BBC Radio 3 has revealed the highlights of its schedule for Autumn 2022, including a series of programmes marking 100 years of BBC radio broadcasts.
In recognition of the BBC’s centenary year (the first BBC broadcast took place in November 1922), Radio 3 will present a host of extraordinary music from across the UK – and around the world.
The season will include live broadcasts from the Venice Music Biennale, the 20th Ivors Composer Awards, the EFG London Jazz Festival and Edinburgh International Festival. There will also be road trips around Northern Ireland with Music Matters, plus performances from Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Lammermuir Festival, Oxford Lieder Festival and the West Cork Chamber Music Festival. Radio 3 in Concert, meanwhile, will be broadcast live from cities across the UK, highlighting the best of the season’s classical, jazz and contemporary music.
Highlights of the season will include:
- BBC 100 – Radio 3’s Soundscape of a Century. This celebration of the BBC’s centenary year will consist of an eight-hour continuous broadcast, interspersing classical music with specially curated BBC archive material
- A continuation of Vaughan Williams Today, the station’s celebrations for the composer’s 150th anniversary. The season continues with special editions of Composer of the Week, Early Music Show, Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert, Record Review, Sound of Cinema, The Listening Service and more
- A new series presented by acclaimed Icelandic musician Ólafur Arnalds. In Ultimate Calm, the award-winning multi-instrumentalist will explore how classical, contemporary and ambient music can soothe the soul. Exploring themes such as nature, cinema and sleep, the series will feature sounds from electronica duo Odesza, musician and producer Jon Hopkins, composer and pianist Isobel Waller-Bridge and others
- A bumper programme of live music, with performances from all corners of the UK and beyond
- A new adaptation of Three Women, Sylvia Plath’s rarely performed poem for three voices, to celebrate the poet’s 90th anniversary
- The Sonic Century, a four-part series exploring the history and key figures of radio broadcasting
- For Music Matters, Tom Service will be in conversation with American composer John Adams, and with the renowned French pianists Katia and Marielle Labèque
- Broadcasts of performances from Lammermuir and Dartington Festivals, plus the BBC’s own orchestras and choirs and all the UK’s major symphony orchestras
‘After a fantastic BBC Proms season, Radio 3 gets back to presenting the best of live music from around the country in its autumn season,’ says BBC Radio 3 Controller Alan Davey. ‘We’re bringing a range of amazing and inspiring concerts from some of the UK’s best festivals and venues, plus new music from the Venice Biennale and great performances from our New Generation Artists – providing a way in to experiencing great performances of great music for anyone who wants it.’
Pic of Ólafur Arnalds by Anna Maggi