Front Row

Tash Aw, winner of the Whitbread Award and Commonwealth Book Prize, discusses his new novel We the Survivors, about a man born in a Malaysian fishing village who tries to make his way in a country and society that is transforming. He describes the book as a tribute to those battling to survive in a ruthless, rapidly changing world. As museums such as the National Portrait Gallery and Tate Modern sever ties with the philanthropic Sackler family following controversy over its alleged role in the opioid crisis, what is the wider impact on the ethics of arts sponsorship? How much scrutiny of arts sponsors should there be? Andrea is joined by Heledd Fychan, chair of the Museum Association's Ethics Committee and author and academic Tiffany Jenkins.Dear Lord and Father of Mankind is one of the nation's favourite hymn tunes, yet the tune itself comes from a much bigger work, the oratorio Judith by Hubert Parry, which is about to get its first UK performance in almost one hundred years at the Royal Festival Hall in London next week. Music historian Jeremy Summerly explores the significance of this musical revival. Presenter: Andrea Catherwood Producer: Timothy Prosser

Scottish artist Katie Paterson’s exhibition at Turner Contemporary, Margate, explores our relationship with the vastness and mysteries of the universe, as she works with scientists who have pioneered research on the cosmic spectrum. The artist discusses her fascination with the physical world.So many successful TV shows have non-celebrities at their heart, from documentaries to reality programmes like Made in Chelsea and Great British Bake Off. But how do programme-makers find the contributors who will make interesting viewing? Co-director of production company Drummer TV Rachel Drummer Hay and TV critic Emma Bullimore give their perspective on what makes a good cast. The 2018 Ted Hughes Award highlights outstanding contributions made by poets to our cultural life. Front Row talks to the winner of the £5000 prize, live from the award ceremony, minutes after the announcement is made this evening.As a member of The Beat, Ranking Roger was one of the stars of British Ska, bringing his “toasting” skills to many of the band’s big hits. To mark his death, music critic and broadcaster Kevin Le Gendre pays tribute.Presenter: Janina Ramirez Producer: Kate Bullivant

A history of classical music in 10 minutes. Pianist Jeremy Denk traces seven centuries of Western Classical Music in one recital and album, C.1300 – C.2000, demonstrating at the piano the evolution of harmony from the medieval composer Machaut to Philip Glass. Author Arundhati Roy has agreed to appear at Hay Festival in May following the loss of sponsorship from corporate Tata. Will Gompertz reports on the growing trend for arts organisations to drop significant investment from businesses which artists and audiences see as unethical. Does tragedy still have a place in contemporary British theatre? Playwrights Roy Williams and April De Angelis, and Dr Rosie Wyles, lecturer in classical history and literature at the University of Kent, discuss.Presenter: Stig Abell Producer: Hannah Robins

Politics and Big Band music :British musician Matthew Herbert has created The State Between Us, a new album made in reaction to the progress of Brexit. It's a work which includes original composition, choral elements and recorded sounds which reflect the triggering of Article 50; there's someone walking the Irish border, someone eating fish and chips and even someone flying a WWII bomber. Matthew Herbert discusses his intentions for the work, recording in Europe, and why he changed the name from The Brexit Big Band to The Great Britain and Gibraltar European Union Membership Referendum Big Band. The album is released on Friday 29th March – Brexit Day - and there are two performances that same day at London's Royal Court Theatre.A new exhibition at Tate Britain brings together the largest group of Van Gogh paintings shown in the UK for nearly a decade. Van Gogh and Britain charts Vincent's years in London between 1873 and 1876 as a young art dealer before he tookup painting. Head curator Carol Jacobi and specialist Martin Bailey discuss the influence of Britain on Van Gogh’s art, and his art on British artists in subsequent years.This week also sees the opening of a new film about Van Gogh directed by Julian Schnabel. At Eternity’s Gate features Willem Dafoe as the artist in his later – and most productive – years working in the South of France. The director describes his artistic vision for the film.The singer Scott Walker has died. We speak to prize-winning author and Scott Walker fan Eimear McBride - who wrote the introduction to a book of his lyrics - about his extraordinary varied careerPresenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Oliver Jones

The recent Pinter season at the Pinter Theatre in London, culminating in the current production of Betrayal starring Tom Hiddleston, Zawe Ashton and Charlie Cox, suggests that Harold Pinter has a durability that other writers of his generation may not be able to claim. What are the qualities that give his work resonance to an audience today? The director Jamie Lloyd, theatre critic and Pinter biographer Michael Billington, and Dr Catriona Fallow, research fellow on the Harold Pinter: Histories and Legacies project, tell Front Row why they think his work endures.In his award-winning play The Believers Are But Brothers, Javaad Alipoor invited audiences to experience the world of young disaffected men online by joining a WhatsApp group. Alipoor talks to Stig Abell about the play which tells four fictional stories - an Islamic State group recruiter, two British recruits and an Alt-Right 'white boy' from California, and has which has now been adapted into a drama BBC Four. Guitarist and songwriter Richard Hawley thought he hated musicals, realised that actually he quite liked them and went on to write one that opened this week at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. Standing at the Sky's Edge is about Park Hill, the flats the that flank Sheffield like a city wall. It tells their story, from the optimism of their conception as an urban utopia, through dereliction and recent redevelopment and recovery. Woven through are Hawley's songs, and the professional cast is augmented by many local people. The writer, broadcaster and Sheffield resident, Paul Allen, reviews the show.Presenter: Stig Abell Producer: Julian May

Photographer David Bailey has shot some of the most iconic portraits of the last six decades, from the Kray twins to the Queen. He talks about his life and career and how to achieve the perfect portrait shot. Tomorrow the UK’s largest cast bronze sculpture is unveiled in Plymouth. John talks to artist Joseph Hillier, who has been working on the crouching female figure called Messenger for the last two years.Sophie Wright from Magnum considers the different ways photographers have captured the body in a new exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts in Norwich, The Body Observed: Magnum Photos. Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Timothy Prosser

Ralph Fiennes' third film as director is The White Crow, the story of how Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev came from a peasant upbringing to be one of the greatest dancers, and how whilst on tour in Paris in 1961 he defected to the West from the Soviet Union. Critic Sarah Crompton reviews.Last week dozens of well-heeled American parents, including actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, were charged with involvement in a scheme to fabricate academic and athletic credentials to get their children into prestigious universities. And last week Joshua Harmon’s play ‘Admissions’ opened here. It’s about a woman who, devoted to improving diversity at her elite school, finds herself somewhat challenged when her son doesn’t get into Yale - but his mixed race best friend does. And this week another American play, ‘Downstate’ by Bruce Norris, opens at the National Theatre. This is set in a group home where four men, convicted of sex crimes against children and tagged, live. A man comes to confront his abuser, but our sympathies are not only with him. With Samira Ahmed the two playwrights discuss how and why, far from being escapist, the theatre is where contentious issues are imaginatively examined today. Presenter : Samira Ahmed Producer : Dymphna Flynn

Julia Roberts and Lucas Hedges discuss their new film Ben is Back, in which a mother faces difficult challenges when her drug-addicted son returns to the family home from rehab unexpectedly for Christmas.We consider the art of internet memes as the World Wide Web turns 30. Elise Bell, co-founder of Tabloid Art History, explains how they make memes that go viral on Twitter and Instagram, and art historian Richard Clay explains where the term comes from, and considers their place in our wider cultural landscape.Actress Jessica Hynes, perhaps best-known for her BAFTA-winning performance as marketing guru Siobhan Sharpe in BBC comedy satires Twenty Twelve and W1A, discusses putting comedy aside to make her film directorial debut. The Fight tells the story of a middle-aged woman who takes up boxing to help her face her family problems, and sees Jessica take on the roles of writer, director, and lead actor, and even take up boxing.Presenter Stig Abell Producer Jerome Weatherald

Jordan Peele talks about Us - his new film about a family terrorised by their doppelgängers. Having upturned the horror genre with his Oscar-winning racial satire Get Out, Jordan takes aim at the American dream in this follow up, starring Lupita Nyong’o.The artist Christian Marclay is best known for The Clock - a 24-hour long film composed of nearly 12 000 clips, taken from films depicting time references across a full day. Critic Sarah Crompton assesses his latest two 'collage' video works on show in a new exhibition about to open at the White Cube Gallery in London. The UK contemporary country music scene has grown rapidly over recent years, and this week Bauer Media announced that they will be launching a new radio station, Country Hits Radio. Next month also sees the release of new film Wild Rose where a Glaswegian singer dreams of becoming a Nashville star. The film writer, Nicole Taylor, and Gary Stein of Bauer Media discuss the rise in popularity of the genre here in the UK.Presenter: Samira Ahmed Producer: Hannah Robins

Briony Hanson reviews the Golden Globe nominated film, Girl, which tells the story of a trans teenage girl who, training to be a ballerina is struggling to adapt to dancing “on pointe” during her transition from male to female.Two long lost episodes of The Likely Lads have recently been discovered and are coming out on DVD and Blu Ray. Dick Clement who, with Ian La Frenais, wrote the television comedy series tells John Wilson how tapes of what now be considered classic programmes were wiped. He discusses, too, the groundbreaking qualities of these stories about Terry and Bob, two working class Geordie lads, one with aspirations, the other more content with his lot. The Windham-Campbell prize at $165,000 is one of the biggest literary prizes in the world despite being relatively unknown. The prize is judge anonymously and the writers don't even know they’ve been nominated. We announce this year’s winners and speak to two of them. How did they received the news and how they plan to spend their winnings.The London Book Fair is underway and to its Director, Jacks Thomas, talks about what research into the UK’s favourite book genres reveals - who reads what, where - the health of the publishing business, and the book deals and highlights of the fair so far.Presenter: John Wilson Producer: Julian May