BBC Singers to close amid classical music cuts

The BBC has announced the closure of the BBC Singers, the UK’s only full-time professional chamber choir.

The BBC’s Head of Orchestras and Choirs, Simon Webb, also announced a 20% reduction in salaried posts at the BBC Symphony and Concert Orchestras in London and Manchester’s Philharmonic Orchestra.

The reductions are being sought through a voluntary redundancy scheme.

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BBC Singers was due to reach its 100th anniversary next year. The closure means the loss of 20 full-time jobs.

“We are looking to reset our relationship between salaried and freelance musicians,” Webb said, adding that the BBC will seek to invest in a wider pool of choral groups from across the UK.

A new nationwide choral development programme is due to launch when the organisation’s new music studios in East Bank, Stratford, are operational in 2025, he said. 

Sustainable funding model

“These changes will give us a sustainable financial model for our orchestras so we can invest in their long-term future,” Webb said, adding that the savings will allow the BBC to double its investment in music education and training.

The organisation also plans to create a single digital home for its five national orchestras, which will work with more musicians and broadcast from more venues across the UK, he said.

“This is the first major review of classical music at the BBC in a generation,” said Charlotte Moore, the BBC’s chief content officer. 

“This new strategy is bold, ambitious, and good for the sector and for audiences who love classical music.”

But Deborah Annetts, Independent Society of Musicians Chief Executive, said the decision to disband BBC Singers and cut the number of salaried positions in the BBC Orchestras will be “devastating for the BBC, musicians and classical music in this country”.

“It is difficult to see how this strategy is well thought out,” she said.

“Taking away jobs from singers and orchestral musicians is deeply destructive in these already difficult times when much of the music sector and those working in it are struggling for survival.”

'Utterly devastating'

The Musicians' Union has said it will fight to save jobs and has called on MPs for support.

The union's General Secretary Naomi Pohl said that, as the biggest employer and engager of musicians in the UK, the BBC “plays a unique role in the eco-system of our music industry”. 

“From Glastonbury to the Proms, from Jools Holland to BBC Radio, its coverage, support and promotion of UK musical talent nationally and internationally is unrivalled. 

“It is because we appreciate the BBC's role so much that these proposed cuts are so utterly devastating.

“The BBC Performing Groups are vital to the BBC. They are busy, they perform a wide range of roles across numerous high-profile programmes and events, and they also already contribute to music education.”

Pohl said that alongside supporting those affected and fighting for their jobs, the union hopes to work with the BBC to look at alternative measures and lobby government. 

“Musicians have suffered greatly during the pandemic and with the rising cost-of-living,” she said.

“As a profession and as an industry, we remain in crisis. The government could protect organisations and jobs in the short term by extending the increased rate of orchestral tax relief beyond April. Going forward, they must also increase funding so that organisations can preserve jobs and continue to deliver the world-class music that Britain is renowned for.”

An online petition calling for the closure of BBC Singers to be reversed has gained over 70,000 signatures.