The thing about Radio 3 that people are often surprised by is the breadth of what we do. Yes we are known for music - a lot of it classical - but also world, roots, jazz and the broadest edges of that music - in fact anything that’s just plain interesting and top quality. But we also broadcast a wide range of speech programmes too, as well as ground breaking drama, which means that there’s a remarkably wide cultural range to what we do. We want to connect audiences to amazing music and culture, because we believe the arts make peoples’ lives better by offering audiences a chance to look at the world in new ways and through different perspectives.
In a sense, we are more than a radio station - we are a cultural powerhouse, evidenced through our on-air cultural breadth across music and arts, our fantastic Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ orchestras and choirs, our live experiences, our work in the music and cultural industry to commission new works, and so so much more. It can be difficult to capture what we do in a single sentence but we aim to give audiences a space to come to away from the frenzy of the world.
Our listeners are, we know, up for adventure, discovering new things and getting new angles and depths of knowledge on the familiar. So as part of our mission to continue to grow, develop and reinvent ourselves we are introducing some changes to our scheduled programmes - offering new takes on familiar subjects and giving listeners new ways to discover our rich cultural content.
We’re extremely proud of our jazz programming, which across four different shows presents a range of jazz, from the newest and most contemporary sounds, to the best mainstream jazz, both old and new, with personal insight from the biggest jazz names on the scene today. On Saturday afternoons we will launch a new Jazz programme in the place of Jazz Line-Up - - which will celebrate the best in Jazz - from the best of the past to what’s hot today. With a presentation team of broadcaster and singer Jumoké Fashola, musician and composer Julian Joseph and Kevin Le Gendre, you can expect some real jazz treats and discoveries. Whether you know Jazz inside out already, or just want to find out more, J To Z will be the place to be.
Acclaimed percussionist Colin Currie hosts Inside Music
We’re also refreshing our much-loved early Saturday afternoon show, Saturday Classics, which will become Inside Music - inviting musicians, from rising stars to established performers or composers, to take listeners through a personal selection of music, giving insights into what this music means to them, what it is like to perform, and why it matters. The first programme will be Inside Music With Colin Currie, where the acclaimed percussionist will share some of his favourite music.
Music Planet will be our new programme entirely devoted to world and roots music, replacing World On 3. The only dedicated weekly network radio world music programme in the UK - it will feature the biggest names and new discoveries from roots based music the world over, with a weekly ‘roadtrip’ focus on a different location, taking listeners to the heart of its music and culture. Live music, guest mixtapes and tracks from the vast Radio 3 archives (and others) will feature. Lopa Kothari will be joined by Northumbrian smallpiper, Kathryn Tickell to present the show.
Composer and baritone Roderick Williams leads listeners through the world of choral and organ music on Sunday afternoons
Choir And Organ will have a new guest presenter while Sara Mohr-Pietsch is on maternity leave, composer and Baritone Roderick Williams. Leading listeners through the world of choral and organ music on Sunday afternoons, there will be a special emphasis on discovering and exploring the riches of choral and organ music and what it can do.
Radio 3 offers listeners the best seat in the house to an event every week-day evening at 7.30pm. From Monday to Friday In Concert presents music that is live or was recorded a day or two before - giving audiences access to the best music from around the country, from concerts that are often sold out. On Saturdays we have live opera from the UK and from New York’s Metropolitan Opera. In line with these other programmes that create radio events every evening, the Sunday evening Drama On 3 will be brought forward to 7.30pm, to reflect their nature as a major cultural events, whether it be classic theatre, new writing, a play that has proven popular on stage or a work from outside the UK that showcases different dramatic traditions. In Concert from Europe will follow, as will Early Music Late. At Radio 3 we always give our dramas the time they take, so sometimes the timings of these programmes will change. So make Drama On 3 your theatrical event of the week - beginning with a new production of Ibsen’s The Wild Duck on Sunday 8 April.
Also on Sunday evenings we are creating a regular place for specialist series - allowing us to explore music or discover music topics in more depth. Beginning with two programmes presented by Elizabeth Alker, the first series in this slot is called Unclassified, looking at the music that is variously called neo-classical or post-classical. There will be more series to follow, including a six part history of polyphony presented by Peter Phillips. These programmes will shine a light in the dark hours of Sunday evening and be available for download and a good listen at your convenience for 30 days on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ iPlayer Radio.
Eliades Ochoa performs an acoustic session with Lopa Kothari for the first edition of Music Planet
More generally across Radio 3, we are taking a look at our late evening schedule, after the concerts and events of the day. These creative programmes and happenings that take place on air after dark are adventures in thought and music Monday to Friday. We know our programmes at this time of day have a magical quality, they offer a very different sort of experience for curious cultural minds of all kinds. So, at 10pm each evening, we’re reimagining our evening programming and offering listeners the opportunity to step into Radio 3 After Dark - a world of edgy free thought and mind-expanding ideas, of elegant and provoking essays, of poetry with The Verb, of radical mixes of music - Jazz Now on Mondays, Late Junction Tuesday to Thursday and Music Planet on Friday.
Radio 3 After Dark is no ordinary place - it’s a zone of adventure and discovery. Light a candle and settle down with a cup of tea, or pull the blankets higher and experience a world of inspiring new thoughts and amazing sounds. Coming in April, Radio 3 After Dark will be looking, across its programmes, at the unexpected and counter-cultural side of Japanese music, art and literature. This special series, Night Blossoms, will be a voyage of discovery into this little explored side of Japanese culture. Beauty and darkness lie in wait there.
These changes are all part of making the schedule for Radio 3 clearer in terms of what the listener can expect and helping our audiences find what they are looking for in this busy world. As well as the radio listen, there are also all the concerts, and special music recordings we make available on demand. If you want half an hour of music, there is the In Tune Mixtape. If you want six hours of curated classical works, there is Through The Night. Both will be available as downloads for 30 days and offering amazing breadth and interest.
Whether in the dark of night or the full light of day, Radio 3 connects you with a whole galaxy of amazing music and culture, radio you can really get mindful to, a place where the hustle of day-to-day life can be lost and the best of cultural expression that is what it is that makes us human can be found. If you haven’t listened for a while, now’s the time to do so.