BBC unveils new music strategy with ambitious wave of new programmes, innovative partnerships and groundbreaking initiatives

BBC unveils new music strategy with ambitious wave of new
 programmes, innovative partnerships and groundbreaking initiatives

The BBC today (16/06/2014) unveiled a new music strategy consisting of an
ambitious wave of new programmes, innovative partnerships and
groundbreaking music initiatives that amount to the BBC’s strongest
commitment to music in 30 years.

Under the banner of BBC Music, the strategy is designed to strengthen the BBC’s
place as a world leader in music broadcasting and commissioning, and enhance the
UK’s position as a world leader in music creation and performance. There are three
core areas of activity –

   Emerging talent - Bringing classical music into schools, new training initiatives
   for young people, and breaking more new artists
   Digital – Developing BBC Playlister and curated collections on BBC iPlayer
   Landmark programming – a renewed commitment to high-profile output,
   including BBC Music Awards on BBC One alongside more prime-time music on
   the country’s most popular TV channel

Alongside BBC Director General Tony Hall and new Director of Music Bob Shennan,
some of the BBC’s much-loved presenters including Gemma Cairney, Fearne
Cotton, Katie Derham, Suzy Klein, Lauren Laverne and Zane Lowe launched this
first wave of BBC Music initiatives. The launch event at the BBC’s Radio Theatre
featured performances from Laura Mvula, George Ezra and BBC Young Musician
2014, Martin James Bartlett.

Tony Hall, Director-General, BBC, comments: “Today’s the start of something very
special for everyone who loves music. BBC Music is a celebration of the brilliant
musical talent across our country. We’ll be joining up music on television, radio,
iPlayer and online like never before. There’ll be new shows, new partnerships, and
whole new ways to enjoy music on the BBC.”

Bob Shennan, Controller, BBC Radio 2, 6 Music, Asian Network and Director, BBC
Music, says: “From the BBC Proms to Glastonbury, music on the BBC already
creates a range of amazing experiences that our audiences love. Under BBC Music
and in partnership with the UK music industry, we will set a new benchmark for
quality and scale, with bigger events and more world-class programming delivered in
new ways.”

Emerging Talent

Ten Pieces is an ambitious new initiative for primary schools, which aims to inspire a
generation of children to get creative with classical music. The ten pieces will act as
a gateway to children learning more about classical music and inspire them to use
the music as a stimulus for their own creativity. Led by BBC Learning, the BBC
Orchestras and the BBC Singers, Ten Pieces begins in October with a week of
special screenings for schools in cinemas across the UK of a film introducing the ten
pieces of classical music. During the autumn term, children will be asked to respond

creatively to the music through their own compositions, dance, digital art or
animation.

The ten pieces of classical music are:

   John Adams: Short Ride in a Fast Machine
   Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 (1st movement)
   Britten: 'Storm' Interlude from 'Peter Grimes'
   Grieg: In the Hall of the Mountain King from 'Peer Gynt'
   Handel: Zadok the Priest
   Holst: Mars from 'The Planets'
   Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 4 (3rd movement)
   Mussorgsky: A Night on the Bare Mountain
   Stravinsky: The Firebird – suite (1911) (Finale)
   Anna Meredith: Connect It

We can today reveal six extraordinary musicians who will be ambassadors of Ten
Pieces helping to inspire children and the wider public with their passion for classical
music; Alison Balsom, Nicola Benedetti, Catrin Finch, Julian Joseph, Cerys
Matthews and Laura Mvula.

Roger Wright, Controller, BBC Radio 3 and Director, BBC Proms, says: “Ten Pieces
marks the biggest commitment the BBC has ever made to music education in this
country and it’s a great example of the kind of groundbreaking initiative we can
achieve through harnessing the knowledge and passion of the musicians, learning
teams and classical music experts across the BBC. We hope that the project will
inspire a generation of children to learn more about classical music.”

Schools can sign up now to take part in the project viabbc.co.uk/tenpieces.

In the autumn BBC Radio 3 will broadcast each work in full, as well as
recommending distinctive recordings and providing downloadable guides to each
piece - ‘Ten Pieces: Ten Facts’ - presented by Suzy Klein. Ten Pieces will culminate
with a celebration of the children's creative work in Summer 2015.

Players from the BBC Concert Orchestra will perform a medley of the pieces on
Radio 3's drive-time show, In Tune, today [16 June] from 4:30pm. The show will be
broadcast live from the Piazza at BBC Broadcasting House, presented by Sean
Rafferty and Suzy Klein and featuring Anna Meredith and Julian Joseph.

Alongside this, BBC Introducing launches two new partnerships. The scheme has
kick-started the career of many artists since its launch in 2007, with over 250,000
tracks uploaded to the BBC Introducing website and 100,000 artists registered.

BBC Introducing provides a network dedicated to supporting the best emerging
talent from across the UK and a platform to propel them onto the national stage
through Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, 6 Music and the Asian Network.

For BBC Music, BBC Introducing has announced a partnership with the National
Skills Academy; an organisation that works alongside employers to increase skills
through quality training. BBC Introducing will work with academies across the
country to develop the technical and production skills of the future, particularly in the
live space. From 2014 in addition to two showcases already held in North America,
there will be two additional music showcases in Los Angeles and New York due to
another new partnership BBC Introducing has formed. All four showcases will be co-
funded by PRS for Music Foundation, the UK’s leading charitable funder of new
music and emerging talent, and is part of BBC Introducing’s commitment to offer the
best new artists unrivalled opportunities to be seen and heard.

Digital

Digital will be at the heart of BBC Music. BBC iPlayer will bring audiences the best
live and on-demand music programmes from across the BBC, with more music from
your favourite artists, festivals and shows, curated in new ways. BBC Playlister will
get even better, with more personal playlists from the BBC presenters or
programmes that you love.

From later this year bbc.co.uk/music will bring fans more music coverage and
content tailored to their music tastes, enabling all audiences to enjoy the music they
love from the BBC, whenever and wherever they are.

Later in 2014, subject to BBC Trust approval, BBC Radio 1 will be launching a
branded space within BBC iPlayer - providing a platform for audiences to enjoy the
station’s distinctive content, including Live Lounge performances, regular Radio 1
features such as Innuendo Bingo, and big guest interviews.

Landmark Television and Documentaries

BBC One features spectacular events as well as some of the world's leading
performers in concert, including George Michael and Adele, as well as landmark
music documentaries in the BBC Arts strand Imagine.

For the first time ever, BBC One, Radio 1, Radio 2 and The One Show will unite for a
spectacular celebration of the best in popular music from the last 12 months. Hosted
by Fearne Cotton and Chris Evans, the BBC Music Awards will take place at Earls
Court on Thursday 11 December. The extravaganza, the biggest musical event on
the BBC since Glastonbury, will feature captivating live performances and
collaborations to review and celebrate the year. Awards on the night will include
British Artist of the Year, International Artist of the Year and Song of the Year.
Amongst performances from the biggest and most iconic names in music, a special
place will be reserved for one of BBC Introducing’s hottest talents. Radio 1, Radio 2
and The One Show will give their audiences exclusive behind the scenes access.

Charlotte Moore, Controller, BBC One, says: "I think this is a fantastic opportunity for
BBC One to collaborate with Radio 1 and Radio 2 and host this unique celebration of
music in the UK. The BBC has always been a destination for new and established
musical talent, and by bringing the two together the BBC Music Awards promises to
give viewers and listeners an unforgettable night."

From August, as well as delivering topical features and big name studio guests, the
hugely successful live magazine programme, BBC One’s The One Show, will bring a
new and regular weekly music performance slot to millions of viewers.

BBC Two aims to bring music to a broader audience with high quality landmark
series, single drama documentaries about pivotal moments in music history, as well
as feature-length rock and pop films made by award winning producers and
directors, profiling internationally renowned bands and artists.

Popular music is the soundtrack and the lifeblood of what it was to be alive in the
20th century. Until the 20th century music had been a moment – heard once and
never again. It became Pop Music when it was captured and amplified by the new
media of the 20th century. Television has covered this rich history in genres and
moments, but The Soundtrack Of The Twentieth Century (working title) for BBC
Two will be the first time the story has been told, capturing the history of one of the
most exciting achievements of the last 100 years. This definitive many part BBC TV
series, to be broadcast in 2016, will explore popular music’s rise and many
transformations across the 20th century not only on TV, radio and online to form a
BBC anthology. From Caruso to Taylor Swift via Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, Michael
Jackson, Eminem and many more, this is the story of 100 years of music as only the
BBC can.

Genesis: Together And Apart (w/t) on BBC Two is a feature-length documentary
on one of the most successful bands in rock history. Made with the full co-operation
of Genesis, the film reunites all original members of the band together – Tony Banks,
Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford – for the first time since
1975.

Reginald D Hunter’s Songs Of The South is a three-part, BBC Two series which
sees Georgia-born comedian Reginald turn his unique wit on the world and music in
which he grew up as he embarks upon an epic road trip from North Carolina to New
Orleans through 150 years of American popular song.

Music continues to sit at the heart of BBC Four’s story with talent, scale and depth at
the heart of its remit. Two new seasons see the channel come together with radio to
celebrate country music and music and fashion.

This autumn, BBC Four and Radio 2 present Country Legends: Nashville And
Beyond, a season of new programmes exploring the rich history of country music.
Three new films look into the phenomenon of Nashville:Nashville: Country
Capital (w/t), Kenny Rogers: The Gambler (w/t) andBob Harris: My Nashville.
Radio 2 will be broadcast live from Nashville from the Country Music Association
Awards, as well as broadcasting a special concert featuring country music superstar
Brad Paisley and his songwriters.

Coinciding with London Fashion Week this September, BBC Four and BBC Radio 6
Music collaborate to create a bespoke collection of programming that celebrates the
intimate relationship between music and fashion. Central to the season is Oh You
Pretty Things! (w/t), a three-part television series exploring the relationship between
British rock and pop music and fashion, featuring interviews with Biba’s Barbara

Hulanicki, Sex Pistols’ Glen Matlock, Jazzie B, The Kills’ Alison Mosshart and Jamie
Hince, plus many more.

The season will be accompanied by tailored programming and special guests across
6 Music exploring further the themes of the series.

Looking further ahead, BBC Four and BBC Radio 6 Music are working together to
celebrate the concert halls, dance-halls and clubs that have sat at the heart of some
of the greatest revolutions in music and popular culture, with Camden’s
Roundhouse sitting at the heart of the plans.

BBC Four continues its rich tradition of in-depth, original music docs featuring Kate
Bush, Northern Soul and the Joy Of The Guitar Riff, which coincides with Radio
2’s Guitar Season. BBC Four also becomes one station under a groove for an
evening of Funk music this autumn.

BBC Arts at… continues with a special television programme, Michael Grade will in
conversation with the internationally acclaimed lyricist Tim Rice, which will see him
discuss the fascinating stories behind his catalogue of hit song lyrics, including West
End shows Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar
and Evita, amongst others. Recorded at the Royal Festival Hall on July 8th, an array
of performers including Rob Brydon, Roger Daltrey, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Cynthia
Erivo, Tim Minchin and Rufus Wainwright will perform, accompanied by the BBC
Concert Orchestra, conducted by Mike Dixon.

In classical music television, the BBC's reputation as a world class leader in this field
continues with a commitment to putting musicians centre stage and a raft of new
programming on BBC Two and BBC Four.

Simon Russell Beale travels to Italy to explore the creation of the radical and
enduring Vespers of the Blessed Virgin and the relationship between the ambitious
potentate the Duke of Mantua and his ill-paid yet determined composer, Claudio
Monteverdi - in The Duke And The Composer - Monteverdi In Mantua, for BBC
Two. Featuring specially recorded performances from The Sixteen, conducted by
Harry Christophers.

In The Joy Of Mozart on BBC Four, Tom Service discovers the true essence of the
composer’s genius with the help of Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Nicola Benedetti, Paul
Morley and others. Also on BBC Four film-maker John Bridcut and 1212 Productions
present a portrait of Herbert Von Karajan, exploring his legendary career as one of
the 20th century’s greatest and most controversial conductors and his life-long
determination to bring classical music to the widest possible audience.

An ambitious partnership between the BBC, Arts Council England, Southbank
Centre, The Hallé in Manchester, Bristol Music Trust, Royal Welsh College of Music
and Drama in Cardiff, and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain will bring
L'Orchestre Symphonique Kimbanguiste (OSK) from Kinshasa, the Congo – to the
UK for the first time. A BBC Arts at… documentary will follow the Kinshasa
Symphony Orchestra – many of whom play on self-built instruments - as they

embark on a ground-breaking tour of concerts across the UK with a programme
including Congolese music alongside works by Beethoven and Berlioz

These new announcements are in addition to a wealth of musical activity already
happening this year.

Next week, the BBC returns to Glastonbury to bring audiences more of the music
they love. On BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, Radio 1 and 1Xtra, Radio 2 and 6
Music, BBC Red Button and online, the BBC will deliver the biggest and best
moments from the world’s most iconic festival to audiences across the world.

As the world’s biggest and longest-running classical music festival, theBBC
Proms offers eight weeks of world-class music-making from a vast array of leading
orchestras, conductors and soloists from the UK and around the world. With every
Prom broadcast live on BBC Radio 3, an extensive online offering and many
televised on the BBC, the Proms reaches far and beyond the Royal Albert Hall. BBC
Two’s Saturday evening review show, Proms Extra, returns and is to increase from
six episodes to seven, hosted by Katie Derham.

BBC at the Quay, the BBC’s cultural celebration running alongside the Glasgow
2014 Commonwealth Games, will offer audiences a huge variety of musical
entertainment between 19 July and 3 August, including programmes from Radio 2,
Radio 3, Radio 1Xtra, BBC Introducing, BBC Radio Scotland, Asian Network, BBC
ALBA and Radio nan Gaidheal. On Saturday 19 July, a spectacular concert Live
from Edinburgh Castle will be shown on BBC One, ahead of the Games’ opening
ceremony. Presented by Alex Jones, Scotland's capital city will be welcoming
Smokey Robinson, Kaiser Chiefs, Il Divo, Paloma Faith, Alfie Boe, Katherine Jenkins
and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra amongst others.

The images from today’s launch are available at bbcpictures.co.uk

Note to Editors

We believe that the specific proposals above are covered within existing service
licences and permissions as they represent refashioning or extending existing
activity. As the BBC’s Music offer evolves, we may develop further proposals that
need new permission and we will put these to the Trust when appropriate.