Time for a change, as Radio 3 gets a spring clean
New programmes and presenters announced by station controller Sam Jackson
It’s all change at BBC Radio 3. As the seasons move from winter to spring, the station has announced a major revamp of its schedule, including the introduction of new programmes and various familiar favourites moving to different time slots.
From Monday 1 April, both weekday morning programmes – Breakfast and Essential Classics – will be extended, with Composer of the Week heading to a slot of 4pm in a rejigged afternoon schedule that includes a new three-hour programme called Classical Live. Later in the day, each weekday will be rounded off by an hour of jazz in ’Round Midnight, hosted by saxophonist and composer Soweto Kinch.
Saturdays, meanwhile, will look very different, as BBC Music Magazine columnist Tom Service (see p20) hosts a new programme from 9am-12pm that covers all manner of topics from today’s classical music scene. This will be followed by another new show: Earlier… With
Jools Holland, in which the pianist and bandleader will invite guests to delve into their love of classical music.
Service is not the only BBC Music Magazine columnist whose voice will be heard regularly on Radio 3 in the months to come. Kicking off a new incarnation of Music Matters (Saturdays, 1-2pm) will be Richard Morrison (see p27), who will be exploring the theme of ‘The Land Without Music?’ for a series of broadcasts before handing over to other presenters including violinist Nicola Benedetti, Clive Myrie and, making a return to the station, former Breakfast presenter Clemency Burton-hill.
Radio 3 controller Sam Jackson has also been busy on the BBC radio trading floor. Fans of speech programmes The
Verb and Free Thinking will now have to pop briefly over to Radio 4 to get their fix, while Radio 2 favourite Friday Night is Music Night is set to be welcomed into the Radio 3 fold. Also recently announced, a new – as yet unnamed – Radio 3 digital extension station promises to ‘provide a classical music experience that helps listeners unwind, destress and escape the pressures of daily life’.
‘Distinctiveness and ambition are at the heart of the new Radio 3 schedule,’ says Jackson, ‘as we look to delight our existing audience while also offering a raft of programmes that give new listeners a reason to join us. This new schedule makes this an exciting time for music at the BBC.’ For full details of the new schedule, head to our Radio and TV pages on p108
‘Distinctiveness and ambition are at the heart of the new Radio 3 schedule’