The BBC is about to commit cultural vandalism

Axing its professional choir will save almost nothing but come at a huge cost to musical excellence

My first interaction with the BBC Singers was as a conducting student at the Royal Academy of Music. We had an annual masterclass with the choir which was an enormous musical privilege and first-class training in resilience. This is an ensemble at the very top of its game, and for me, as an aspiring professional, working with the choir gave me a sense of what a musical career could look like.

The BBC management, however, has decided to axe this phenomenal choir. It says it wants to rebalance its classical music output into something that prioritises “Quality, Agility and Impact”. Sadly, the decision will compromise all three of these aims within a matter of years.

The sorrow and anxiety of my colleagues who sing with the choir are insurmountable. Financial and professional security, so longed for by musicians, will now be lost. But leaving aside the heartbreak, what does the BBC’S decision mean for the culture of choral music in this country? At best, it has been thoughtlessly concluded and will have unintended consequences. At worst, it is a deliberate act of cultural vandalism.

Music means nothing without the space for people to achieve things they never knew they were capable of. This is true for amateur and professional singers alike. Britain has a worldwide reputation for producing outstanding musicians and the BBC Singers represent the very best of that pool. They work like no other choral ensemble: they are the only full-time, professional, secular choir in the country. For almost 100 years, they have crafted a consistency of sound and muscle memory. No project choir can ever achieve the same feats.

A colleague of mine who sings with the group ad hoc says: “They can do anything.” And not only that, they want to do anything. Without a doubt, these singers are the best sight-readers in the world. To talk about axing the choir in favour of a more “agile” set of resources is insulting and deeply ironic; the BBC Singers are probably the most agile ensemble I have come across.

They are therefore tremendous value for money; you are getting the very best musicians to sing, within the course of an hour’s concert, a varied programme ranging from a capella jazz, to technically demanding contemporary music, to stylishly convincing performances of renaissance motets.

There is a moral issue at stake, too. This is about cultural messaging. The BBC Singers are the only group I know that takes feverishly seriously the 50-50 gender split, both in recruitment and in the composers they perform. In the brilliance of Sofi Jeannin, they have one of the only female chief conductors of a major ensemble in the UK. Wednesday was International Women’s Day, and the choir sang a whole concert of music by women composers.

One of the reasons they can do this is because the structure exists to support them: proper rehearsal time and professional behaviours combined with technical ability and a national platform, unflummoxed by what is “popular” or what “sells”. Our august tradition of cathedral choirs is the only thing vaguely comparable; but no matter how talented they may be, they perform a different (but nevertheless important) function in our society.

The same can be said for the amazing youth choirs and organisations that inspire young people into music. What kind of cultural landscape are we throwing them into once they emerge into the world? The BBC Singers do exceptional education work around the country. This is not a group kept in the dusty corner of a BBC studio, but one that is visible and that inspires countless musicians. This is what impact is. Getting the best to reach out to everyone.

This matter goes straight to the heart of what a public broadcaster is for. The move signals a set of BBC priorities. But the messaging is misguided. Excellence is misread as elitism. Outreach is not deemed to need quality. A discerning audience is code for exclusivity. All of this has consequences. Imagine the Proms, the upcoming Coronation, and the television soundtracks without that pool of talent.

The BBC Singers are about real diversity; the diversity of personalities, experiences and identities which get channelled through the perfect medium: choral singing. It is the only choir with a rota of guest conductors. This is a national institution we should celebrate and be proud of. It is musicmaking at its very best: broad variety, outstanding skill, and hundreds of forms of expression which resonate far and wide.

My initial shock at the news has been replaced by bemusement and anger. If this is about cuts, how about rethinking some of those extortionate BBC salaries and redirecting the funds? I have been told that the cost saving of the move is in the region of £1million. The BBC Singers are worth so much more than that. How will you inspire a generation of young musicians without the gold standard being seen and heard? How will you create a pathway for aspiring choral singers, conductors and composers if you have decapitated the champions of choral excellence?

My masterclasses with the BBC Singers at the Royal Academy of Music were thrilling and life-changing. The cultural landscape of this country will be fundamentally diminished if they are allowed to disappear. It’s not too late to row back.