主播大秀

From ballet dancers to clog dancers, rappers to brass brand musicians, theatre directors to dramaturgs, over the last twelve years, the has awarded over £5 million to an extraordinary range of artists - 1,269 in all. Some of those artists include singer Adele, composer Mark Simpson and choreographer John Ross.

And it's not only individuals: the PAF has supported over 237 community groups from samba clubs to youth theatres. Over 100,000 people have attended a performance as a direct result of the PAF and it has commissioned over 60 pieces of new music for groups as diverse as string quartets, community orchestras, brass bands, gospel choirs and samba groups.   

The PAF was born off the back of Fame Academy, which invited the general public to vote for its favourite contestants for the first time on the 主播大秀. The 主播大秀 does not make a profit from telephony and there is some residual revenue once admin costs are paid – these funds raised by telephone voting were able to be channelled directly back into the creative industries right across the UK. This support has been maintained by ensuing 主播大秀 One talent shows including The Voice, How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria? and Over the Rainbow.

But times are changing. In recent years more and more people are voting for free with a touch of the button using their PCs, tablets and smartphones.  So sadly, the Performing Art Fund has announced its final round of grants today and the charity will close its doors at the end of March next year.

Whilst we are saying goodbye to the PAF in this new digital landscape, the 主播大秀's commitment to the arts and nurturing talent remains as strong as ever. Alongside well established schemes like , , , The Radio 3 Verb New Voices partnership with the Arts Council, for young composers and , and and Jazz Musician of the Year, the 主播大秀 is supporting a range of new talent schemes.

One obvious highlight is which engaged 7 - 11 year olds who saw a film which aimed to introduce young people to classical music at local cinemas. Over 10,000 schools were involved in the project and there were over 240 Ten Pieces Champions around the UK (music hubs, music education services, arts organisations.)

The 主播大秀's , which accompanied the , has attracted over 29,000 pieces of art - 1,000 of which are now on display at the Whitworth gallery in Manchester.

Only this Monday, Radio 3 and iPlayer collaborated on Young Artists Day. Highlights included a special episode of Radio 3's In Tune broadcast live from the Roundhouse with performance from amazing artists and exclusive programme packages made by Roundhouse young radio makers - all under 25. Meanwhile, iPlayer produced Women Who Spit - short films from five young spoken word poets.

And on 主播大秀 Two this coming Saturday (9th May) is the finale of Young Dancer of the Year - applying the proven model of Young Musician to different dance disciplines from Hip-Hop to Ballet.

Later in the month, 1Xtra and Radio 1 are launching 主播大秀 Words First - a spoken word poetry scheme inspired by 主播大秀 Introducing. has launched a Young Writer category for the first time. And we're currently setting up an artist residency on Radio 2, with support of The Space, and a poet in residence with 主播大秀 Scotland.

In March, the 主播大秀 unveiled , its major UK-wide initiative for 2015 which aims to inspire a new generation to get creative with coding, programming and digital technology. The initiative will put digital creativity in the spotlight like never before, partnering with over 50 major organisations across the UK, and help build the nation’s skills thought an ambitious range of new programmes, partnerships and projects. These include the new Make it Digital Traineeship that will create life-changing opportunities for up to 5,000 young unemployed people, and a pioneering partnership that will see 1million Micro Bits – personal, handheld coding devices – given for free to every child in year 7 from this autumn on. 

Finally, as part of our landmark season on theatre this autumn, we've created a new partnership with the Arts Council England and the Battersea Arts Centre to commission independent theatre companies to produce one act plays Live From Television Centre. And, led by the English Regions, we'll be following 11 local theatres over the next six months as they tackle an array of challenges - on stage and off.

Much of this falls under the banner of our 'Get Creative' campaign which launched in February. It's the biggest ever joint campaign with cultural organisations to encourage participation in the arts. Already we have nearly 1000 partners across the UK. New schemes, as well as the creations they have inspired, can be found at .