Classic FM's 20th Birthday

The celebrations will start just after 6.00am on Friday 7th September 2012, twenty years to the minute that the UK’s first national commercial radio station launched on air. Nick Bailey, Classic FM’s debut presenter, will announce the station’s historic birthday and will then introduce the first two pieces of music played twenty years ago – Handel’s Zadok the Priest and Weber’s Invitation to the Dance.

Throughout the day, Classic FM presenters including Tim Lihoreau, who hosts More Music Breakfast (6am-9am) and John Suchet (9am-1pm) will celebrate the day, while Jamie Crick (1pm-5pm) will host a special Classic FM Requests show, featuring listeners’ birthday wishes and dedications, as well as speaking to those who share Classic FM’s exact birthday!

In The Full Works Concert (8pm-10pm), Anne-Marie Minhall will play a selection of the new music and composers that Classic FM has introduced to its listeners over the last twenty years.

On Sunday 9th September at 9pm, Classic FM welcomes back a brand new fifteen-part series of The Classic FM Interview with Nick Ferrari. Guests include Darcy Bussell and a rare interview with the best-selling author of the Fifty Shades trilogy, E L James.

The birthday celebrations continue with a series of stunning live concerts across the UK with Classic FM’s partner orchestras, to be recorded for broadcast.

Classic FM’s birthday celebrations in September culminate in a spectacular Classic FM Live concert on Monday 24th September at the Royal Albert Hall, hosted by John Suchet and Margherita Taylor.