Maestro
Clive Anderson takes us on a fascinating journey into the heart of music making as eight famous
amateurs with a passion for classical music do battle for the chance to conduct the BBC Concert
Orchestra at the world-famous Proms in the Park. Actors Jane Asher and David Soul, Drum and Bass
star Goldie, Blur bassist Alex James, broadcasters Katie Derham and Peter Snow, and comedians Sue
Perkins and Bradley Walsh compete to be the Maestro.
The celebrity students go on a week-long training camp where they must face an orchestra for the
first time. On the final day they conduct the BBC Concert Orchestra in front of a panel of expert
judges before the orchestra votes one of them out for good.
In the second round of this knock-out competition, the students step up to the podium to conduct
music for film and television in front of the panel of expert judges - conductors Sir Roger
Norrington and Simone Young, double bassist Dominic Seldis, composer and cellist Zoe Martlew -
before the orchestra votes and one of the students leaves the competition for good.
The contenders are challenged with choral music as they conduct the BBC Concert Orchestra and the
BBC Symphony Chorus. They perform in front of a panel of internationally renowned judges before
they face the orchestra vote and one will leave the competition for good.
In the fourth round the students step up to the podium to conduct a programme of popular operatic
arias sung by soloists Alfie Boe and Rebecca Evans in front of the panel of expert judges -
conductors Sir Roger Norrington and Simone Young, double bassist Dominic Seldis, composer and
cellist Zoe Martlew. They must then face the orchestra vote to decide who leaves the competition
for good.
The three remaining student conductors must conduct a concerto with world renowned soloists -
violonist Tasmin Little, cellist Natalie Clein and pianist Nikolai Demidenko - as well as a piece
of orchestral music of their own choosing. The judges - Sir Roger Norrington, Dominic Seldis, Zoe
Martlew and guest judge international violin virtuso Maxim Vengerov - rate their performances
before the BBC Concert Orchestra votes one student out. The remaining two contestants both must
conduct the 1st movement of Beethoven's 5th Symphony.
The climax of the series as the winning student performs at Proms in the Park on the Last Night of
the Proms. After weeks of hard work, the Maestro winner takes to the stage in London's Hyde Park
to conduct the BBC Concert Orchestra and soloist Lesley Garrett live in front of an audience of
over 30 thousand people, as well as the millions watching and listening on radio and TV.
