Controller of BBC Radio 3 and Director of the BBC Proms, Roger Wright, has announced he is to leave the corporation.

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The 57-year-old - who has been controlling of the radio station since 1998 and began directing the Proms in 2007 - is to take up a new post as the Chief Executive of Aldeburgh Music in early September, taking over from Jonathan Reekie who is leaving to become director of the Somerset House Trust.

In a statement, Wright said he was "sorry to be leaving the BBC, having enjoyed such a long and fulfilling period at Radio 3 and the BBC Proms."

The BBC's Director-General, Tony Hall, added that over the last 15 years Wright had "made a huge contribution to the BBC, through the success of both Radio 3 and seven seasons of the Proms. He has been a fantastic champion of classical music across the BBC and has raised the profile of the Proms every year."

Beginning his career in 1978 at the British Music Information Centre, Wright first joined the Beeb as senior producer at the BBC Symphony Orchestra before departing to become artistic administrator of the Cleveland Orchestra in 1989. His return to the BBC in 1998 saw him oversee Radio 3's loyal audience of around two million weekly listeners whilst growing the station's digital presence and co-ordinating classical music output across all BBC platforms.

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Based at Snape Maltings in Suffolk, Aldeburgh Music organises the annual Aldeburgh Festival, founded by Benjamin Britten. Company chairman Simon Robey said Wright would "bring an exceptional breadth and depth of experience to all we do."

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