I’m delighted to launch the 2018 BBC Proms, featuring more than 90 concerts over 58 days and spotlighting a whole range of exciting debut artists alongside Proms regulars. With 41 premieres, nine Late Night Proms and three venues outside of the Royal Albert Hall for the 'Proms at …' series, this great festival remains as committed as ever to founder-conductor Henry Wood’s aim of bringing the best of classical music to the widest possible audience.
Bookending the season are the iconic First and Last Nights of the Proms – both featuring new commissions that commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, one of many themes this summer connected to the remarkable year of 1918. The First Night sees a groundbreaking new BBC co-commission, by Anna Meredith, collaborating with visual artists 59 Productions: Five Telegrams will feature Anna’s music alongside spectacular visual projections, and also provides a starring role for the Proms Youth Ensemble.
Anna Meredith
Meanwhile, Roxanna Panufnik’s new work for the Last Night, Songs of Darkness, Dreams of Light, puts the BBC Singers and BBC Symphony Chorus in the spotlight.
In a year that sees the 100th anniversary of women being granted the vote in the UK, it is fitting that this year’s Proms begin and end with major new works by woman composers. We also look at some other women who have contributed to classical music over the past 100 years – in particular Lili Boulanger who died in 1918 at the tragically young age of 24. Bringing the story right up to date, each of our 'Proms at … Cadogan Hall' chamber concerts will feature a world premiere by a woman who has never previously been commissioned by the BBC. I particularly relish the prospect of Bushra El-Turk’s Crème Brûlée on a Tree – her response to the challenge of setting a recipe to music as a counterpart to Leonard Bernstein’s witty recipe setting La Bonne Cuisine.
Bushra El-Turk
Many of the UK’s most exciting composers have come through the BBC Proms Inspire Competition and audiences should look out for our 2004 winner, Shiva Feshareki, who makes her Proms debut as turntablist with the London Contemporary Orchestra. This scheme is just one of the many entry points that the Proms offers to classical music, both as creators and audience members. The second Relaxed Prom – led by Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and its disabled-led ensemble BSO Resound – will offer an informal environment for all, while a tribute to Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts will rebuild the classical orchestra as never before. Both of these projects have particular resonance in a year in which we celebrate what would have been Bernstein’s 100th birthday – a composer, conductor and educator who worked throughout his life to increase access to the arts.
From new visitors such as the recently formed Estonian Festival Orchestra to old favourites including the Berliner Philharmoniker and Boston Symphony Orchestra, we welcome orchestras from around the globe this summer. Elsewhere, in one night we go from London-inspired symphonies by Haydn and Vaughan Williams to a Late Night Prom in which dancehall producer Mista Savona fuses the sound-worlds of traditional and contemporary Cuba and Jamaica. On another, we hear folk music from around Britain and Ireland before travelling to Lincoln’s Drill Hall the following day for Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale.
I hope you agree that the range of music and the quality of the performers are greater than ever and, as always, BBC Radio 3 will be broadcasting every single note.
David Pickard is Directorof BBC Proms.
- Read the BBC Proms media pack on the BBC Media Centre website
- Pre-order the 2018 BBC Proms Festival Guide