Culture Club and Clean Bandit to play Philharmonic concert season

Culture Club - fronted by Boy George - had their first chart hit more than 30 years ago

Re-formed 1980s band Culture Club feature among a line-up of concerts with the BBC Philharmonic designed to broaden the appeal of orchestral music.

Chart-topping dance act Clean Bandit are also part of the season, taking place at BBC North in Salford.

A symphony based on their album New Eyes will be unveiled.

The performances, which will also feature US musician John Grant, will be broadcast across the BBC Radio network from 10 September to 17 October.

Free tickets for the concerts at the BBC Philharmonic Studio in Salford will be allocated by ballot in due course.

Culture Club, who announced their comeback earlier this year, will revisit their acclaimed 1983 album Colour by Numbers accompanied by the 90-strong BBC Philharmonic.

The record featured their chart-topping hit Karma Chameleon and songs Church of the Poisoned Mind and It's a Miracle.

The band's reassembled line-up will feature frontman Boy George.

Clean Bandit's worldwide number one hit from the beginning of the year, Rather Be, contained a rich flourish of strings.

The song will form part of the new symphony based on their album.

Stringed instruments play an important role in Clean Bandit's music

Radio 3's In Tune will team up with Blue Peter on CBBC for a concert featuring music from the BBC's Ten Pieces project, which aims to inspire children in primary schools to learn more about classical music.

Another concert for the BBC's Asian Network will feature Sona Mohapatra performing music written by one of India's greatest film composers, RD Burman.

Bob Shennan, BBC director of music, said the new season would "showcase some wonderfully diverse music to our audiences."

"There will be something for everyone," he added.

The first BBC Philharmonic Presents... season of concerts took place in 2011 and returned a year later.

BBC Radio 2's Electric Proms was held from 2006-10 and intended to draw musical acts out of their usual performing zone, regularly involving collaborations with the BBC Concert Orchestra.

But in 2011 it was announced that the season would be cancelled with immediate effect due to financial cuts.