Suzanne Rebecca Klein (born 1 April 1975) is a British writer and

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transm ...

and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

presenter, specialising in music and arts programmes. Since October 2021, she has held the post of Head of Arts and Classical Music TV for the BBC.

Early years and education

Klein was born in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it m ...

, London, the eldest of four siblings, and grew up in

Maida Vale Maida Vale ( ) is an affluent residential district consisting of the northern part of Paddington in West London, west of St John's Wood and south of Kilburn. It is also the name of its main road, on the continuous Edgware Road. Maida Vale is ...

, London. She attended

South Hampstead High School ) , established = as St. Johns Wood School , closed = , type = Independent day school , religious_affiliation = , president = , head_label = , head ...

before graduating with first-class honours in Music in 1996 from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

. While there, she directed and produced short films and presented a weekly live arts show on the student radio station Oxygen FM. She gained a postgraduate diploma in

broadcast journalism Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...

from

City University London City, University of London, is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, and a member institution of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute, and became a university when The City Univ ...

Broadcasting

After winning the William Hardcastle Award for Journalism, Klein began her professional broadcasting career as a presenter on the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the governme ...

's radio and TV services. She returned to the UK to work for the BBC as an assistant producer at

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

on programmes including ''

Start the Week ''Start the Week'' is a discussion programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 which began in April 1970. The current presenter is the former BBC political editor and the BBC's former political Sunday morning presenter Andrew Marr. The previous regular ...

'' and '' Loose Ends''. She then moved to

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced t ...

, working as a director and producer on a range of arts and music films. Klein became a presenter in 2005, when she was listed in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

''s "25 up-and-coming cultural figures". In 2008, she presented the Proms season on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...

. She has also presented the BBC Two programmes '' The Culture Show'', '' BBC Young Musician of the Year'' and ''

The Review Show ''The Review Show'' was a British discussion programme dedicated to the arts which ran, under several titles, from 1994 to 2014. The programme featured a panel of guests who reviewed developments in the world of the arts and culture. History ' ...

''. Until September 2021, Klein co-hosted

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also featuring. The st ...

's weekday morning show ''Essential Classics'', alongside concerts and events. She was one of the lead voices on the station's major campaigns of recent years, including its celebrations of the complete works of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

and

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

. In 2011, Klein presented the first ever live opera in 3D, hosting the Director's Cut with Mike Figgis – a live, three-hour discussion with the director about his new production of ''

Lucrezia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (; ca-valencia, Lucrècia Borja, links=no ; 18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was a Spanish-Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She reigned as the Gover ...

''. For

Sky Arts Sky Arts (originally launched as Artsworld) is a British free-to-air television channel offering 24 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, movies, documentaries and music (such as opera perfor ...

, Klein hosted the flagship performance programme ''Greats at Eight'' on weekday evenings on Sky Arts 2. She also presented ''

Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 Decemb ...

'' from the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

(March 2012) for the broadcaster and The Rosenblatt Recitals in summer 2013. In 2013, she was named Music Broadcaster of the Year, winning the Silver Prize at the Sony Awards. She has co-presented '' Saturday Live'' on BBC Radio 4, and has made a documentary for the station about fear and phobias. She has presented global opera broadcasts for the Royal Opera, London, and hosted global cinema broadcasts of the Royal Shakespeare Company, including three live shows in 2014. In April 2014, she presented the

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

television documentary series ''Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century'' and in 2016 ''Revolution and Romance: Musical Masters of the Nineteenth Century'', a three-part BBC Four series. She has since made a series for the BBC on music and politics in the 19th century, and a three-part series on the history of popular entertainment (with

Frank Skinner Christopher Graham Collins (born 28 January 1957), professionally known as Frank Skinner, is an English comedian, actor, presenter and writer. At the 2001 British Comedy Awards, he was named Best Comedy Entertainment Personality. His televisi ...

). In December 2016, she co-presented a film on the musical theatre classic ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid- ...

'', with

Bruno Tonioli Bruno Tonioli (; born 25 November 1955) is an Italian choreographer, ballroom and Latin dancer, and Television personality. He has appeared as a judge on the British television dance competition ''Strictly Come Dancing'' and American adaptation ...

for BBC Two. In 2017, Klein presented the BBC Four documentary series ''Tunes for Tyrants: Music and Power with Suzy Klein'', in which she explored music's crucial role "in the most turbulent years of the 20th century". In August 2021, she was appointed to the newly created position of Head of Arts and Classical Music TV starting from 4 October 2021.

Voiceover

Klein has done a broad range of voiceover work, from

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's Flagship (broadcasting), flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News ...

primetime documentaries on

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...

and

The Carpenters The Carpenters (officially known as Carpenters) were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter (born 1946). They produced a distinct, soft, musical style, combining Karen's contr ...

to a three-part series on

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, and an arts TV series for BBC Four.

Writing

Klein is a contributor to the features and review pages of the ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members o ...

'', the ''

BBC Music Magazine ''BBC Music Magazine'' is a British monthly magazine that focuses primarily on classical music. History The first issue appeared in September 1992. BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the BBC was the original owner and publisher toge ...

'' and ''

''. She co-authored a book with her sister

Jacky Klein Jacqueline Amanda Klein (born 28 January 1977) is a British art historian, broadcaster, and author. In 2016, she co-presented ''Britain's Lost Masterpieces'' for BBC4 with Bendor Grosvenor. She co-authored a book with her sister, Suzy Klein, en ...

, entitled ''What is Contemporary Art? A Children's Guide'', commissioned by the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, ...

, New York, and published in September 2012 by

Thames & Hudson Thames & Hudson (sometimes T&H for brevity) is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, ...

. It has been translated into seven languages.

Personal

Klein is married with two children and lives in

Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character, i ...

, west London.

References

External links

*
''Essential Classics''
(

)
Suzy Klein on TwitterScale Vocal Trust
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, Suzy 1975 births Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford Alumni of City, University of London BBC Radio 3 presenters English television presenters British women television presenters Living people English music journalists People from Marylebone People educated at South Hampstead High School British women journalists 20th-century British women writers Women writers about music British Jews Jewish women British radio presenters British women radio presenters