Classical music must tackle diversity or die

CLASSICAL music must do more to address the diversity of its composers or it will become “irrelevant”, the controller of BBC Radio 3 will warn today.

Alan Davey will say there has been too much talk and not enough action to tackle the lack of diversity in the genre, and that more black and ethnic minority voices deserve to be heard.

Speaking at a BBC-led conference at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, he will demand the sector tackles the “big issues” to keep it alive for a new generation. He will call on anyone who cares about classical music to pledge to take “practical steps on a realistic timetable” to recognise the talent of a more diverse range of composers.

Mr Davey will tell the conference Britain is in danger of losing some of the “great works” of the future “if we do not open ourselves up to the true diversity that exists in this country and in the world, and which defines who we are as a society”.

The speeches at the Diversity and Inclusion in Composition conference are due to be matched by a week of programming on Radio 3.