The Brodsky Quartet play Joseph Phibbs’ music at King’s Place [Sarah Creswell]

AS Joni Mitchell used to say, you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone. And that was very nearly the case with the BBC Singers, the elite vocal consort threatened with closure in a cost-cutting exercise until a tidal wave of anger forced the Corporation to back down.

Thinking it could get away with such a brazen cull was one of the Beeb’s more spectacular mistakes of recent years; but the truth is no one quite expected the strength of feeling aroused. And since the reprieve, the BBC has been falling over itself to make amends: hence the beano at the Barbican on October 2 to mark the Singers’ centenary.

Joined on stage by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and a battery of conductors – the most glamorous being Eric Whitacre – they’ll sing a programme based around Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and ending with one of the crazy classical mash-ups that are a speciality of Iain Farringdon (the composer who made the medley of sports-programme themes heard at the Last Night of the Proms).

But there’s also a new work by Roderick Williams called Inform, educate and entertain: a pointed reminder of what the BBC is meant to do according to its charter. The “inform” and “educate” are bits it sometimes chooses to forget. Full details: barbican.org.uk

• The Philharmonia are running a Nordic series at the Festival Hall which continues on September 29 with Sibelius and Nielsen under the orchestra’s appropriately Finnish conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali; and one of its themes is that, with climate change, Nordic winters aren’t so chilly as they once were (details: southbankcentre.co.uk). But for a blast of full-on winter cold, English Touring Opera launch their new season at Hackney Empire with Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Snowmaiden: a chastening tale about the risks of falling in love when you’re made from ice. Two performances, September 28 & October 4. englishtouringopera.org.uk

• This column doesn’t give enough attention to ballet, so here’s to the Royal Ballet’s revived Alice in Wonderland: an extravagant take on the Lewis Carroll story, with choreography by Christopher Wheeldon and a colourful score by one of today’s most successful composers for dance, Joby Talbot. September 28-November 1. rbo.org.uk

• Not so long ago the Royal Ballet staged a dance score by Thomas Adès, The Dante Project, that showcased his compositional genius on an epic scale. More intimately, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, September 27, he plays the piano with violist Lawrence Power in a programme of musical arrangements. But perhaps in memory of his ballet experience, the platform line-up will include a dancer: something different to your average recital. southbankcentre.co.uk

• Among the most impressive composers of chamber music currently working in Britain is Joseph Phibbs, who has a premiere at Kings Place, October 2. It’s a clarinet quintet, played by the Brodsky Quartet with woodwind virtuoso Mark van de Wiel and being bravely programmed alongside Mozart’s benchmark score for the same forces – though I suspect Phibbs will hold his own against even that level of competition. This concert celebrates his 50th birthday (he doesn’t look it). And if it appeals, know that the London premiere of his latest string quartet also happens at the same venue on October 9. kingsplace.co.uk