Sir Trevor McDonald joins Classic FM to present a new Sunday evening series

6 July 2020, 08:28 | Updated: 7 July 2020, 17:10

We welcome Sir Trevor McDonald – one of the UK’s most respected news broadcasters and television presenters – to our line-up, starting with a special four-part Sunday evening series.

We’re welcoming Sir Trevor McDonald to our line-up, starting with a special four-part Sunday evening series launching on Sunday 12 July at 9pm.

The programme, Sir Trevor McDonald’s Headliners, will celebrate the superstar musicians, renowned for their exhilarating performances around the world, who make – or have made – the headlines.

Many are historic legends of the classical music world, such as Jacqueline du Pré, Maria Callas and André Previn, while others are some of the biggest names in the industry today, including Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Martha Argerich and Maxim Vengerov.

A life-long fan of classical music, Sir Trevor has previously met many of the soloists he will be featuring or seen them perform in concert. He witnessed one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century – Sir John Barbirolli – at the helm of the Hallé Orchestra when they toured Trinidad in the late 1960s. He met and formed a bond with the renowned conductor Zubin Mehta – and was at the Royal Festival Hall to see the sensational Nigel Kennedy take to the stage in cowboy boots to perform Beethoven’s Violin Concerto.

We welcome Sir Trevor McDonald – one of the UK’s most respected news broadcasters and television presenters – to our line-up, starting with a special four-part Sunday evening series. Picture: Classic FM

In his first programme on Classic FM, as well as featuring John Barbirolli and the Hallé Orchestra, Sir Trevor will also shine the spotlight on the conductor and musician Daniel Barenboim, the great American opera singer Jessye Norman and the violin virtuosos Yehudi Menuhin and Stéphane Grappelli.

Sir Trevor McDonald, one of the UK’s most respected news broadcasters and television presenters, said: “Presenting programmes about the music I love has long been on my bucket list, so I was delighted when Classic FM asked me. I am looking forward to sharing the world’s greatest music and the headlines behind that music with listeners.”

Phil Noyce, Classic FM’s Managing Editor, said: “Sir Trevor McDonald is one of our country’s best-loved newscasters and presenters, who’s had a magnificent career spanning 60 years. We are therefore delighted that he is joining Classic FM, where he will get to indulge in his lifelong passion for classical music.

“His new series will be a celebration of the biggest headliners in the classical music world – many of whom Sir Trevor has met personally – and I know that our 5.5 million weekly listeners will join us in welcoming this true broadcasting legend to the station.”

Sir Trevor McDonald’s Headliners will be broadcast every Sunday from 9pm to 10pm, from 12 July to 2 August on Classic FM – available across the UK on 100-102 FM, DAB digital radio and TV, at ClassicFM.com and on the Classic FM and Global Player apps.