Critic Sebastian Scotney examines ten years of the BBC New Generation Artists Scheme
With the benefit of hindsight, the list of artists chosen in 1999 to be the first intake of BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists now makes very impressive reading: it includes the Belcea String Quartet, cellists Natalie Clein and Alban Gerhardt, pianists Paul Lewis and Steven Osborne, and singers Christopher Maltman and Lisa Milne.

Several major careers have emerged from subsequent cohorts too, such as those of trumpeter Alison Balsom and violinist Janine Jansen. But whereas it is the artists themselves who rightly make the waves, BBC Radio 3, National Radio Station of the Year, will also be marking the success of the scheme with a three-day mini-festival within the Proms, 12 daytime concerts at Cadogan Hall. They won’t make the biggest splash of the 2009 season, but they will mark ten years of very worthwhile work.

The prime mover behind the NGA scheme since inception has been Adam Gatehouse, Editor of Live Music at Radio 3. His portfolio of responsibilities also includes lunchtime concerts in various venues nationwide, together with afternoon and through-the-night broadcasting. NGA constitutes roughly a third of his job, he says.