Jan Younghusband is a multi-award-winning television and film commissioner, producer, and author, known for her rich and varied career spanning opera, theatre, and broadcast media. She was until recently Head of Music TV Commissioning at the BBC for 14 years, and before that Head of Arts at Channel 4 and an independent producer.  

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Jan began her journey playing the piano, and then in the arts at Glyndebourne, working in opera production, and quickly rose to become Head of Planning at the National Theatre under the leadership of Sir Peter Hall and Sir Richard Eyre. During this time, she also assisted Sir Peter on major international opera productions, including The Ring at Bayreuth. And Amadeus on Broadway.

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She went on to become the General Manager of the Peter Hall Company in London’s West End. From there, she transitioned into television, making her first documentary for The Really Useful Group and Swedish broadcaster SVT, capturing the magic of The Phantom of the Opera’s opening

in Sweden.

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Jan then created and produced for Initial Film and TV the Channel 4 series Orchestra! and the Emmy-winning Concerto! in 1993, presented by Dudley Moore and Siur Georg Solti, the first classical series reaching a broad global audience before also producing multi-camera live opera broadcasts for the BBC. She also executive produced large-scale music events such as Voice of an Angel, launching Charlotte Church’s career, and the Spice Girls Live at Wembley.

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In 1999, she was appointed Commissioning Editor for Music at Channel 4, and later became Head of Arts. There, she oversaw a series of groundbreaking and award-winning projects including Steve McQueen’s Hunger, the first arts reality series Operatunity, Musicality, Ballet Changed My Life, 4Mations, and 4Dance. She also commissioned 8 opera films and the film debuts of Jermey Deller, Sam Taylor-Johnson; Clio Barnard and Lloyd Newson. Supporting new talent and creating original TV and film formats has been a key feature of her career to date.  

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Jan joined the BBC as Head of Music TV in 2009, shaping some of the broadcaster’s most acclaimed music programming and events such as  the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, One Love Manchester and Global Citizens One World Together.
 
Today, she continues to work independently, bringing her expertise and passion to new creative projects across arts, factual and music. She is also Chair of British Youth Opera and a Visiting Professor of Music Business at Oxford University.

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Jan is a member of BAFTA and WFTV: Women In Film & Television.