2020

Season 74 · 2020 · 15 episodes

Episodes

1First Night of the PromsKatie Derham presents the first night of the world’s greatest live classical music festival, with a feast of music including Beethoven’s Third Symphony, Aaron Copland’s Quiet City and a new work by young British composer Hannah Kendall, all brought to you by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Singers, with conductor Sakari Oramo. Join Katie and special guest Stephen Fry as they celebrate the return of live music to the Royal Albert Hall.
2The Symphonic OrganOrganist Jonathan Scott performs his own virtuosic arrangements of works by Rossini, Mascagni, Dukas, plus a climactic Saint-Saëns's Symphony No. 3, on the world-famous Royal Albert Hall organ.
3Sir Simon Rattle and the LSOSir Simon Rattle and the LSO with a programme of unmissable music featuring star pianist Mitsuko Uchida playing Beethoven, works by Elgar and Vaughan Williams, and a new composition by Thomas Adès.
4Viennese NightIn a Viennese spectacular, the BBC Concert Orchestra are joined by soloists Sophie Bevan and Robert Murray, performing works by Lehár and Johann Strauss II, conducted by Bramwell Tovey.
5London SinfoniettaThe London Sinfonietta perform cutting edge contemporary works by Philip Glass, Tansy Davies, Steve Reich and Anna Meredith.
6Proms @ MediaCityUK, Salford with the BBC PhilharmonicIn a change to the originally advertised programme, John Storgårds, the BBC Philharmonic's Chief Guest Conductor, joins the orchestra to conduct Haydn, Britten and Tchaikovsky.
7Nicola Benedetti and the Orchestra of the Age of EnlightenmentNicola Benedetti leads a high-energy evening of baroque music with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, led by Jonathan Cohen.
8Anoushka Shankar and Gold PandaSitar virtuoso Anoushka Shankar takes to the stage in an evening dedicated to her father and musical guru, Ravi, in what would have been his centenary year. Anoushka is joined in the first half by electronic music producer and performer Gold Panda for a new imagining of Ravi’s music. In the second half, Jules Buckley, the Britten Sinfonia and soloist Manu Delago accompany Anoushka in a selection of her music. Josie d’Arby presents this unique evening from the Royal Albert Hall.
9Proms @ City Halls, Glasgow, with the BBC Scottish Symphony OrchestraStephen Hough plays Beethoven in a concert featuring a World Premiere from Jay Capperauld.
10Laura Marling and the 12 EnsembleLaura Marling teams up with the 12 Ensemble for a retrospective journey through her back catalogue, as well as showcasing tracks from her 2020 album, Song for Our Daughter.
11KOKOROKOLondon based eight-piece band KOKOROKO bring their ‘horn fuelled’ Afrobeat sound to the Proms, led by trumpeter Sheila Maurice-Grey.
12Exploring Beethoven’s SeventhTo celebrate Beethoven’s 250th anniversary, Tom Service and the Aurora Orchestra present a unique evening in which conductor Nicholas Collon and the orchestra take apart Beethoven’s popular Seventh Symphony and show us the inner workings of the composer’s creative genius, followed by a performance of the work in the orchestra’s signature style - from memory! Also on the bill at the Royal Albert Hall is a new work by British composer Richard Ayres, whose piece is inspired by Beethoven’s struggle with his loss of hearing.
13Sheku and Isata Kanneh-MasonSuperstar siblings Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason perform their first Prom together, an evening of chamber music for cello and piano.
14Proms at BBC Hoddinott Hall, CardiffRyan Bancroft joins BBC NOW as principal conductor at BBC Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff Bay for his first official engagement, his Proms debut and the first Prom from Wales! Martinu’s quirky Jazz Suite complements John Adams’s Chamber Symphony, written in 1992. After the world premiere of a new BBC commission by British composer Gavin Higgins, there are two evocative American classics by Barber and Copland. Acclaimed soprano Natalya Romaniw from Swansea, who represented Wales in Cardiff Singer of the World, joins the orchestra for this unforgettable Prom.
15Last Night of the PromsFeaturing South African soprano Golda Schultz with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under its principal guest conductor Dalia Stasevska. Presented by Katie Derham.