My Saturday with Liz Nolan: I have a real problem when I hear classical music described as ‘relaxing’

'Limerick has the feel of a small town, whilst being a thriving city'

Liz Nolan, Lyric FM. Picture Andres Poveda

08.00

I get up on weekdays at about 6am so I leave it till about 8am on Saturdays. I love pottering around, getting breakfast ready and listening to the birds. It’s a meditative time for me.

My garden is slightly Jurassic Park. The bees love it as I am always forgetting to mow the grass. I have a wilderness of hydrangeas and lavender and a garden shed that if I opened the door everything would explode out like something in a comic. 

I live with my son Sean, 16, in a lovely estate with terrific neighbours. I love living in Limerick.

10.30

Most Saturday mornings I go to the Milk Market beside the Lyric FM offices. We are proud of having the station so enmeshed in the city. 

Each week, amazing artisan producers and craftspeople arrive with wonderful food and gorgeous crafts. 

Half of Limerick descends and nearly everyone you know will be there so I love to walk around and have a chat with people.

13.00

I’ll have lunch and then I’ll settle down to do a bit of prep work for our Summer Lunchtime Series. I’ll listen to some of the works and get my script together. These works of music are like great works of literature — there is always something new to listen to.

Each Tuesday during the summer we head to the National Concert Hall to broadcast live with National Symphony Orchestra Ireland and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. 

It’s an hour of the most fantastic music featuring guest conductors from all over the world and terrific young virtuosi. We get families, students, tourists, people on their lunch break… Everyone is dialled up to 100 and it’s a lovely celebration.

People often feel that classical music is elitist — it has almost become shorthand for upper class toffs. But it is the most exhilarating, profoundly moving thing.

I still can’t believe that I get to listen to music as my job. It’s a vocation for me.

16.00

I might go for a walk with Sean along the Shannon. An ideal Saturday would be spent in Amsterdam with him and his fabulous cousins. 

I’ve so many happy memories of that city and the Royal Concertgebouw is one of the wonders of the world.

17.00

If I’m feeling virtuous, I might do some yoga in front of the telly - something nice and easy for people, like me, who aren’t the most flexible. 

As someone who is on stage and on-air during the week, it’s nice to revel in the quiet of home and to have time to chill out. I find that very restorative.

18.00

I adore food but I don’t have much confidence in the kitchen. I go through the basics with as much aplomb as I can. Delia Smith and Nigella have helped a fair bit over the years. 

If we were to eat out it would likely be in Limerick institution Bella Italia. Their lasagna would make you cry with pleasure.

19.00

Occasionally, I might be presenting a show or event. I recently hosted an event for the National String Quartet Foundation. They run a top-class touring programme around the country and recently invited me to present a gala concert in Cork.

My son is into hip hop and jazz so we have a joyfully mad mix of music in the house. We recently went to see Tyler the Creator which was mindblowing. I love that my son is opening up new worlds of music to me. 

Normally, we will just watch TV and then he’ll mosey into his den and play online with his mates. I’m a real homebird — even my wardrobe is Jekyll and Hyde. 

One half is spangled dresses for being on stage and the other is jeans and joggers — smart casual is my nemesis.

21.00

I’ve been reading The Other Renaissance: From Copernicus to Shakespeare by Paul Strathern. 

I enjoy fiction but at the moment I’m in something of a historical vein. I enjoy getting the connections between narratives. 

It’s the same with music — the confluence of composers, styles and what was happening in the wider sphere. 

I find it fascinating to pull together these networks and to discover the coincidences and sparks which had such ramifications through the years.

22.00

I’ll go to bed at about 10pm. I’ll usually have a novel downloaded from BorrowBox but I also listen over and over again to Agatha Christie. I find her characters so satisfying. 

I recently enjoyed Margaret Atwood’s Hag-Seed. Sometimes I do mull a bit but I’m working on letting that go. I find that the exhaustion of middle age is great for conking out.

• The Full Score with Liz Nolan airs on Lyric FM Monday to Thursday from 1pm to 4pm. 
• Nolan will also present a series of summer lunchtime concerts in the National Concert Hall on August 12, 19 and 26. Full details are available on nch.ie.