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A cornerstone of British cultural life

Six major international ensembles performing music spanning six centuries with many of the world's leading conductors and soloists and reaching an audience of millions – these are the headlines in telling the story of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Performing Groups.

What the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Symphony Orchestra, the ´óÏó´«Ã½ National Orchestra of Wales, the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Singers, the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Concert Orchestra and the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Philharmonic do individually is always impressive. What they achieve working together as a portfolio of ´óÏó´«Ã½ ensembles is extraordinary.

In the coming season, the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s six professional performing groups will give around 400 concerts between them in more than 60 towns and cities across England, Scotland and Wales. Over 400,000 people will attend these events, with many newcomers to classical concerts among them.

The PG6 – as we call them – will, as ever, be the resident ensembles at next year's ´óÏó´«Ã½ Proms and to plan new and unusual repertoire for the festival without them would be impossible. They will also deliver nearly 600 hours of high-quality and distinctive music making for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3, reaching a weekly radio audience of around two million – and they introduce listeners to dozens of ´óÏó´«Ã½ commissions and other world and UK premieres. These figures don't include the work of the Ulster Orchestra, with whom the ´óÏó´«Ã½ has a special relationship and which receives substantial ´óÏó´«Ã½ funding. Nor must we forget the dedicated work of the non-professional members of the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s two symphony choruses – the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Symphony Chorus in London, and the ´óÏó´«Ã½ National Chorus of Wales in Cardiff.

Never has the quality of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ performing groups been so consistently high. Their flexibility as a musical resource and their high-profile work across the ´óÏó´«Ã½ also means that the range of their work is greater than ever – everything from Radio 3 and ´óÏó´«Ã½ Two to ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 2 and CBeebies, recording soundtracks for primetime television blockbusters such as Doctor Who, and making music with schoolchildren, college and university students and families.

Headline facts and figures, while striking, tell only part of what the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s six performing groups are about. The Times hit the mark when it described them as "a cornerstone of British cultural life". Thanks to broadcasts on ´óÏó´«Ã½ radio, television and online, commercial recordings, inspirational and ground-breaking education work and international touring, their diverse and distinctive programming touches audiences worldwide. In short, their work lies at the heart not only of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ but of British musical life. Take a look at the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Proms this season and you'll see how central our performing groups are to the festival's breadth of repertoire and spirit of adventure. Radio 3's schedule is likewise all the richer for the performing groups' work.

In an average year, the hundreds of musicians in our six performing groups perform around 2,000 works by 1,300 composers. But that's just another set of statistics – the story that lies behind them is a fast-paced thriller about Britain's musical life. PG6 really deserves to become standard shorthand for artistic excellence, innovation and vision.

Roger Wright
Controller ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3 and Director ´óÏó´«Ã½ Proms

VB