London 2012: The Cultural Olympiad
When the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games close, the UK will launch the Cultural Olympiad, a four-year festival leading up to 2012. It is set to change the way we think about and participate in cultural activities - and the BBC will be an integral part of the process.
One of the key ventures is 2012 Sounds! - exciting, participative musical projects around the UK and in London throughout 2008-2012, all designed to enable young musicians to collaborate with inspiring role models and work alongside great musicians in all genres.
2012 Sounds! will create new musical activity from singing to world music and plans for an Olympic Proms. It will involve adults and children participating together, create opportunities for performance, composition and recording, and take advantage of new technology.
The BBC will be involved in this project with a range of external partners, and with the many local authority and other partnerships already being created to co-ordinate with other 2012 activities.
We will be contributing to the Shakespeare Festival with film and video, public art and design. There will also be films, documentaries, plays and songs across all our radio and television networks, and this will be the opportunity for the creative possibilities of new media and on-demand to come to the fore. Within the co-ordinating group we have lead individuals taking the work forward: Susannah Simons, Head of Public Affairs - Audio and Music; Adam Kemp, Commissioning Editor – Arts, Music, Performance and Religion; and Roger Wright, Controller Radio 3. It is early days yet for many of these projects, but we will be doing our best to make the Cultural Olympiad something to remember!
Related links
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
