Born in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, he began his career on BBC radio, and interviewed composers and musicians as varied as Francis Poulenc, Count Basie, Oscar Hammerstein and Glenn Gould in 1950s and 60s.
He won two Emmy Awards, first in 1972 for producing and directing Bernstein on Beethoven: A Celebration in Vienna, then in 1988 for the Great Performances episode Celebrating Gershwin.
Through the launch of the BBC Young Musician of the Year award in 1978, he went on to discover soloists such as the violinist Nicola Benedetti.
He was knighted in the 2020 for his services to classical music and the arts.
Sharing the “incredibly sad” news online, external, BBC Radio 3 also paid tribute to the “much loved” broadcaster , saying he “had a huge influence on generations of arts programme makers”.
