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Episode details

Radio 3,22 Mar 2026,86 mins

Sir Ian Blatchford, Science Museum director

Private Passions

Available for 23 days

Sir Ian Blatchford has been the Director of the Science Museum in London for more than 15 years – the longest serving director in its history. He also oversees the National Railway Museum in York, the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester, Locomotion in County Durham, and the Science and Innovation Park in Wiltshire - all enjoyed by more than four million visitors last year. He was the first in his family to go to university and his early career was in banking, but his passion was for culture. He combined the two as Finance Director at the V+A, before crossing the road to lead the Science Museum. It’s currently a very challenging time for anyone running a museum, with hard questions about funding, sponsorship and exhibition content. His musical choices include Elgar, Monteverdi, Wagner and Sarah Vaughan. Producer: Katy Hickman

Programme Website
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Tracklist

  1. Track
    Artist
  2. 1.
    Piano Concerto No. 1 in B Flat Minor (1st mvt)
    Piano Concerto No. 1 in B Flat Minor (1st mvt)
    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
  3. 2.
    For all the saints [Sine nomine]
    For all the saints [Sine nomine]
    Ralph Vaughan Williams
  4. 3.
    Lullaby Of Birdland
    Lullaby Of Birdland
    George Shearing & George David Weiss
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