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Some of the most important and genre defining movements in rock and pop have their roots in classical music's avant garde. And some of the most innovative songwriters and musicians are those who dig deep into the concert halls, conservatoires and rehearsal rooms for new ideas. Join Elizabeth Alker for this very personal investigation of what makes great contemporary music.

As the daughter of a pair of classically trained musicians and teachers, Elizabeth grew up playing the clarinet, saxophone, recorder and piano. But as a child she was as likely to hear a record by Bob Dylan, Billie Holiday or Mike Oldfield as a Chopin nocturne, a Satie gnossienne or a violin concerto by Shostakovich. Hopping between musical genres is natural to her, as borne out by a career combining rock journalism for ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 6 Music and hosting ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 3's Classical Live and Unclassified. For her - as the composer Steve Reich once told her - "good music is good music".

In this programme Elizabeth will share what she's learnt on her own trajectories from classical conservatoire to club dancefloor, between the concert hall and the sweaty rock venue. She will join the dots between Musique Concrete and The Beatles, between Berg, Webern and Sonic Youth, between Schoenberg, John Cage, Brian Eno and Nils Frahm, Bruckner to No Wave and Riot grrl. She’ll be backed up by musicians with a similar philosophy – you’ll hear from Paul McCartney, Sonic Youth founder Lee Renaldo, Jean-Michel Jarre and Nils Frahm. You will never hear their music in quite the same way again.