Pass the Baton!

On 27 November, Pass the Baton! airs as part of BBC Radio 3’s 70th Season marking the anniversary of the Third Programme and linking all the BBC’s Orchestras and Choirs across the UK and the history of their contribution to BBC Radio 3. Pass the Baton! celebrates the quality and distinctiveness of what they do and their unique contribution to the cultural life of the UK both through broadcast and live performance.

BBC Radio 3’s Pass the Baton! replaces the radio station’s traditional schedule and presents 12 hours of live concerts, features and interviews showcasing the breadth of work of the BBC’s Orchestras and Choirs – the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC Singers and the BBC Philharmonic.

The day marks the long standing unique relationship between BBC Radio 3 and the BBC Orchestras and Choirs, who provide hundreds of hours of programming for the network each year.

Pass the Baton! will focus on live concerts from their home bases – Cardiff, London, Glasgow and Salford - alongside discussions, features and recordings which demonstrate the ensembles’ distinctive work in their own communities and further afield.

Alan Davey, Controller of BBC Radio 3, the BBC Proms and BBC Orchestras and Choirs, says: "In the year that BBC Radio 3, and before it the Third Programme, marks seven decades of pioneering music and culture, it’s a great pleasure to celebrate the unique contribution that the BBC’s orchestras and choirs make to the Radio 3 family. They have been at the forefront of bringing great music to millions of listeners, live and broadcast, for many years. Collectively they are one of this nation's cultural treasures and it's right that we celebrate them and the huge pleasure they bring."

MC4

9-10am

To start the day, Nicola Heywood Thomas presents recordings of the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales including music by Havergal Brian, Leonard Bernstein and Jean Sibelius, plus discussion and features about the orchestra’s extensive learning work, its soundtrack recordings and international touring role. Nicola is joined by guests in the studio, including members of the orchestra, Nick Capaldi, Chief Executive of Arts Council of Wales, and the composer Huw Watkins.

Principal Guest Conductor Xian Zhang conducts the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales in a live concert from Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff including music which reflects the orchestra’s role in the BBC’s Ten Pieces and its commitment to new music. Presented by Nicola Heywood Thomas.

Programme

• Handel: Zadok the Priest
• Hector MacDonald: Clyw ein Llef, O Ior (conducted by Adrian Partington)
• Huw Watkins: Little Symphony
• Debussy (orch. John Adams): Le Balcon
• Prokofiev: Movements from Romeo and Juliet

Elizabeth Atherton (soprano)
Xian Zhang (conductor)
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
BBC National Chorus of Wales

11am-12noon

The baton is passed to the BBC Singers for a special feature presented by Fiona Talkington, exploring the group’s history and role in the UK’s cultural life. The programme includes the world premiere broadcast of extracts of Philip Moore’s Requiem, alongside interviews with members of the BBC Singers as well as Chief Conductor David Hill, and former Chief Conductors including Stephen Cleobury and Simon Jolly, as well as composers closely associated with the group including Judith Weir, Judith Bingham, Gabriel Jackson and Bob Chilcott.

12noon-1pm

Ben Palmer conducts the BBC Singers in a concert live from their home at BBC Maida Vale Studios. Presented by Sean Rafferty.

Programme

• Tippett: Early one morning
• Judith Weir: Love bade me welcome
• Judith Bingham: Spirit of Truth
• Bob Chilcott: My Prayer
• Gurney: 5 Elizabethan Songs
• Alastair Putt: O magnum mysterium
• Britten: A boy was born
• John Rutter: It was a lover and his lass

BBC Singers
Ben Palmer (conductor)

1-2pm

The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra takes up the next lap of celebrations as Jamie MacDougall and Kate Molleson present recordings of the orchestra including music by Berlioz, Nielsen and Purcell. Joined by guests in the studio, Jamie and Kate also introduce discussion and features including the orchestra’s current principal conductor Thomas Dausgaard on connections with the Scottish landscape, a look at the ensemble’s work with the Sistema Scotland social change project, and at its role in the conductor Ilan Volkov’s pioneering Tectonics Festival.

2-3pm

The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra performs a concert live from Glasgow’s City Halls, with Sir James MacMillan conducting the orchestra in works by living Scottish composers, including his own Confession of Isobel Gowdie. Presented by Jamie MacDougall.

Programme

• Stuart MacRae: Stirling Choruses
• Anna Meredith: Fringeflower
• Judith Weir: Music, Untangled
• James MacMillan: The Confession of Isobel Gowdie

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
James MacMillan (conductor)

4.30-5.30pm

The BBC Concert Orchestra and BBC Singers are live in concert from the Barbican in London, as part of the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s Total Immersion Richard Rodney Bennett weekend. Presented by Fiona Talkington.

Programme

• Richard Rodney Bennett: Partita
• Richard Rodney Bennett: Four Songs

Claire Martin (singer)
BBC Concert Orchestra
Scott Dunn (conductor)

• Richard Rodney Bennett: What Sweeter Music
• Richard Rodney Bennett: Puer Nobis
• Richard Rodney Bennett: The Garden

BBC Singers
Anna Tilbrook (piano)

5.30-6.30pm

Sarah Walker presents recordings of the BBC Concert Orchestra including music by Charles Williams and Clean Bandit. Plus features and live discussion about the orchestra’s history and its work with young musicians at this year’s WHY Festival, and an interview with chief conductor Keith Lockhart.

6.30-7.30pm

Penny Gore presents recordings, features and discussion focusing on the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, including contributions from leading contemporary composers Charlotte Bray and Colin Matthews, discussing the groups’ contributions to new music.

7.30-8.30pm

The BBC Symphony Orchestra in concert, live from the Barbican in London, as part of the BBC Total Immersion Richard Rodney Bennett weekend. Presented by Ian Skelly.

Programme

• Richard Rodney Bennett: Symphony No.3
• Richard Rodney Bennett: Lady Caroline Lamb - Elegy for viola and orchestra

Lawrence Power (viola)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Rumon Gamba (conductor)

8.30-9.30pm

The final leg of Pass the Baton! is taken up by the BBC Philharmonic, with a live performance from MediaCity UK in Salford Quays featuring present and graduate singers from BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artist scheme. Presented by Martin Handley.

Programme

• Stravinsky: Concerto in E flat 'Dumbarton Oaks'
• Stravinsky: Pulcinella

Ruby Hughes (soprano)
Robin Tritschler (tenor)
Ashley Riches (bass-baritone)
BBC Philharmonic
Thierry Fischer (conductor)

9.30-10.30pm

BBC Philharmonic violinist, Julian Gregory, reflects on key moments in the history of this ever-evolving ensemble, introducing some of the special recordings and some of the special people who have been an important part of the orchestra’s life.