News

The Arts Council has launched a new £37 million fund to help people living in places where involvement in the arts is currently low to experience and be inspired by arts-related activities. Over three years the Creative People and Places Fund will invest in around 15 programmes of activity that use radical new approaches to developing excellent, inspiring and sustainable arts experiences for communities not currently engaging with the arts.

The People’s Passion is a week-long collaboration between BBC Radio 4, BBC Religion, Radio Drama and BBC Local Radio, to be broadcast during Holy Week 2012. The People’s Passion will explore religious and cultural life in the UK via five new dramas, documentaries and specially commissioned choral music.

The Live Music Bill, which will remove much of the bureaucracy imposed by the 2003 Licensing Act, was passed by the House of Lords on Friday 27 January 2012. Having already been passed by the House of Commons, this means that bill is ready for the Royal Assent in March 2012.

The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant, which takes place on 3 June this year, is a 1,000 boat tribute to Her Majesty the Queen’s 60-year reign. Music will feature heavily in the Thames Pageant, with 10 Music Barges each leading a section of the flotilla. A mixture of classical and contemporary music will be performed by professional and amateur musicians.

Choir master and animateur turned TV presenter Gareth Malone has won the 2012 Sir Charles Groves Prize. The Prize is awarded annually to an individual or organisation making a significant contribution to British music.