BBC Radio 3 has announced its autumn and winter 2019 season programming, as well as schedule changes, new programmes and presenter signings.
This autumn sees the introduction of two new regular programmes focussing on experimental music; a new jazz programme and Unclassified. Broad in scope and largely unconfined by traditional genre boundaries, these new shows will explore a wide spectrum of musical influences.
From cutting-edge contemporary jazz to the increasingly popular world of more ambient and neo-classical composition, the addition of these programmes to the schedule alongside Radio 3’s existing Late Junction and New Music Show will see the station continue to act as a hub for the experimental and cutting-edge music scenes alongside its core classical roots.
Also entering the schedule this autumn is new-late night programme Night Tracks.
Alan Davey, Controller of BBC Radio 3 says: “At Radio 3 we want to connect audiences with remarkable and adventurous music and culture and to provide nourishment for inquiring minds; from classical at our core to new ambient and experimental music, jazz, sound art, electronica, Slow Radio and our breadth of arts content.
“We want Radio 3 to be a haven where listeners can come to take time out from today’s often-frenetic world and discover something new and follow it in depth – and with that in mind I’m so excited to be announcing our new-look autumn schedule, featuring three new regular programmes, focussing on musical adventure and reflecting cutting-edge and experimental music being made across the UK and internationally.
“I am also looking forward to bringing audiences some of our most ambitious seasons and programmes to date; from a year of Beethoven to a partnership with MoMA in New York, an Arctic Sound Walk and the specially-commissioned M1 Symphony.”
BBC Radio 3 Autumn/Winter Highlights
> Four new regular programmes added to the Radio 3 schedule; Night Tracks, Unclassified, a new jazz programme and Early Music Now
> BBC Radio 3 to introduce two new late-night shows, Night Tracks, and a new jazz programme exploring cutting-edge, adventurous jazz
> Following three short series, Unclassified, Radio 3’s programme celebrating the increasingly popular ambient and neo-classical music genres to become a regular weekly programme, presented by Elizabeth Alker
> A greater focus on early music with the introduction of Early Music Now, a new programme dedicated to exploring the world of contemporary Baroque performance introduced into the schedule alongside the launch of BBC Radio 3 New Generation Baroque Ensemble, a new scheme to support emerging Baroque ensembles in partnership with the National Centre for Early Music and the Royal College of Music
> BBC Radio 3 to partner with MoMA for the first time for a landmark series The Way I See It featuring contributions from names including Steve Martin, Roxane Gay, Margaret Cho and Zac Posen.
> Slow Radio taken to new heights with the Arctic Sound Walk as writer Horatio Clare travels to Greenland for the station’s most ambitious sound walk yet
> Upcoming Slow Radio commissions to include the sound of rain on rooftops from around the world and a sonic journey down the River Thames from central London to the estuary
> BBC Radio 3 to mark the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth in a year-long focus, Beethoven Unleashed, in 2020 featuring an unprecedented 25 editions of Composer of the Week dedicated to the composer over the course of the year
> M1 Symphony: The 70th anniversary of Britain’s first motorway to be documented in an upcoming commission, combining recorded sounds and voices and a specially-commissioned score by composer Alex Woolf, performed by the BBC Philharmonic
> Lily Cole to voice the role of Elizabeth Siddal in an upcoming edition Between The Ears in which the first ‘supermodel’ of the Victorian period presents her own story
> Gareth Malone to explore and reflect the phenomenon of people who don’t like music – all music – in an upcoming Sunday Feature documentary
> Jennifer Lucy Allan and Hannah Peel (main image) to join existing Radio 3 presenters as hosts of Late Junction and Night Tracks, respectively
> Music Planet to move to a new prime Saturday afternoon slot
> Radio 3 to dedicate a week to marking 100 years since the formation of the Weimar Republic, Germany’s culturally-rich interwar period