24 April 2024 – This year’s festival presents eight weeks of world-class music making from some of the finest orchestras from across the UK and around the world. BBC audiences can look forward to 90 Proms, demonstrating an extraordinary breadth of classical and orchestral music.

This season features some of the world’s best international orchestras and their conductors. Highlights include the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle, the Berlin Philharmonic under Kirill Petrenko, the Czech Philharmonic under Jakub Hrůša, the Orchestre de Paris under Klaus Mäkelä, and, in their 25th-anniversary year, the West–Eastern Divan under Daniel Barenboim.

For the first time, a weekend-long Proms festival launches at the newly opened Bristol Beacon, including a BBC Proms debut from the Paraorchestra. The mini festival is the start of a long-term partnership between the BBC Proms, Bristol Beacon and Open Up Music, which will focus on inclusive access to classical music.

The BBC Proms returns to Gateshead for a weekend-long residency at the Glasshouse International Centre for Music and a brand new Proms residency launches in venues in Nottingham. Aberdeen, Belfast and Newport host chamber concerts as the BBC continues its commitment to bringing classical music to audiences across the UK.

This summer’s programme includes an exciting array of family events and concerts for children, with a new Doctor Who Prom and a new CBeebies Prom. Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Braimah Kanneh-Mason, Plínio Fernandes and the Fantasia Orchestra perform a programme of folk songs, dances, prayers and incantations, which will be repeated in a Relaxed performance the following day.

Florence Welch, of indie-rock band Florence + The Machine, makes her BBC Proms debut, and only UK appearance this year, to perform her lauded BRIT Award-winning 2009 album Lungs, alongside Jules Buckley and his orchestra.

The BBC Proms celebrates choral music and singing, with over 25 choirs appearing throughout the season. A special three-concert Choral Day reflects a wide range of choral styles, and choral highlights across the summer include performances of Verdi’s Requiem, Britten’s War Requiem and Bach’s St John Passion. In the year that the BBC Singers celebrate their centenary, they will perform in seven Proms including the First Night and the Last Night.

Building on the BBC Proms’ exploration of alternative musical genres, and after the success of the 2023 Northern Soul Prom, this year’s opening weekend will feature the first ever Disco Prom, celebrating disco music of the late 1970s during the era of New York’s Studio 54.

The Proms marks the 200th anniversary of Anton Bruckner’s birth with seven of his works. Other anniversaries include Arnold Schoenberg, Ferruccio Busoni, Gabriel Fauré, Gustav Holst, Giacomo Puccini, Charles Villiers Stanford, Bedřich Smetana and Henry Mancini.

Star soloists include Yo-Yo Ma, who performs with Leonidas Kavakos and Emanuel Ax, Jamie Barton, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Yunchan Lim, Anthony McGill and Víkingur Ólafsson.

Continuing the Proms’ tradition of collaborating with non-classical artists, Sam Smith and Jordan Rakei make their BBC Proms debuts, and will perform their own music in new orchestral arrangements.

Three Proms pay tribute to the work and legacies of iconic musicians: folk-rock artist Nick Drake, jazz singer Sarah Vaughan and film composer Henry Mancini, each of whom have significant anniversaries this year and whose Proms will feature exciting soloists.

Aurora Orchestra returns to the Proms with Beethoven’s ninth and final symphony, in its 200th-anniversary year, performed entirely from memory. Aurora Orchestra will dissect and analyse Beethoven’s final symphony; a vibrant celebration of joy and hope, composed amid hearing loss, illness and personal tragedy.

The festival features several significant American works. John Wilson and his orchestra will host a concert of American classics including works by Aaron Copland, George Gershwin and Charles Ives. Avant-garde multi-instrumentalist Anthony Braxton makes his BBC Proms debut, joining the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in a programme that explores the past 100 years of American jazz.

The 2024 season introduces a number of pieces to the Proms by French women from the past 300 years: Mel Bonis, Lili Boulanger, Cécile Chaminade, Louise Farrenc, Augusta Holmès, Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre and Germaine Tailleferre.

The BBC continues its commitment to championing new music. This year, 24 premieres and BBC commissions / co-commissions will be performed. Composers Anna Clyne, Steve Reich, Carlos Simon and Eric Whitacre each have a world premiere, and Julius Eastman’s Symphony No. 2 and Mary Lou Williams’s Zodiac Suite will be performed in the UK for the first time.

Elim Chan conducts the First Night of the Proms, featuring soloists Isata Kanneh-Mason and Sophie Bevan, and a world premiere of Ben Nobuto’s Hallelujah Sim. The Last Night of the Proms will be conducted by Sakari Oramo, featuring pianist Sir Stephen Hough and soprano Angel Blue, who makes her BBC Proms debut.

The Proms continues its commitment to accessible ticket prices, with Promming day standing tickets remaining at £8 (inclusive of booking fees), seats starting at £10 and half-price tickets available for under-18s (plus booking fees).

Every Prom at the Royal Albert Hall and around the UK will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3, with selected Proms also broadcast on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 1. BBC Television and BBC iPlayer will broadcast 24 programmes, including the First Night and Last Night of the Proms, across BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four or CBeebies, and all will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer for 12 months.

International Orchestras and ensembles

The 2024 Proms season brings together an exceptional line-up of 10 visiting international orchestras. Sir Simon Rattle, in his first season as Chief Conductor of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducts two concerts: Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4, the UK premiere of Aquifer by Thomas Adès, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 6.

The Berlin Philharmonic and Kirill Petrenko’s two Proms include Schumann’s Piano Concerto, performed by Víkingur Ólafsson, and Bruckner’s Symphony No. 5. Presenting two Proms in the Year of Czech Music are the Czech Philharmonic, with Jakub Hrůša, performing all-Czech programmes with works by Dvořák, Kaprálová Janáček and Suk.

The Paris Orchestra and Klaus Mäkelä, recently named Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, perform Berlioz’s Symphony Fantastique And, in their 25th anniversry year, West–Eastern Divan and co-founder Daniel Barenboim bring Schubert’s Symphony No. 9 and Brahms’s Violin Concerto, featuring soloist Anne-Sophie Mutter, to the Proms.

• Il Pomo d’Oro, led by Jakub Józef Orliński (July 23)
• Les Arts Florissants, conducted by Paul Agnew (6 August)
• The West–Eastern Divan Orchestra conducted by Daniel Barenboim (11 August & broadcast on BBC Four and BBC iPlayer)
• Bach Collegium Japan conducted by Masaaki Suzuki (19 August)
• Ensemble Resonanz conducted by Riccardo Minasi (20 August)
• Rotterdam Philharmonic conducted by Lahav Shani, who performs Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 (23 August)
• Czech Philharmonic conducted by Jakub Hrůša (27 & 28 August), featuring Prague Philharmonic Choir (28 August)
• Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Kirill Petrenko (31 August & 1 September)
• Orchester de Paris conducted by Klaus Mäkelä (September 3)
• Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Simon Rattle (5 & 6 September)

Ensembles visiting from around the world include the vision string quartet (4 August, Newport), Quatuor Van Kuijk (11 August, Belfast), Tinariwen (Late Night, 28 August) and the Jason Max Ferdinand Singers (7 September).

Major soloists and conductors

Major soloists include:

• Isata Kanneh – Piano (July 14)
• Karen Cargill mezzo-soprano (23 July)
• Yunchan Lim piano (29 July)
• Sheku Kanneh-Mason cello (4 August)
• Benjamin Grosvenor piano (5 August)
• Seong-Jin Cho piano (9 August)
• Anne-Sophie Mutter violin (11 August)
• Jess Gillam saxophone (12 August)
• Sol Gabetta cello (18 August)
• Paul Lewis piano (22 August)
• Jamie Barton mezzo-soprano (24 August)
• Dame Evelyn Glennie percussion (25 August, Bristol)
• Yo-Yo Ma cello, Leonidas Kavakos violin and Emanuel Ax piano (31 August)
• Víkingur Ólafsson piano (31 August)
• Nardus Williams soprano (1 September, Aberdeen & 7 September)
• Golda Schultz soprano (4 September)
• Patricia Kopatchinskaja violin (9 September)
• Lucy Crowe soprano (10 September)
• Iestyn Davies countertenor (10 September)
• Sir András Schiff piano (12 September)
• Angel Blue soprano (14 September)
• Sir Stephen Hough piano (14 September)

Internationally renowned conductors include:

• Elim Chan (19 July)
• Sir Mark Elder (21 July & broadcast live on BBC Four and BBC iPlayer)
• Ryan Bancroft (22 & 23 July)
• Sakari Oramo (August 3, 9, 25 & September 14)
• Vasily Petrenko (August 1)
• John Wilson (4 August)
• Anja Bihlmaier (8 & 29 August)
• Daniel Barenboim (11 August)
• Gemma New (16 August)
• Sir Antonio Pappano (August 17)
• Lahav Shani (23 August)
• Dalia Stasevska (24 August)
• Kirill Petrenko (August 31 & September 1)
• Klaus Mäkelä (3 September)
• Sir Simon Rattle (5 & 6 September)
• Anna-Maria Helsing (8 September, Nottingham)
• Tarmo Peltokoski (9 September)

Opera and large-scale choral

• Verdi’s Requiem – Marking its 150th year anniversary, Ryan Bancroft, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Chorus, as well as soloists Latonia Moore, Karen Cargill, SeokJong Baek, Solomon Howard, and Crouch End Festival Chorus, perform one of music’s most vivid masterpieces (23 July & BBC Four and BBC iPlayer).

• Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream –This year, three musical versions of Shakespeare’s classic comedy will be performed. Purcell’s The Fairy Queen is conducted by Paul Agnew and performed by Les Arts Florissants and a troupe of soloists and dancers. This is the critically acclaimed production by choreographer and director Mourad Merzouki who merges hip-hop dance with Purcell’s score, and has been previously performed in New York, Paris and in venues around the world (6 August). Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream will be performed by Garsington Opera, who make their Proms debut, with their semi-staged production under Douglas Boyd and featuring Iestyn Davies as Oberon and Lucy Crowe as Tytania (10 September). In addition, Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream – incidental music is conducted by Gemma New and performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and NYCOS Chamber Choir, and it will be interspersed with readings from the play for dramatic context (16 August & broadcast on BBC Four and BBC iPlayer).

• Britten’s War Requiem – Sir Antonio Pappano and his London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus are joined by soloists Natalya Romaniw, Allan Clayton and Will Liverman to perform Britten’s monumental War Requiem (17 August & broadcast on BBC Four and BBC iPlayer).
Bach’s St John Passion – Conductor Masaaki Suzuki and the Bach Collegium Japan make a welcome return to the Proms to perform Bach’s sacred masterpiece in its 300th-anniversary year. Specialist soloists include Benjamin Bruns, Christian Immler and Carolyn Sampson (19 August).

• Bizet’s Carmen – Glyndebourne Festival Opera makes its annual visit to the Proms with its 2024 production of Carmen. Anja Bihlmaier conducts Glyndebourne’s fine cast and chorus, along with the London Philharmonic Orchestra (29 August).

• Fauré’s Requiem – Fauré’s deeply moving contemplation of loss and consolation is conducted by Stéphane Denève and features soloists Golda Schultz, Laurence Kilsby and Thomas Mole, alongside the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Chorus (4 September).

• Eric Whitacre world premiere – The BBC Singers perform Eric Whitacre’s new piece Eternity in an Hour, a setting of William Blake’s poem Auguries of Innocence. Whitacre conducts and is also joined by 12 Ensemble and pianist Christopher Glynn (4 September, Late Night).

• Choral Day – Concert 1 features The Sixteen, under Harry Christophers, performing some of the most serene and spiritual choral works written in England during the Victorian period. Concert 2 will be an uplifting matinee, with Jason Max Ferdinand and his Singers making their Proms debut in a programme that mixes classical, jazz and gospel music. Concert 3 sees Handel’s Messiah performed by Fourth Choir, Jason Max Ferdinand Singers, LYC Chamber Choir, Bath Minerva Choir, Philharmonia Chorus, Voices of the River’s Edge and Academy of St Martin in the Fields, conducted by John Butt and with soloists Nardus Williams, Helen Charlston, Benjamin Hulett and Ashley Riches (7 September).

Premieres and BBC commissions

The BBC is the UK’s biggest commissioner of new music, and this year the festival will feature 24 premieres and BBC commissions / co-commissions.

World premieres

• Ben Nobuto Hallelujah Sim., BBC commission (19 July and broadcast on TV)
• Melissa Dunphy Totality, BBC co-commission (21 July)
• Sarah Class new work (27 July)
• Edmund Finnis The Bridal Morn (28 July, Gateshead)
• Anna Clyne The Gorgeous Nothings, BBC commission (30 July)
• Sarah Gibson beyond the beyond, BBC commission (8 August)
• Dani Howard new work, BBC co-commission (10 August)
• Oliver Vibrans new work, BBC co-commission (24 August)
• Lara Poe Songs from the Countryside (‘Songs from the Countryside’) (25 August)
• Asteryth Sloane new work (25 August, Bristol)
• Eric Whitacre Eternity in an Hour, BBC co-commission (4 September)
• Elizabeth Kelly Lace Machine Music (8 September, Nottingham)
• Carlos Simon new work, BBC co-commission (14 September)

European premieres

• Mary Lou Williams Zodiac Suite (15 August)
• Jacob Collier World O World (7 September)

UK premieres

• Wynton Marsalis Herald, Holler and Hallelujah! (4 August)
• Hans Abrahamsen Horn Concerto (7 August)
• Francisco Coll Cello Concerto (18 August)
• Julius Eastman Symphony No. 2, ‘The Faithful Friend: The Lover Friend’s Love for the Beloved’ (24 August)
• Steve Reich Jacob’s Ladder, BBC co-commission (30 August)
• Thomas Adès Aquifer (September 5)

Additionally, three recent BBC-commissioned works will be performed: Cassandra Miller’s I cannot love without trembling, a viola concerto (31 July), a work by Roderick Williams in Bristol and Sir Karl Jenkins’s Stravaganza (12 August).

For more information, visit the link BELOW.