Suzy Klein
{{Short description|British writer and radio and television presenter}}
{{distinguish|Suzy Kline}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Suzy Klein
|image =Suzy Klein, on air (8103414101).jpg
|image_size =
|caption = Presenting In Tune on BBC Radio 3 in 2012
|birth_name =Suzanne Rebecca Klein
|birth_date= {{birth date and age|1975|04|01|df=y}}{{cn|date=December 2021}}
|birth_place = Marylebone, London, England
|death_date=
|death_place =
|nationality = British
|citizenship =
|other_names =
|known_for =
|education =South Hampstead High School
|alma_mater = St Hugh's College, Oxford
|employer = BBC
|occupation = Writer, broadcaster
|years_active = 1996–present
|spouse =
|partner =
|children =
|parents =
|relations = Jacky Klein
|awards = William Hardcastle Journalism Award, 1996. Sony Bronze Award – In Tune, BBC Radio 3, 2012. Sony Radio Academy Awards. Silver Award – Music Broadcaster of the Year, 2013.
|signature =
|website =
|footnotes =
}}
Suzanne Rebecca Klein (born 1 April 1975) is a British writer and radio and television 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, London, the eldest of four siblings, and grew up in Maida Vale, London. She attended South Hampstead High School before graduating with first-class honours in Music in 1996 from the University of Oxford. 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 from City University London.{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/features/programmes/presenters/klein-suzy.shtml |title=Presenter: Suzy Klein |publisher=BBC |year=2011 |accessdate=26 December 2011}}
Broadcasting
After winning the William Hardcastle Award for Journalism, Klein began her professional broadcasting career as a presenter on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's radio and TV services. She returned to the UK to work for the BBC as an assistant producer at BBC Radio 4 on programmes including Start the Week and Loose Ends. She then moved to BBC Television, 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{{'}}s "25 up-and-coming cultural figures". In 2008, she presented the Proms season on BBC Two. She has also presented the BBC Two programmes The Culture Show, BBC Young Musician of the Year and The Review Show.{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b010k2ld |title=The Review Show, 15/04/2011 |publisher=BBC |year=2011 |access-date=26 December 2011}}
Until September 2021, Klein co-hosted BBC Radio 3'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 and Schubert.
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.
For Sky Arts, Klein hosted the flagship performance programme Greats at Eight on weekday evenings on Sky Arts 2. She also presented Aida from the Royal Albert Hall (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.{{citation needed|date=April 2014}}
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 television documentary series Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04097wg |title=BBC Four – Rule Britannia! Music, Mischief and Morals in the 18th Century, Episode 1 |website=BBC}} and in 2016 Revolution and Romance: Musical Masters of the Nineteenth Century,{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07d9rsb07d9rs0 |title=BBC Four – Revolution and Romance: Musical Masters of the 19th Century |website=BBC}} 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). In December 2016, she co-presented a film on the musical theatre classic West Side Story, with Bruno Tonioli 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".{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b097f5vs |title=BBC Four – Tunes for Tyrants: Music and Power with Suzy Klein |website=BBC}}
In August 2021, she was appointed to the newly created position of Head of Arts and Classical Music TV starting from 4 October 2021.{{cite web|url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2021/head-of-arts-and-classical-suzy-klein|title = BBC announces Suzy Klein as new Head of Arts and Classical Music TV from October 2021|date = 10 August 2021|publisher = BBC Media Centre|access-date = 17 September 2021}}
=Voiceover=
Klein has done a broad range of voiceover work, from BBC One primetime documentaries on Pink Floyd and The Carpenters to a three-part series on Brazil, and an arts TV series for BBC Four.{{cn|date=December 2021}}
Writing
Klein is a contributor to the features and review pages of the New Statesman, the BBC Music Magazine and The Guardian.
She co-authored a book with her sister Jacky Klein, entitled What is Contemporary Art? A Children's Guide, commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and published in September 2012 by Thames & Hudson.{{Cite web|url=https://thamesandhudson.com/what-is-contemporary-art-a-children-s-guide-9780500515891|title=What is Contemporary Art?|website=thamesandhudson.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.artbook.com/https:/www.artbook.com/9780870708091.html|title=What Is Contemporary Art? A Guide for Kids ARTBOOK | D.A.P. 2012 Catalog MoMA Books Exhibition Catalogues 9780870708091|via=www.artbook.com}} It has been translated into seven languages.{{cn|date=December 2021}}
Personal life
Klein is married with two children and lives in Shepherd's Bush, west London.{{cite web |url=http://www.westlondonmum.co.uk/at-home-with-suzy-klein-writer-and-broadcaster/ |title="At Home with ... Suzy Klein, writer and broadcaster" Interview in westlondonmum, 21/01/2013 |year=2013 |accessdate=22 April 2014}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=2553383|name=Suzy Klein}}
- [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b014r87y Essential Classics] (BBC Radio 3)
- [https://twitter.com/suzyklein Suzy Klein on Twitter]
- [http://www.scalevocaltrust.org.uk Scale Vocal Trust]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, Suzy}}
Category:Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford
Category:Alumni of City, University of London
Category:BBC Radio 3 presenters
Category:English television presenters
Category:British women television presenters
Category:English music journalists
Category:People educated at South Hampstead High School
Category:People from Maida Vale
Category:People from Marylebone
Category:British women journalists
Category:20th-century British women writers
Category:British writers about music
Category:Women writers about music