Radio 3 has commissioned 25 composers to write 25 pieces of music. Each commission will reflect on an event which happened in each year of the first quarter of the 21^st century.

For example, composer Anne Clyne will consider the expectations of a new millennium in 2000, and Stephen Hough will musically evoke the tragedy of 9/11 in 2001. Errollyn Wallen’s work will be inspired by the London Olympics in 2012, while Thea Musgrave will mark two years since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2024. Other composers commissioned include Karl Jenkins, Rakhi Singh, Gavin Higgins and Nkeiru Okoye.

These 25 new commissions – recorded by BBC orchestras and choirs and New Generation Artists – will premiere on Tom Service’s Saturday Morning programme from 25 January 2025 and will be broadcast on the network throughout the week.

At an event yesterday at the Royal Academy of Arts, showcasing the BBC’s Arts & Culture content, Tim Davie, BBC Director General, said: ‘I want to celebrate the richness of our arts offer on the BBC. The wealth of arts and culture content available every day on the BBC, across radio, TV, and online, is unrivalled. As is the BBC’s role as the UK’s cultural partner, and most ambitious creator of original arts programming.’