The European Broadcasting Union is marking 50 years since the first concert broadcast as part of a regular Music Exchange between members with a special anniversary concert tonight.
The concert will be broadcast on 44 radio stations from 36 countries live from the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s South Bank.
The original concert, which also took place at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, was transmitted via the BBC and around Europe as the opening broadcast of the first “concert season”. It featured works from Bach, Haydn, Mozart and Benjamin Britten, who also conducted the performance.
Over the last 50 years, the Euroradio Music Exchange has developed from a classical exchange between 13 EBU members to a daily activity which includes the regular sharing of opera, rock, pop, folk, jazz and world music among the majority of the EBU’s 73 members in 56 countries and 33 Associates in 21 countries.
Graham Ellis, controller of production for BBC Radio and Music and chairman of the EBU Radio Committee, said: “This is a moment for celebration. We hosted the first concert in London 50 years ago and our music and culture station, BBC Radio 3, has been at the heart of the Euroradio Music Exchange ever since, bringing pleasure to countless millions at home and abroad.”
