BBC commissions 25 works from 25 composers

BBC's director general Tim Davie has reinforced the broadcaster's commitment to arts and culture, announcing a new Radio 3 project that sees 25 new commissions from 25 composers to mark the second quarter of the 21st-century. Each piece will reflect one of the events that took place between 2000 and 2025, such as 9/11, which will be the topic of a work by Stephen Hough. Other featured composers include Errollyn Wallen, who references the London 2012 Olympics, and Thea Musgrave, who marks two years since the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Other composers include Karl Jenkins, Rakhi Singh, Gavin Higgins and Nkeiru Okoye. The 25 new commissions – recorded by BBC orchestras and choirs, with New Generation Artists – will premiere on Tom Service’s Saturday Morning programme from 25 January. 

The new commissions are contextualised by a 40-part series The Modernists (inspired by what would have been Boulez's 100th birthday), which outlines some of the 20th-century’s greatest composers. There will also be a day of reflection marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, coinciding with BBC Arts’ TV film The Last Musician of Auschwitz (27 January).

The plans were shared at an industry event held at the Royal Academy of Arts. 'I want to celebrate the richness of our arts offer on the BBC, said Davie, 'The wealth of arts and culture content available every day on the BBC, across radio, TV, and online, is unrivalled. As is the BBC’s role as the UK’s cultural partner, and most ambitious creator of original arts programming.

'I want to push back, frankly, on any sense that the BBC’s commitment to arts and culture has diminished. Or the idea we sometimes hear that we don’t care as much as we used to. The arts remain utterly central to the BBC’s mission. We want to send out a strong signal, that arts and culture matter, they matter for everyone, and they matter even more when times are tough.'

The signalling comes hot on the heels of the BBC's record-breaking Proms season, with 10.6m views on TV, 4.6m streams on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, and an average main evening attendance at the Royal Albert Hall of 96 per cent. The BBC currently produces 28,000 hours of arts and culture content annually, and, so far this year, has facilitated 300 live performances by the BBC’s orchestras and choirs in over 75 different venues across the UK.

Upcoming television broadcasts include Glyndebourne's The Merry Widow (Franz Lehár), BBC Young Musician of the year, Aldeburgh Festival's production of Curlew River (Britten) and dispatches from the Proms and the Leeds International Piano Competition, alongside BBC Two's current documentary Mozart: Rise of a Genius – featuring Edward Gardner and David McVicar, among others.