Uninformed

Last July, on the First Night of the Proms, Paul Hughes left the BBC after 23 years as director of the BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, and BBC Singers.

He says "The [BBC] review of classical music that was undertaken last year, led by those ignorant of the classical music world and reporting to similarly uninformed chiefs, was presented as nothing to worry about; an assessment of the value of the BBC’s contribution to the classical music ecology of the UK. How naïve we all were."

He says the axing of the BBC Singers comes on the eve of their centenary, and they will be denied a final appearance in the Proms; the Symphony Orchestra is to be 'restructured and reduced'. 

"I am shocked at the manner, the haste and the illogicality of this decision...to all BBC musicians, my heart is with you and I don’t believe this is over yet".