BBC Orchestras and Singers

Unusually for BBC departments, all of the ensembles also take part in a number of non-broadcast activities, including festival appearances and international touring, and in education work within their regional communities.

In 2012, John Myerscough was commissioned to report on potential financial savings of the BBC’s Orchestras and Singers.

He recommended no more than 10% budget cuts, highlighting the ensembles' successful range of work.

The BBC Singers are the UK’s only full-time professional chamber choir, and along with the five orchestras, they are full-time salaried musicians whose pay is negotiated with the Musicians' Union (United Kingdom).

[8] After protests by the Musicians Union and the broader musical community the BBC said in April that it would seek alternative ways of finding financial savings that would seek to sustain the future of BBC performing groups.