BBC Proms - Season 20 / Year 2022

Clive Myrie and special guests present the first night of the Proms, live from the Royal Albert Hall. The eight-week season of exceptional music is kicking off with a bang as conductor Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra take on Verdi's monumental Requiem.

The orchestra will be joined by two choirs - the BBC Symphony Chorus and Crouch End Festival Chorus, as well as a quartet of superstar soloists: soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston, tenor Freddie De Tommaso and bass-baritone Kihwan Sim.

The piece bursts with lush melody, drama and musical fireworks, and the famous Dies Irae section will push choirs and soloists alike to their vocal limits.

The eagerly anticipated return of audience favourite John Wilson kicks off BBC Four's 2022 Proms season. He conducts award-winning orchestra, Sinfonia of London, in a packed all-British programme.

Much-loved classics including Vaughan Williams's Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and Elgar's Enigma Variations sit alongside Walton's colourful Partita and Arnold Bax's portrait of the Arthurian castle Tintagel. And it's the Proms premiere of Huw Watkins's dazzling Flute Concerto, written specially for tonight's soloist, Adam Walker.

Katie Derham is joined by special guests.

The Royal Albert Hall is in a particularly regal mood tonight, as Clive Myrie, with special guests, presents a Prom of music written for royal occasions in honour of Her Majesty the Queen's platinum jubilee.

Conductor Barry Wordsworth leads the BBC Concert Orchestra and BBC Singers in a varied programme featuring works by the very best British composers from across the last 500 years. Expect triumphant trumpet fanfares, soaring choruses and glorious organ playing, with particular highlights to include Handel's ever-popular coronation anthem Zadok the Priest, Parry's I Was Glad - which ushered the Duchess of Cambridge down the aisle - and even a song written by Henry VIII.

Andrew Manze conducts the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in a Prom with an atmospheric nautical theme.

Doreen Carwithen's powerful and vivid overture depicts the harsh, cold Atlantic waters battering Bishop Rock, 30 miles off Land's End. Its lighthouse is a seafarer's last sighting of terra firma as they head west.

Grace Williams's Sea Sketches, inspired by her home town of Barry in south Wales, capture the sea's effervescent personality.

Vaughan Williams's majestic A Sea Symphony, featuring multiple choirs together with soloists Elizabeth Llewellyn and Andrew Foster-Williams, rounds off the evening.

Georgia Mann presents alongside special guests.

Petroc Trelawny and special guests introduce a Prom that promises to be one of the most poignant and moving of the season as the Royal Albert Hall becomes the first stop on a world tour by the newly formed Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, following their inaugural concert.

Assembled by Canadian-Ukrainian conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson, the orchestra includes musicians from Ukraine and brings us works by Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov alongside Chopin, Beethoven and Brahms. With world renowned soloists Liudmyla Monastyrska (soprano) and Anna Fedorova (piano).

Magic and mischief at the Proms as Sir Mark Elder and the Hallé Orchestra bring Dukas's much-loved The Sorcerer's Apprentice, to kick-start an evening of highly visual music.

Drama is the main event, with Puccini's opera Il Tabarro, a tale of lust, adultery and murder set on the Seine in Paris.

Amidst the mayhem, Respighi's stunning aural portrait Fountains of Rome provides a moment of calm.

Join presenter Petroc Trelawny and special guests for this feast for the senses.

For the first time, the BBC Proms dedicates an entire concert to gaming music. Conductor Robert Ames leads the electronically enhanced Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in this specially curated programme that takes audiences on a sonic journey from 8-bit to infinity.

Nostalgia for millennials is guaranteed as the concert opens with two newly commissioned compositions that weave together 1980s and 1990s gaming music, from Chronos to Pokémon Red, as well as instantly recognisable digital sound effects.

The lush orchestral scoring of Final Fantasy VIII and Kingdom Hearts form the centre of the programme, which culminates in the European concert premiere of Hildur Guðnadóttir and Sam Slater's experimental score for Battlefield 2042.

Game on!

Petroc Trelawny and special guests introduce a Prom that promises to be one of the most poignant and moving of the season as the Royal Albert Hall becomes the first stop on a world tour by the newly formed Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, following their inaugural concert.

Assembled by Canadian-Ukrainian conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson, the orchestra includes musicians from Ukraine and brings us works by Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov alongside Chopin, Beethoven and Brahms. With world renowned soloists Liudmyla Monastyrska (soprano) and Anna Fedorova (piano).

Mozart was a child prodigy who rejected norms and rewrote the rule book. Tonight's concert opens with the overture from The Marriage of Figaro, an opera that changed music and challenged the social status quo.

Our performers for this Prom are also out of the ordinary. The international Mahler Chamber Orchestra's members are drawn from 20 countries. They are joined by their multi-Grammy-nominated artistic partner, Norwegian Leif Ove Andsnes, who plays piano and directs the orchestra, as Mozart did, from the keyboard.

Together they explore the relationship between soloist and ensemble in the ever-popular, dark and stormy Piano Concerto No 20, and Piano Concerto No 22, in which Mozart pushes orchestral boundaries with the introduction of the then-exotic clarinet.

Join Katie Derham and guests for a lively concert of Wolfgang Amadeus.

Superstar pianist Yuja Wang returns to the BBC Proms to pay homage to the ultimate piano virtuoso, Franz Liszt, with the Hungarian composer's first sparkling concerto for the instrument.

Wielding the baton is the exciting conductor Klaus Mäkelä as he makes his eagerly anticipated Proms debut with the Oslo Philharmonic, who also bring us two sumptuous, Romantic tone poems by Sibelius and Strauss: Tapiola and Ein Heldenleben.

Clive Myrie presents from the Royal Albert Hall, with special guests.

Eva Ollikainen conducts the BBC Philharmonic in a Prom featuring three composers and three unique responses to the landscapes surrounding them.

Elgar's much-loved cello concerto, rising from the autumnal woodlands of Sussex and performed by soloist Kian Soltani sits alongside Sibelius's mighty Second Symphony – a musical national awakening in the composer's homeland of Finland.

A world premiere opens the concert, a brand new commission from Anna Thorvaldsdottir titled, its craggy, elemental soundscape reminiscent of her native Iceland.

Presenter Petroc Trelawny is joined by special guests.

The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain returns to the Royal Albert Hall for its annual appearance at the Proms to perform Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and the concert version of Ravel's sumptuous ballet Daphnis and Chloe.

One hundred and fifty musicians take to the stage to perform 20th-century classics as well as a brand new commission from legendary Hollywood composer Danny Elfman.

Jess Gillam presents, with special guests Segun Akinola and Isobel Waller-Bridge.

Legendary conductor Marin Alsop returns to the BBC Proms stage for the first time since 2018 to lead the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra in a programme of fiery repertoire that takes us on a journey around Europe and across three centuries.

Béla Bartók's blood-curdling suite to The Miraculous Mandarin kicks off the concert, followed by Prokofiev's electrifying and fiendish Third Piano concerto, for which the orchestra is joined by superstar British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor.

After the interval, a brand new piece by Austrian composer Hannah Eisendle is followed by the main event: Dvorák's sumptuous Seventh Symphony.

Jess Gillam presents with special guests.

In Aretha Franklin's six-decade career, she won 18 Grammys and was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Celebrating what would have been the singer's eightieth birthday, the BBC Proms pay tribute to a true icon.

Jules Buckley debuts his new ensemble, and is joined by American singer and Quincy Jones protégée Sheléa to showcase the songs made famous by the Queen of Soul.

Aretha's live performances were visceral rituals, in which she readily opened her heart to her audience. Her song Respect became an anthem of both the Civil Rights Movement and gender empowerment. In 2009, she performed at Barack Obama's first inauguration. Her music was the soundtrack to African American history.

Clara Amfo presents this unforgettable event, with special guests.

Multi award-winning star of stage and screen Cynthia Erivo takes the Proms by storm as she sings the great American songbook of the 1950s and 60s.

Backed by the BBC Concert Orchestra, she celebrates the legendary female voices that have shown her the way - artists such as Nina Simone, Shirley Bassey, Billie Holiday, Etta James, and Gladys Knight.
From showtunes to pop, from soul to French chanson, expect big iconic anthems of love, loss and transformation.

Andi Oliver presents from the Royal Albert Hall in London, and is joined by special guests Clarke Peters and Ayanna Witter-Johnson.

Sir Simon Rattle makes an emotional appearance at the Proms at the helm of the London Symphony Orchestra.

In a deeply personal programme, Sir Simon and the orchestra perform Mahler's mighty Second Symphony, ‘Resurrection' – a musical odyssey on an epic scale – to a sellout crowd at the Royal Albert Hall.

The work has been indelibly linked with Sir Simon since he first rose to prominence as a student conductor when he was just a teenager.

A moving tribute to Sir Harrison Birtwistle, who died earlier this year, opens the concert. His rousing Donum Simoni MMXVIII was a musical gift composed specially for Sir Simon and the London Symphony Orchestra in 2018.

Petroc Trelawny presents.

Across seas and mountains, rivers, glaciers and deserts… in the centenary year of the BBC, the Proms brings a celebration of its world-famous Natural History Unit through the years, from Sir David Attenborough's pioneering early adventures to an exciting preview of what promises to be the latest blockbuster series, Frozen Planet II.

Featuring breathtaking images, natural sounds, spoken words and - of course - music, this spectacular event will include classic documentary scores from renowned composers such as George Fenton, Murray Gold, Sarah Class and Nitin Sawhney and a collaboration by Hans Zimmer and Camila Cabello. The evening culminates with the world premiere of Earth Symphony, a work arranged by Iain Farrington that draws on scores from Planet Earth II, Blue Planet II and Seven Worlds One Planet.

Presented by Chris Packham and Megan McCubbin from the stage of the Royal Albert Hall.

Public Service Broadcasting – a band who bring wit, invention and multimedia spectacle to the stage – return to the Proms after their previous, staggeringly innovative, 2019 outing, The Race for Space.

This time, Public Service Broadcasting join conductor Jules Buckley and the BBC Symphony Orchestra for a world premiere specially commissioned for the BBC's centenary, This New Noise.

The band's use of archive footage, sampling and imaginative musical techniques will transport us back through a hundred years of broadcasting history and will make this a musical event like no other.

Edith Bowman presents.

BBC Proms favourite Chineke! Orchestra is back on the Royal Albert Hall stage for a concert of music by Beethoven and celebrated American composer George Walker, whose centenary falls in 2022.

The ensemble is Europe's first majority black and ethnically diverse orchestra, and has become a mainstay of the Proms since its 2017 debut.

The musicians are under the baton of German conductor Kevin John Edusei, and are joined by the recently formed Chineke! Voices to perform Beethoven's epic Ninth Symphony. International soloists Nicole Cabell, Raehann Bryce-Davis, Zwakele Tshabalala and Ryan Speedo Green complete the line-up.

Clive Myrie presents, with special guests.

Superstar violinist Nicola Benedetti takes to the stage at the Royal Albert Hall tonight with a very special Proms premiere performance of a concerto written specially for her by American jazz legend Wynton Marsalis. An electrifying mix of jazz and Scottish folk, it forms the centrepiece of a programme packed with fizz and sparkle. Also featured are Bernstein's kaleidoscopic Symphonic Dances from West Side Story and a blast of salty ocean air in Britten's Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes.

Thomas Søndergård conducts the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, and Georgia Mann presents, with special guests.

Take a whistlestop tour through the very best music from the 2022 Proms season in this one-off special. Eight weeks of world-class concerts become just 100 minutes of standout performances from the countless musicians who graced the Royal Albert Hall stage this summer.

The show is packed with tunes we know and love, with something for everyone. Emotional highlights include Elgar's sublime Nimrod, the Proms' tribute to the late, great Aretha Franklin, and a spine-tingling performance of the Ukrainian national anthem by the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra.

Along the way, expect favourites like Handel's majestic Zadok the Priest, Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, Beethoven's epic Ode to Joy, and Dukas's Sorcerer's Apprentice.

There's also fireworks from international soloists Yuja Wang, Kian Soltani, and Nicola Benedetti, as well as numbers from the first ever Gaming Prom and international superstar Cynthia Erivo's Proms debut performance.

An ensemble of this year's Proms presenters bring us this celebration of the greatest classical music festival in the world.