Latest news with #BBCRadio3
BBC News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Tom McKinney to take Radio 3 Breakfast listeners on a road trip across Gloucestershire and Somerset
BBC Radio 3 Breakfast is on the road again this August, as Tom McKinney presents a week of live broadcasts, taking listeners on a journey through Gloucestershire and Somerset, culminating in a weekend of BBC Proms performances in Bristol. Inspired by Tom's passion for nature and birds, Breakfast presents its usual selection of the best music to start the morning, while visiting some of the most famous wetlands, forests and sites of cultural interest across Gloucestershire and Somerset. Live performances by local musicians and contributions from naturalists and historians help bring the journey to life, telling stories of the rich heritage of the area. The road trip starts at Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust Slimbridge, on the River Severn Estuary, and continues to Westonbirt National Arboretum near Tetbury. The programme then travels to Bath with a broadcast from the city's renowned Grand Pump Room, and then to the Bishop's Palace & Gardens in Wells. One last stop in Tyntesfield – the Victorian revival country house and estate near Wraxall – heralds a weekend of BBC Proms performances at Bristol Beacon on Friday 22, Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 August. Through the week, listeners join Tom on a canoe ride along the waterways in Slimbridge, a 13-metre-high treetop canopy walkway in Westonbirt, and a wander around the rooms and gardens at Tyntesfield estate. In Bath, Tom visits the Grand Pump Room – the city's cultural and social heart for over 200 years – and composer and astronomer William Hershel's house, where he discovered the planet Uranus. From there, Tom travels to Wells, exploring the 14 acres of gardens of The Bishop's Palace (and encountering its famous bell-ringing swans) and the cathedral to discuss its rich musical history. The week of live broadcasts from Gloucestershire and Somerset culminates in the BBC Proms weekend from Bristol Beacon, including five concerts, all broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds: a collaboration between Paraorchestra and award-winning duo The Breath (22/08 – Beacon Hall); a live edition of Late Junction with presenter Verity Sharp (22/08 – Lantern Hall); the Danish National Vocal Ensemble with music by Bach, Ethel Smyth, Nielsen and more (23/08 – St George's Bristol); Britten Sinfonia conducted by Tess Jackson, with violinists Zoë Beyers and Miranda Dale (23/08 – Beacon Hall); and an exploration of Italian composers with the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera (24/08 – Beacon Hall). Previous Radio 3 Breakfast road trips have seen the programme travel through the North East of England, lough-to-lough across Northern Ireland and coast-to-coast through the Scottish Highlands, follow the Rivers Ure and Ouse to the Humber in Yorkshire, and journey along the River Severn from Wales into England and back. Breakfast has also come live from forests in Co. Down, Hampshire and Snowdonia. Tom McKinney, BBC Radio 3 Breakfast Presenter, says: 'I am very excited to present my first ever Breakfast road trip. Across the course of what's set to be a very special week on Radio 3, I look forward to sharing gentle sounds of waterways, rustling leaves and morning birdsong with audiences at home, as well as discovering more about some of the area's landmarks and musical traditions. This is shaping up to be a true feast for the ears!' Sam Jackson, Controller BBC Radio 3 and BBC Proms, says: 'Keeping up with Breakfast's tradition of regular UK road trips celebrating local culture, history and nature, we are delighted to present a week of live broadcasts across Gloucestershire and Somerset, all leading up to a packed weekend of BBC Proms at Bristol Beacon. We invite listeners from across the UK to join us for what promises to be a glorious journey, enjoying the opportunity to experience the atmosphere of wetlands, forests and historical buildings as we begin the morning on BBC Radio 3'. BBC Radio 3 Breakfast from Gloucestershire and Somerset will be live Monday 18 - Friday 22 August, 6.30-9.30am and available on BBC Sounds. Listen to BBC Radio 3 Breakfast on BBC Sounds EC Follow for more
Daily Mirror
27-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Jade Thirlwall thought music icon was her mum as she makes candid admission
Former Little Mix star Jade Thirlwall shared a 'fun fact' with her fans during her BBC Proms performance as she revealed a funny childhood memory Jade Thirlwall shared a hilarious confession during her impressive BBC Proms performance in her native North East. The Little Mix star, 32, treated her hometown to an excellent show alongside the Royal Northern Sinfonia at Gateshead's The Glasshouse. In between her flawless tunes, the South Shields-born star took time to give her fans an insight into her life growing up in the region. And prior to introducing her huge hit titled Fantasy, Jade shared a "fun fact". She told her adoring crowd: "My mam was always playing Motown music, specifically Diana Ross. Fun fact, I genuinely thought my mam was Diana Ross for a hot minute. To the point where she would go off to the bingo and she would be like 'I'm going to do a show' and I'd be like 'gag, that's my mam'. "At one point, do you know when you go to school and you take in a show and tell thing? I remember this, I took in a Diana Ross programme and the kids had, like, I don't know, Pokemon cards or some sort of toy. "And they would be like 'what's that?' and I would be like 'it's my mam'. Alas, it wasn't my mam, but I think my mam's just as special, if not more." She then went on to introduce a tune that was based from her love of Motown as she impressively sang "in my on Jadefied way". She admitted the tune was a way to tell her fans it is "okay to be unapologetically yourself" as she performed her own tune called Fantasy. Jade also treated those at the event that was broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 to a number of other big numbers from her own repertoire. And she also showcased her huge talent with a number of cover songs, including Madonna's Frozen. Perhaps the cover of the night came in the shape of Sam Fender's Remember My Name. Paying tribute to the "King of the North," Jade produced a flawless and spine tingling version of the emotional tune. The number had fans in tears before Jade welled up too following its conclusion. She explained the sentimental meaning behind her choice and, with her voice breaking, she revealed the song had been played at a friend's funeral just weeks ago. The candid confession was met with huge support from the crowd, some of who shouted out to gush over their "Angel of the North". The show was a history maker as, as well as the broadcast on Radio 3 on the night, Jade's performance was also filmed to go out on television at a later date. It marked the first time the Proms had been filmed for television outside of London.
Perth Now
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Sir Paul McCartney discusses his and John Lennon's different styles
Sir Paul McCartney and John Lennon's creative approaches to music were wildly different. The Beatles bandmates had one of the most prolific and successful songwriting partnerships during their time together in the band but Paul, 83, admitted their approaches differed hugely, even though they inspired each other. Speaking to Elizabeth Alker on BBC Radio 3's Sound Sources, he said: 'I would read about people, I would get fascinated. But then I started to think, well, particularly when I heard tape loops, I'll just play with it myself. 'So, I did on these Brunel tape machines. I actually got two of them in the end, so that I was able to make tape loops, cut a piece of tape up, and then join it, say you use guitar. You go down, down, down, down, down. So, you could add to it. The second time it came right down, 'People say to me 'you work so hard in music', I say, 'we don't work music we play music' and so this idea for me was just when I'll play around on these Brunel tape machines so it came out of listening to Stockhauser [the German composer], being inspired by that music and the [idea] to experiment myself so I was showing John one day, John Lennon, and he was fascinated. 'I said, wow, you know this. Because we turn each other on with just, you know, whatever was the new thing, 'listen to this'. And yeah, he eventually said, 'oh, I'd love to do this'. 'So, I got him two Brunels, he had them at his house. And I showed him how I did it and just built it all up. And the difference between me and John was, I like to do it in a slightly controlled way, like with Tomorrow, Never Knows. So, I liked it to perform as a solo within the music. 'And he did a piece called Revolution Number Nine. 'I never wanted to make an album of the ideas, you know, I always wanted to put it on a bed of something perhaps more musical and more formal and I thought these things coming in on that was the ultimate sound that I want to hear. 'You don't expect it. You can do something apparently very strange with a piece of music and then you listen to it, and you go 'Oh I really like that'. It's like abstract art … I mean, not everything we see is clear and figurative. 'Sometimes when you're asleep or you rub your eye, you see an abstract. So, your mind knows about it. We know about this stuff. So, it was the same with music.' Listen to the full programme on BBC Sounds here:
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Skipton Town Hall to play host to classical music festival
SKIPTON Town Hall will be a venue for the Ryedale Festival for the first time this year with a concert by trailblazing saxophonist Jess Gillam and her Ensemble III. Described as 'dynamic, bold and unique' the ensemble brings 'vibrant energy and boundless enthusiasm to the stage'. The concert includes a wide variety of music from CPE Bach and Debussy to Michael Nyman and David Bowie (Life on Mars). Jess Gillam has been described by The Times newspaper as 'not just one of Britain's most virtuosic instrumentalists, but also an unstuffy, inspiring personality'. The Ryedale Festival takes place from Friday, July 11 to Sunday, July 27; its programme of live classical music, offering audiences a festival experience shaped by vision, innovation and artistic excellence. This year's event features 57 performances in 33 locations right across the county, from Scarborough to Skipton. The classical music festival, which also embraces jazz, folk, poetry and participation opportunities, enjoys a large, loyal and enthusiastic audience, the warm support of the local community and a reputation as one of Europe's leading festivals of its kind. BBC Radio 3 broadcasts five concerts from the festival, including a recital by BBC New Generation Artists including German pianist Julius Asal, American violinist Hana Chang, Estonian flautist Elizaveta Ivanova and Uruguayan-Spanish tenor Santiago Sanchez. The Jess Gillam Ensemble III will be at Skipton Town Hall at 3pm on July 19. Tickets at:
BBC News
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
BBC Radio 3 announces 2025-2027 cohort of New Generation Artists
BBC Radio 3 has revealed the names of the New Generation Artists (NGAs) joining the station's prestigious talent development scheme in September 2025 through to December 2027. They are: the UK-based Astatine Trio (pianist Berniya Hamie, violinist Maja Horvat, and cellist Riya Hamie), Russian American soprano Erika Baikoff, British baritone Andrew Hamilton, the NOVO Quartet from Denmark (violinists Kaya Kato Møller and Nikolai Vasili Nedergaard, viola player Daniel Śledziński, and cellist Signe Ebstrup Bitsch), Ukranian clarinettist Oleg Shebeta-Dragan and Austrian pianist Lukas Sternath. These performers join the NGAs who have been on the scheme since 2024, and remain on it until December 2026: German pianist Julius Asal, US violinist Hana Chang, US cellist Sterling Elliott, Russian flautist Elizaveta Ivanova, British ensemble the Kleio Quartet, British jazz saxophonist and bandleader Emma Rawicz and Uruguayan tenor Santiago Sánchez. Founded in 1999 to nurture and support some of the world's finest young instrumentalists, singers and ensembles at the start of their international careers, the BBC's New Generation Artists scheme celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. With over 150 alumni, including some of the biggest names in classical music and jazz, it continues to provide young musicians with performance opportunities at some of the UK's most prestigious venues and festivals, in recital as well as with the BBC orchestras. Regular broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 ensure that these rising stars are heard by listeners all over the UK, and across Europe through the European Broadcasting Union. Emma Bloxham, BBC Radio 3 Commissioning Editor, Live Music says: 'It's always an exciting moment when we reveal the names of those outstanding young musicians we've chosen to join the NGA family for the next two years. Each and every one of them brings something very special to the table, and I've absolutely no doubt their live concert performances and exclusive studio recordings will delight Radio 3 listeners. It's a privilege to be involved with such talented young people at this stage in their careers, and we look forward to making great things happen together!' Listen to BBC Radio 3 EC
