BBC Proms and Radio 3 director Roger Wright to leave

Roger Wright will take up his new role with Aldeburgh Music in September

BBC Proms director and BBC Radio 3 controller Roger Wright is to leave the BBC after 15 years to become chief executive of Aldeburgh Music.

Mr Wright became Radio 3 controller in 1998 and took over the Proms in 2007.

He said he was "sorry to be leaving the BBC having enjoyed such a long and fulfilling period" at the corporation.

Aldeburgh Music, which is based at Snape Maltings in Suffolk, organises the annual Aldeburgh Festival, which was founded by Benjamin Britten.

Mr Wright will join in September, taking over from Jonathan Reekie, who has moved to become director of the Somerset House Trust.

Mr Wright said he was "honoured to have been invited to lead Aldeburgh Music at such an exciting time in its development".

He joined the corporation as senior producer of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in the 1980s before returning as head of BBC Classical Music in 1997.

He also co-ordinates classical music output across all BBC platforms.

'Huge contribution'

BBC director general Tony Hall paid tribute to his "huge contribution to the BBC, through the success of both Radio 3 and seven seasons of the Proms".

BBC Radio director Helen Boaden called him "a unique and brilliant talent" who would be missed "hugely" at the corporation.

Aldeburgh Music chairman Simon Robey said Mr Wright would "bring an exceptional breadth and depth of experience to all we do".

"Roger knows and loves Aldeburgh Music and understands its particular place in the artistic and wider life of its region, as well as its national and international role," he said.