £15,000 cash prize and, more importantly, the role of Assistant Conductor with the London Symphony Orchestra for up to one year. With so much at stake, Making A Maestro unveils a high‑pressure showcase of talent, nerve and musical authority - exactly the kind of stage that Phil Edgar-Jones OBE, Executive Director, Unscripted Originals at Sky had in mind when he said: “Platforming the best young artists around is at the heart of what we do at Sky Arts, so it couldn’t be more fitting for us to bring this competition to a wider audience of classical music lovers. Judging by the shortlist of international talent in the final, the future for the baton is bright.”

Sky Post Production's equally talented Finishing Team has a proven track record for delivering high-end, engaging music programming, from Johnson & Knopfler's Music Legends, Greatest Guitar Riffs and Greatest Basslines, to the Indian classical music Darbar Festival, Mozart's Women and Mozart: Genius For Hire. So, when the chance arose to work with Love Monday, already BAFTA nominated for Backstage with the London Philharmonic Orchestra for Sky Arts, the team were keen to roll up their sleeves and to get stuck in on a brilliant new series that takes viewers on an exciting journey into the world of classical music and aims to explore the lives and challenges of aspiring conductors as they strive to master their craft and to lead orchestras.

Rebecca Amarasinghe – Post Producer

This three-part series for Sky Arts in HD and 5.1 was originally intended to be 2 x 60’ episodes, but was increased to 3 x 60’ with the third episode set to be a standalone, full performance featuring the London Symphony Orchestra and the eventual Winner. Making A Maestro would be our first time working with Love Monday Productions; winners of the 2026 Broadcast Award for Emerging Indie of the Year, no less. We were already aware of their extensive experience across Factual programming, as well as their work with live musical performances including orchestras, so we were very much looking forward to teaming up with them for this project. Post Production was a collaboration between facilities with Love Monday’s Offline editorial team working remotely from Wise Wolf via our virtual machines, with Final Post then being completed at Sky’s West London campus. Dubbing Mixers, Finn Curry and Tom Nursey, were carefully selected for their expertise in live music performances with our lead Mixer, Finn, being a classically trained viola player. Colourist, Mark Mulcaster, no stranger to the musical world himself, also worked closely with Director of Photography, Justin Frahm, to establish the visual style for the Grade; while Online Editor, Jennifer Ford, worked meticulously to refine and perfect the final look. As Post Producer, it was brilliant to oversee this production and to observe as our craft team quickly built a strong and trusting relationship with Love Monday’s Director & Executive Producer, Naveed Chowdhary-Flatt, to the point where it felt like a long‑established collaboration. It's been great fun and we really look forward to working with them again.

Rachael Hunt – Post Production Coordinator

Having now worked on Greatest Basslines and Making a Maestro, both for Sky Arts, I feel as if I’ve been handed the music programming baton - shifting from rhythm sections and iconic basslines to orchestras and emerging conductors. It’s been an enjoyable experience helping to bring such a rich, character-driven series to life. My connection to music documentaries is a personal one. Growing up with a dad who is both a drummer and guitarist, I spent a lot of time at gigs and watching music documentaries with him. That early exposure sparked not just a love of music, but a real interest in the stories behind it - the process, the personalities and the artistry. As a result, playing a part in bringing Making a Maestro to life felt especially meaningful. One of the things I love most about my role is seeing a programme evolve from early rough cuts, all the way through to final delivery. And working on a show like this, one that really celebrates the skill and passion of young conductors from all different backgrounds and cultures, was just great!

As Post Coordinator, I played a key role in keeping the entire Post Production process running smoothly and in sync. Working closely with Post Producer, Rebecca Amarasinghe, I coordinated the edits, streamlined feedback and managed deliverables while maintaining clear communication across all teams. I also proactively actioned schedule changes and managed bookings with Edit Operations, liaising with our craft teams to track progress and tackle any issues early on. I also teamed up with our clients and the Edit Support team to make sure that the editors at Wise Wolf had everything they needed to work remotely, as well as coordinating with Love Monday to make sure that their on-site sign-off and VO sessions ran as smoothly as possible.

This project came with its own set of challenges – working with additional cameras, a tight schedule and more to deliver including a third episode, twenty contributor clips and three promos. As Coord, I ensured that I stayed highly organised and then adapted quickly as priorities shifted to keep everything on track. It was a real pleasure working with Finn, Tom,  Erin, Mark and Jen – together, we made sure Post didn’t miss a beat (couldn’t resist!). As the series shows, any team, be that an orchestra or a Post house, thrives on teamwork and communication and it was a real career highlight to be a part of the Sky Post ensemble bringing that same energy every day.

Finn Curry – Re-recording Mixer

Working on Making a Maestro for Sky Arts was a uniquely rewarding project, blending the technical demands of broadcast audio with the nuance and emotional depth of classical performance. My background in classical music - having studied viola at Birmingham Conservatoire - played a central role in how I approached both the material and the mixing process. A key element of the production involved working with recordings of the London Symphony Orchestra. As with many live or semi-live orchestral recordings, there were occasional imperfections - coughs, chair movements, page turns, incidental bumps and also crew noises - that needed careful attention without compromising the natural ambience of the performance. To address this, I relied heavily on iZotope’s restoration tools, particularly Spectral Repair. Using the Attenuate function, I was able to remove unwanted clicks and transient disturbances embedded within the recordings on a case by case basis. This approach allowed me to preserve the musical content while subtly removing distractions that could pull the listener out of the experience. The spectral workflow was especially effective in dense orchestral passages, where traditional editing methods would have been too intrusive.

Beyond restoration, I also carried out mastering work on the stereo orchestral mixes. The goal here was not to over-process the recordings, but to enhance clarity, cohesion, and tonal balance. Gentle EQ shaping and dynamic control - using mainly the Fab Filters and Oxford plugin suites - helped to round out the overall sound, ensuring that the orchestra felt full and present without losing its natural dynamics, whilst at the same time being appropriate for broadcast. Another important aspect of the mix was creating a cohesive sense of space between the orchestral performances and the spoken elements. Using Altiverb 8, I placed the dialogue of the conductors and judges within the same environment as the orchestra by applying a carefully chosen concert hall preset. At the same time, I accounted for the fact that many of the talking head segments were filmed in smaller rehearsal rooms rather than the main hall at St Luke’s. To reflect this I used tighter, more controlled reverb settings for these sections, creating a more intimate and focused sound. This contrast between the expansive concert hall sound and the drier, more contained talking head recordings helped to clearly distinguish the different environments while still maintaining an overall sense of cohesion. By carefully balancing these spatial treatments, I was able to unify the sonic world of the programme while preserving the natural differences between locations. This enhanced the storytelling, giving the audience a clear sense of movement between rehearsal spaces and the main concert hall.

Ultimately, the combination of technical precision and musical understanding was key to delivering a polished final mix. My classical training informed not just what I heard, but how I chose to shape it - ensuring that the final result stayed true to the intention of the performances while meeting the high standards of broadcast audio. Making a Maestro was a project where craftsmanship and musicality went hand in hand, and it stands as a great example of how an audio engineer’s artistic background can directly enhance the storytelling power of sound.

Tom Nursey – Sound Editor

Being across the first couple of days on each episode of Making a Maestro meant that I was responsible for the Sound Edit; primarily Dialogue, SFX, and Music. As a very music-led show, with most of the action taking place indoors, it was clear that the focus would lean more heavily towards Dialogue and Music rather than Effects. On the Dialogue side it was very much business as usual: building a solid foundation with smooth fades, consistent room-tones, and clean, flowing sentences across edits. This approach allowed Finn to stay as hands-off as possible with the keyboard and mouse, giving him the freedom to focus on the faders and the Mix itself.

The Music Editing brought a different kind of challenge. With music sitting right at the heart of the programme’s storytelling, the Music edit was more about shaping the longer performances as the narrative evolved. Each sequence needed a level of care to ensure musical moments carried naturally across scenes, sections, and sometimes even between completely different pieces, while still feeling purposeful and coherent to the pictures - something the client was very keen to maintain. Keeping that bigger musical picture in mind helped each episode to flow, and meant the tracks arrived to Finn in the Mix in a really solid place and allowed him to stay focused on the creative choices that really brought the performances to life.

Erin Adams – Trainee Audio Dubbing Assistant

As a Trainee Audio Dubbing Assistant at Sky I’ve had the opportunity to work on a range of projects, but Making a Maestro was the first to be so musically driven. For this project I was responsible for the conform and build preparation, liaising with the Mixers to understand what they needed from me in order to start work immediately, as well as with the Post Producer, Coord and Edit Operations to ensure we had all the audio from the shoot days available. With the show being so music-led my workload was slightly reduced, so I used that time to sit with the Mixers and to gain experience in other areas. I spent time with Tom Nursey shadowing the music edit, observing how backgrounds are created to enhance the show’s ambience. I subsequently completed the external effects for Episode 1 which Tom then folded into the project.

I also worked closely with Finn Curry throughout to keep him up to date with any issues or editorial changes as they came in. Finn walked me through some key techniques, including an overview of the noise reduction process for stereo clips, which gave me a better understanding of the session layout and helped me improve my build for Episode 2. It was also a great opportunity to practice noise reduction on several conductor clips, and while my progress was initially slow, my confidence and competence improved significantly. Given the tight turnaround I focused on reducing the Mixers’ workload wherever possible, which led to me taking on backgrounds for Episode 2 as well. Using the internal backgrounds that Tom created as a reference, I provided internal and external backgrounds along with spot effects (such as the contributors' suitcases), to help reduce Finn’s workload in the days that followed.

Overall, this project was an amazing opportunity to gain meaningful experience in areas I hadn’t explored as deeply on other shows - noise reduction for social media clips, troubleshooting technical issues, and building effects and backgrounds. It was also the first time I’d been involved from the Start Up meeting onwards and it was invaluable to see the process unfold all the way through to wrap.

Mark Mulcaster – Colourist

It was a real pleasure to work on Making a Maestro with new client and Executive Producer for Love Monday, Naveed Chowdhary‑Flatt. All three episodes of this multi‑camera series were filmed over just a couple of days at the London Symphony Orchestra’s home at St Luke’s Church - a beautiful Grade I listed building designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor and John James. The production used multiple cameras, mainly Canon C400s and C500s, with a Sony Burano for interviews, and each episode ran to around 45 minutes with roughly 1,100 cuts. With time extremely tight, Naveed’s brief was refreshingly clear: keep the look natural, avoid anything overly stylised, and build a consistent visual identity across the series. To achieve this, we decided to begin with Episode 3, the winning conductor’s full‑length performance with the LSO, as it was allotted more time and would serve as the visual “DNA” for Episodes 1 and 2. For a schedule this compressed, the first step would be triage - identifying which scenes or set‑ups would require the most attention and allocating time accordingly. I built a streamlined grade stack with clearly labelled layers and pre‑set shapes that could be switched on and off or quickly adapted as needed.

Episodes 1 and 2 combined competition footage from the main hall at St Luke’s with interviews filmed both on location and in contestants’ homes. Although St Luke’s is a stunning space with plenty of texture, it presented its own challenges: mixed tungsten and daylight, large windows that shifted the lighting state throughout the day, and a surprising amount of reflected light bouncing off the conductor’s podium and sheet music. The interviews required the most work, as the rapid shooting schedule meant the set‑ups needed careful massaging to create separation between foreground and background.

Episode 3 - the final performance - contained 1,267 cuts. Its look became the foundation for the rest of the series, though it carried slightly more saturation to bring out the richness of the LSO’s instruments. Filmed in the evening, it avoided the daylight issues of the documentary episodes, but introduced a new challenge: altered camera positions to accommodate the full orchestra which meant that the production relied heavily on PZT (pan‑zoom-tilt) cameras. These offered huge flexibility when operated from a central control point, but their colorimetry required work to integrate smoothly into the cut.

The production was lensed by DOP Justin Frahm, who joined us for the grade sign‑off. Given that the schedule had to work around the LSO’s own lighting requirements, Justin and his team did a fantastic job capturing high‑quality material under challenging conditions. Having the DOP in the Baselight suite is always invaluable: you gain full context for why certain choices were made on set, and they in turn get to see how their images translate in the Grade. That kind of symbiotic relationship makes the work both easier and more rewarding.

This was the first time that I’d really studied conducting in detail, and it was fascinating to see how personal each conductor’s style was in their interpretation, physicality and individual relationship with the orchestra. It made me rethink how I assess a conductor’s influence and importance. Overall, this was a deeply satisfying project. Delivering above expectations, on time, under pressure, and with such a collaborative team made the experience all the more rewarding.

Jennifer Ford – Online Editor

Making a Maestro follows the long‑running Donatella Flick Conducting Competition in which 20 young conductors from across Europe come to London to compete in front of an expert judging panel. The first two episodes chart the competition stages which unfold across three rounds, narrowing the field from 20 to a final three before the ultimate winner is chosen. Throughout these episodes we meet many of the competitors, learn their personal stories and watch them tackle some incredibly demanding musical pieces, made even more daunting when one of the composers is sitting on the jury, adding an extra layer of pressure to an already high‑stress environment. Add in a surprise royal appearance from King Charles III during rehearsals and the result is a visually rich, tension‑filled story of hopeful young conductors striving for a life‑changing opportunity.

From an Online perspective the project came with several challenges, not least of which was the fast turnaround time. To mitigate this, we prioritised the work in order of importance and set about working quickly and with the most appropriate tools. One issue to deal with was a number of shots that required stabilising. After speaking with the DOP it emerged that this was likely due to shooting at a distance on long lenses, as most of the cameras had to be placed well away from the orchestra. That meant that any slight camera movements, or even vibrations caused by the instruments themselves, would be exaggerated. To counter these, I stabilised those shots using DaVinci Resolve, as the standard stabilisers in Avid and BCC introduced too many warps and artefacts. Resolve is brilliant in this kind of situation and the workflow paid off, fixing the material and earning a QC pass for all three episodes. Naveed was really pleased with what we achieved within the time available.

Communication between Planning, Audio, Grade and Online was exceptional with everyone working collaboratively as one cohesive team. Our Post Producer, Rebecca, handled handled everything with an expert eye, keeping the whole team fully updated and motivated, allowing us to work seamlessly together to complete the series to the highest possible standard. Ultimately, we delivered three warm, engaging, and beautifully crafted programmes which capture the emotional highs and lows of the competitors’ journeys - and the client was delighted with the finished series!

Despite being a demanding project, it was highly rewarding. I found myself genuinely invested in each stage of the competition, making it a wonderful series to work on and a compelling watch in its own right.