Jenny Nelson

Hello! Thanks for popping by. I’m Jenny, or Jennifer, whichever you prefer, and I’m a radio and podcast exec producer, music programmer and writer, currently based in Truro where I’m on maternity leave, having recently departed my role of Programme Manager at Scala Radio.

Find out more about my current projects here and get in touch here – it’d be lovely to hear from you.

Radio

As Programme Manager at Scala Radio – a classical music and entertainment station broadcasting across the UK on DAB+, online, the app and on smart speaker – I oversaw the wonderful programming team and the day-to-day operation of the station.

In addition to this, I produced a range of regular programmes including Scala’s weekly film scores show with Mark Kermode, video game music show The Console with Luci Holland – the only weekly show dedicated to gaming soundtracks on UK national radio! – and Simon Mayo‘s weekend programmes.

I also produced series such as:

Two 4-part series celebrating music composed for the small screen called ‘TV On The Radio’ hosted by the brilliant composer Segun Akinola
A series of shows presented by Oscar-winning composer Anne Dudley
‘Beethoven: The Basics’ with Andy Bush, exploring the great composer’s life and music in his 250th anniversary year
A 4-part series about opera hosted by Penny Smith and sponsored by the Royal Opera House
A 2-part special about the Chineke! orchestra, hosted by its founder Chi-chi Nwanoku.
‘She Scores on Scala Radio’ hosted by some amazing women screen composers including Rachel Portman, Isobel Waller-Bridge, Laura Karpman and Jessica Curry.
‘The Empire Playlist on Scala Radio’, hosted by one of the film magazine’s contributing editors, Amon Warmann.
‘Max Richter on Scala Radio’, a 3-part series in which the acclaimed composer shared his musical influences.
Alexis Ffrench‘s Sunday afternoon show, in which the pianist and composer explored a range of classical sounds and styles.

I loved overseeing special days of programming on Scala, such as our 12-hour film score marathons ‘All Movies Easter Monday’, and ‘All Movies Monday’ on the August bank holiday, Guest Curator slots such as a Nigel Kennedy ‘takeover’, days devoted to great classical works played in full – ‘The Big Bank Holiday’ and ‘The Big Beethoven Bank Holiday’ – and days such as ‘Mindfulness Monday’, focusing on mental and physical wellbeing and exploring how music can be beneficial to our health.

I oversaw the Scala Radio Book Club hosted by Simon Mayo, Mark Forrest and most recently Penny Smith, booking both established and rising star authors for the weekly interview slot, and initiating partnerships for Independent Bookshop Week and the Indie Bookshop fiction titles of the month.

I also ran production workshops with Scala’s small but talented programming team, and commissioned series produced in-house, working closely with producers to develop their ideas and make them a reality.

In my spare time, I enjoy making podcasts and recent projects include Re: Producer, a series exploring the varied and hard-to-define role of a radio producer, and Maths Appeal, which I would highly recommend if you need to boost your maths confidence!

Shortly before joining Scala, I produced Phil Taggart’s Slacker podcast for Sony and I also presented and curated Classic Movies playlists for Deezer.

Previously, I worked as a Producer and Executive Producer at a range of music and speech networks including Classic FM, Heart, LBC and Absolute Radio, and at production companies TBI Media and Somethin’ Else.

I produced the Sony Gold award-winning Best Music Special ‘The John Bonham Story’ for BBC 6 Music / BBC Radio 2 and co-produced the Sony Gold award-winning Best Live Event Coverage ‘Absolute Blur’ for the Absolute Radio Network.

Please find out more about my radio experience here, my podcast work here and awards here.

Music

I’m a big fan of many musical genres, and have enjoyed music scheduling roles at a variety of radio networks including BBC 6 Music, Absolute 80s, Absolute Classic Rock, Classic FM and CBeebies Radio, as well as curating classical music playlists for Deezer.

I have a particular passion for music composed for film, television and video games. I produced ‘Saturday Night at the Movies’ at Classic FM from 2012 to early 2019 and launched the video game music show ‘High Score’, working with BAFTA-winning composer and presenter Jessica Curry for three series. I learnt a huge amount producing Scala Radio’s film music show presented by Mark Kermode and the weekly games music show with Luci Holland, The Console.

Writing

In my role as Executive Producer at Classic FM, I wrote a book about creative collaborations between film directors and composers. The ‘Saturday Night at the Movies’ book was published by Elliott & Thompson in March 2018.

I really enjoyed speaking about director/composer collaborations at the Stoke Newington Literary Festival, Berwins Salon North at Harrogate International Festivals and at Screen Music Connect at London’s Southbank Centre. If you’d like me to speak at your event about this subject or other aspects of screen music, get in touch!

Film

My interest in the film world extends beyond music composed for the screen, and I was a Trustee at the Cambridge Film Trust, organisers of the Cambridge Film Festival, from 2018 to 2022.