Classical music sidelined by BBC, says Lloyd Webber

THE BBC has turned its Young Musician of The Year contest from the classical equivalent of The X Factor into a sideshow, according to Julian Lloyd Webber, who said most television viewers are unaware it still exists.

The competition, once shown on BBC One where it drew millions of viewers, has been relegated to BBC Four – a channel “destined for the scrap heap”, Lloyd Webber said.

The cellist and founder of In Harmony, a government-led music education programme for children, said classical music had provided solace for people during Covid lockdown but has “been completely sidelined from mainstream television”.

He asked: “Did you know that the final of BBC Young Musician 2022 took place on Oct 9 and that it was won by an 18-year-old percussionist from Cambridgeshire named Jordan Ashman? Or, as was the case for nearly everyone else, did it pass you by?”

The contest moved from BBC One to BBC Two in the mid-1980s, and to BBC Four in 2014.