Latest news about BBC Radio 3

Eight new artists lined-up for BBC Radio 3’s talent scheme

BBC Radio 3 has announced the names of eight New Generation Artists who will join the station’s talent development scheme in September 2021 and remain on it until December 2023. The record number of artists includes some of the world’s most promising young musical talents, each on the threshold of a major international career. It includes...

BBC Radio 3 holds 24hr celebration of women composers

BBC Radio 3 will mark International Women’s Day with 24-hours of special programming which puts the work of female composers in the spotlight. As part of this, the station has commissioned two new works which receive their world premiere performances as part of the celebration. Film composer, vocalist and educator Ella Jarman-Pinto has set a text by the poet Jo Brandon for soprano Nazan Fikret and pianist Rebecca Cohen which explores the emotional impact of the pandemic on women, in a piece called Plango: A Cure Lament. It gets its world premiere performance in the drive-time programme In Tune...

Jorja Smith and Celeste to host BBC Radio 3 series

Singers Jorja Smith and Celeste are hosting two new series for BBC Radio 3 exploring music from orchestral and piano to pop. BBC Radio 3 says each 12-part series aims to uplift and restore with powerful and emotive music to soothe the soul. Tearjerker With Jorja Smith begins this Saturday and will be available on BBC Sounds, followed by Downtime Symphony with Celeste the following Saturday. Jorja Smith encourages listeners to press play and shed a tear, exploring the healing powers of sad music, from piano classics such as Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven to the soothing electronica of artists like James Blake...

BBC Radio 3 presents the first broadcast of Max Richter’s Voices on Global Human Rights Day

Bringing together 35 radio stations across the world BBC Radio 3, Thursday 10 December, 7.30pm. BBC Radio 3 marks Global Human Rights Day with the first ever broadcast of Max Richter’s Voices, incorporating text adapted from the 1948 Universal Declaration Of Human Rights. 35 European Broadcasting Union radio stations in Europe and beyond to join the broadcast, sharing a message of unity through music with international audiences across the globe. The performance features Max Richter and his ensemble, conductor Robert Ziegler, solo violinist Viktoria Mullova, soprano Grace Davidson, Tenebrae, and actor Sheila Atim as the narrator...

Live music returns to BBC Radio 3 Drive-Time

Live music is returning to BBC Radio 3’s drive-time show today following months of lockdown. In Tune will feature a live performance by members of Aurora Orchestra from the BBC Radio Theatre at 5pm. The feature has not been possible since March but today, following strict social distancing procedures the programme will transmit a live performance for the first time in nearly four months. Sean Rafferty – presenting from the Radio Theatre but without an audience in the auditorium – will welcome violinists Jamie Campbell and Alessandro Ruisi; violist Hélène Clément; cellist Reinoud Ford; and harpist Sally Pryce as they perform music including:...

What does the BBC’s Annual Plan say about Radio?

OPINION: The BBC is required to publish its annual plan each year. Just as with every broadcaster, however – and every industry – this year’s is atypical. Even when the COVID crisis abates, life will never be the same again. My notes here focus largely on radio, but it is worth citing the general headlines from the report, which bear out Ofcom’s latest research published yesterday: “As social distancing began in the UK in the third week of March, pan-BBC reach among adults peaked at 94%. That is: 94% of the British public used the BBC that week. 86% of young adults aged 16-34 used the BBC that week, up from 77% the week before”...

Audio and Radio Industry Awards 2020 – Winners

The winners at the Audio and Radio Industry Awards 2020 have been revealed at an event at the London Palladium. The BBC took home 17 awards including Emma Barnett for Best Speech Presenter on BBC Radio 5 Live, Radio 1 Breakfast with Greg James for Best New Show, The 1Xtra Breakfast Show with Dotty forBest Music Breakfast Show and Elis James and John Robins for Funniest Show on BBC Radio 5 Live. Bauer Media radio brands were recognised on the night with Absolute Radio winning Gold for their coverage for Mental Health Awareness Week as well as their regional station Forth 1 who won Best Local Radio Show...

BBC Radio 3 announces star-studded dramas including a never before produced Anthony Burgess script starring Christopher Eccleston

The new audio dramas will feature leading voices in British theatre and television including David Suchet, Maxine Peake, Christopher Eccleston and Toby Jones, and award-winning 20th century writers, thinkers and playwrights including Roy Williams OBE. The forthcoming commissions tackle bold issues ranging from a women’s journey joining an all-female militia in Northern Syria, to Shakespeare’s play Othello staged in a contemporary world and a drama following the social history of a Notting Hill neighbourhood and location of the Grenfell Tower fire, Notting Dale, told through the eyes of one family...

RAJAR Q4 2019: London and national brands round-up

Coverage of the general election helped 5 Live, Radio 4 and LBC each add half a million listeners across 2019. 5 Live is up from 4.9m to 5.4m in the Q4/2019 RAJAR listening figures, while Radio 4 has added a similar amount, rising from 10.4m a year ago to 10.9m now. LBC, including new digital station LBC News, posts a record high of 2.7m listeners (up more than half a million year on year), while talkRADIO is up more than 40% from 12 months ago to now have 433,000 listeners a week – another record high for the Wireless station...

BBC exec announces ‘ambitious plans’ for Radio 3

The BBC’s Director of Radio and Education, James Purnell, has announced what he called ‘ambitious plans’ for Radio 3 to help audiences develop a lifelong love of classical music. Speaking at the Association of British Orchestras (ABO) Conference in Manchester, he announced a collaboration with Sport Relief and a showcase of female creativity. “Beat Beethoven’ will see the composer’s music taken out of the concert hall and onto the running track, while “Seven Ages of Woman’ to mark International Women’s Day will see the world premiere broadcasts of work from seven composers, specially commissioned for Radio 3...