BBC Arts Online

At the heart of BBC Arts Online is Books at the BBC, a section which aggregates the BBC’s literary content by linking to relevant content on other BBC sites including Radio 4 Book Club, Book of the Week and Radio 2 Book Club. Books at the BBC will also build collections around contemporary writers, with five major authors being featured at launch:

• From today, readings from the BBC radio archive of books by Jung Chang (The Empress Dowager) and Helen Dunmore (The Betrayal) will be available and all readings on BBC Arts Online will be complemented by author interviews and material from the BBC’s radio and television archive.
• Both Jung and Helen, along with Toni Morrison and Sebastian Faulks, who will also be featured with collections of their own, are appearing in sessions at the Hay Festival which will be streamed by BBC Arts Online. In addition, audiences will be able to access readings and a collection on Philip Roth, who will profiled by Alan Yentob in two-part film for BBC One’s flagship series Imagine... on Tuesday 20 and Tuesday 27 May.

Audiences will be able to leave thoughts and opinions through a moderated comment function on the site, as well as send in questions to authors for our special events.

Later this year, Books at the BBC will feature live streams of BBC book events, starting with the Radio 4 Book Club live at the Edinburgh Festival with Allan Massie talking to James Naughtie

Elsewhere on BBC Arts Online

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in India

Violinist Nicola Benedetti and composer James MacMillan join the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and students from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland on its first tour of India. BBC Arts Online will chart their journey and delves into the surprising world of Western classical music in the Indian sub-continent.

Films

Conservatoire Students

Sixteen students from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland accompanied the SSO on this historic tour, each one selected by a rigorous audition. Fourteen of them played alongside the professionals and took part in workshops and masterclasses with Indian musicians and students. This film follows three of them as they embark on a unique musical journey.

School Masterclasses and Legacy

The roots of the tour were firmly in education, opportunity and cultural exchange. There were symphony concerts for school children, smaller-scale ensemble concerts, demonstrations and creative workshops as well as talks and masterclasses. This film will shows how the tour played its part in inspiring future generations, helping to develop cultural and educational links across continents.

AR Rahman KM Music Conservatory

AR Rahman is the mogul of Bollywood music and he’s founded a Conservatoire to train the new generation of Indian musicians. As part of the tour, the SSO and students from the Royal Conservatoire Scotland visited the AR Rahman’s KM Music Conservatory, and gave the students their first taste of Western classical music at a professional level.

Nicola Benedetti’s Indian Serenade

A 10-minute special online version of BBC Scotland’s ‘Nicola Benedetti’s Indian Serenade’ documentary, which charts Nicola’s Indian journey on the tour.

Performances

BBC Arts Online will feature Mozart’s Violin Concerto No 5 performed by Nicola Benedetti with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by James MacMillan from a concert in Delhi filmed by Indian State Television.

BBC Young Musician

For the first time this year BBC Young Musician has announced an ambassadorial role for violinist Nicola Benedetti on the 10th anniversary of Benedetti becoming BBC Young Musician in 2004. Audiences will be able to see Benedetti’s winning performance of Karol Szymanowski's First Violin Concerto from 2004 at BBC Arts Online.