But in White Oak's current season, it is he who opens and closes the programme.
Closing the programme is Itzik Galili's A Linha Curva, a giant, rowdy Brazilian carnival of a work.
Ellie Goulding performed the official BBC Children in Need single How Long Will I Love You, and the cast of West End hit musical The Commitments closed the programme with a medley of songs.
That was Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, which closed the programme in a welter of ear-splitting brass and reverberating timpani; the performance held the music's visceral and balletic sides in tense, thrilling balance.
Closing the programme, I asked John Carey how he would place Sylvia Plath in the hierarchy of American women poets (I hope I didn't say 'poetesses') after reading this book.
Next year, when Television Centre closes, the programme makers will need to find new premises, but more than 1,500 acts have performed on the show and there are no plans to end it (Paul Weller has the record for the most appearances with 11).
Country singer Brooks closed the programme by performing his hit song, Friends in Low Places.
Announcing the plan to close the public programmes run by the school of continuing education at Reading University, the pro vice-chancellor, Professor Christine Williams, said: "The hard fact is that the university cannot afford to subsidise these courses to the tune of half a million pounds a year".
With Nasa facing annual budget cuts of $1.9bn, and the White House eager to focus on explorations of deeper space, a decision was taken seven years ago to close the shuttle programme.
The Atlantis orbiter will close the shuttle programme with a flight in June or just beyond.
"We do not consider the decision to close the bilateral aid programme was rational or consistent.
