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Alan Davey to depart from Radio 3
The controller will step down from his role next March
Alan Davey has announced that he is to step down as controller of BBC Radio 3 next March. After eight years in the highprofile post, he says that he now wishes to concentrate on his academic activities and on work to support arts and music organisations. ‘Choosing when to move on is always tricky,’ he says, ‘but now is the time for me to hand over the role to someone else. They will inherit, to borrow a phrase, on a bad day the best job in Britain, and on a good day the best job in the world.’
Formerly chief executive of Arts Council England, the Stockton-born Davey joined Radio 3 in January 2015, taking over the post of controller from Roger Wright. During his time at the helm, he has consolidated the station’s audience at more than 2 million weekly listeners, and his tenure has also seen a number of themed seasons across Radio 3 – including 2015’s Northern Lights, which used Sibelius’s 150th birthday as an inspiration for a season of Nordic music. 2021’s Capturing Twilight, meanwhile, explored the connections between dusk and music. Though the Covid pandemic posed a major challenge in terms of staging and broadcasting live music – particularly the BBC Proms – it also saw many new listeners turn to the station.
‘Choosing when to move on is tricky… It has been an honour and a delight’
Davey’s time in charge has also generated a range of programmes aimed at increasing access to both contemporary music and to the work of smaller venues – these have included Open Ear, Exposure and The New Music Show – and there has been a focus, too, on works and composers that may not have had their due in the past. Among the Davey trademarks, meanwhile, are the likes of ‘slow radio’, which involves the broadcast of ambient sounds from, say, a walk outdoors.
‘There is nothing like the combination of Radio 3, the Proms and the BBC Orchestras and Choirs anywhere else,’ reflects Davey. ‘On Radio 3 we play over 17,000 whole pieces of music a year and explore thousands more. We believe the greatest public service is found in showing, not just telling, of the riches of the arts. It has been an honour and a delight to lead this mission.’
Davey’s successor will be announced by the BBC in due course.
Setting the schedules
Former Radio 3 controllers
1967-71 Howard Newby
1972-78 Stephen Hearst
1979-87 Ian McIntyre
1987-92 John Drummond
1992-98 Nicholas Kenyon
1998-2014 Roger Wright (above)
2015-23 Alan Davey