How BBC Radio 3 is about to change

BBC Radio 3 is revamping its schedule and presenting line-up in an attempt to attract younger listeners to the classical station.

Saxophone star Jess Gillam, 20, will host a new Saturday lunchtime-show called This Classical Life, in which she and other artists aged under 30 will discuss their music and influences.

Radio 3 has long been aiming “to reach new audiences with regular reassurances that classical music is not elitist”, and in Gillam, it “may have finally arrived at a solution”, says The Daily Telegraph.

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Her new half-hour shows, which kick off on 6 April, are “designed to suit the podcast generation”, the newspaper adds. Confirmed guests so far include 22-year-old pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason, double bassist Sam Becker and film and television composer Ollie Howell.

Gillam, a former BBC Young Musician finalist and soloist at the 2018 Last Night of the Proms, said: “I’m so excited to be joining BBC Radio 3 as the presenter of This Classical Life.

“Music is such a huge part of my life, and I can’t wait to share all my latest and greatest discoveries with fellow musicians who will be joining me on the show, as well as with listeners at home.”

The shake-up at the station, which has just under two million listeners, is also aimed at seeing off competition from new “informal” classical commercial station Scala Radio, with hosts including Simon Mayo, and long-established rival Classic FM, reports the i news site.

Other new Radio 3 shows in the pipeline include Opera Fix, a weekly special by the team behind Classical Fix that will introduce opera to non-traditional listeners. The four-part series will be fronted by Australian soprano Danielle de Niese.

Harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani will host a three-part series called The Alternative Bach, while Scottish musician Sean Shibe is looking back at the guitar’s role in music over the past seven centuries in six-part special Guitar Zone.