BBC Singers – Open Letter from Composers

13 March 2023

The world’s composers stand with the BBC Singers as they face closure after 99 years.

The letter has been signed by around 800 composers, and includes some of the biggest names in British music, several of the world’s best-loved choral composers, and a panorama of major international names.

Demonstrating the uniquely wide reach of the BBC Singers, the signatories represent the UK’s compositional creativity at all levels, from the most established and honoured figures to emerging composers, student composers and amateur composers. Composers from film and television are also represented alongside concert and choral composers. Many Heads of Composition at UK conservatoires and universities have signed. Signatories from outside the UK testify to the esteem in which the BBC Singers are held, and the reputational damage the BBC is sustaining abroad with its plans to cull them.