RADIOHEAD'S Jonny Greenwood said he 'owes everything' to council-funded music lessons when he was a child.

Tonight, a concert he has curated for the BBC Proms will be held at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

It will include the world premiere of his Horror vacui, along with Pulse by Steve Reich, the American minimalist composer.

He bemoaned the decline in funding for music lessons available to students.

He told BBC Radio Four's Today programme: “Sometimes I think the only reason that I learned instruments is because as a kid I started playing something and I was impressed with myself.

“The biggest moment was getting a plastic recorder when I was five or six and that was amazing and I’m still playing the thing. I’m playing the recorder all the time.”

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He added: “I owe my musical education to Oxfordshire County Council, peripatetic music teachers coming to my primary school; the recorder groups I was in was funded by that as well.

"That’s what I owe everything to really. It’s really upsetting to see music as something that is a luxury or something that’s a hobby instead of something that’s really important. Whether it’s small groups visiting schools or even the luxury of seeing an orchestra play, it’s something that will always stay with you. There’s nothing like sitting in a quiet room and hearing an orchestra start up.”

Tonight's Prom will be broadcast on BBC Four on Friday.

Mr Greenwood, who lives in Oxfordshire, is most famous for his role in Radiohead but has also received critical acclaim for his film scores.

He has been nominated for an Oscar for Paul Thomas Anderson's film Phantom Thread.

His music was also used in 2008 film There Will Be Blood.