In your editorial on Radio 3 (The Guardian view on Radio 3’s new leader: a tough challenge ahead, 22 January), you pose some questions frequently asked about the network, one being whether it should showcase music or include drama too. Anyone who listens to Radio 3 knows that it does. There is a new play or a new production of a classic every Sunday night.
Radio 3 has many other hidden gems. There are outstanding jazz, folk and world music shows on Saturdays and Sundays. Fellow former devotees of The Archers will find a warm and witty welcome in the Radio 3 Mixtape every weeknight at 7pm. Try Radio 3. In a world of formulaic radio, it’s fun.
Gillian Reynolds
London
Numerous musicians and music lovers will welcome your leader on the importance of BBC Radio 3. I shall be 83 on 6 April and the BBC has been essential to my musical development since I was a little boy in a poor home outside Swansea. The station has ensured that this country acquired a reputation for being the most musical in the world. It has provided a flagship for musical education and nurtured the world’s greatest music festival – the Proms. It has also supported new music of all kinds, and showcased ethnic minority musical traditions.
Meirion Bowen
London