BBC Proms returns for 2022 season

The 2022 BBC Proms will feature Ukrainian refugees in the newly formed Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, as well as marking the broadcaster’s centenary with partnerships across the BBC. This year, the festival will premiere 24 new works, including 17 new commissions, with Proms taking place across the UK in Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Liverpool, London and Truro.

The 2022 BBC Proms will feature Ukrainian refugees in the newly formed Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, as well as marking the broadcaster’s centenary with partnerships across the BBC. This year, the festival will premiere 24 new works, including 17 new commissions, with Proms taking place across the UK in Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Liverpool, London and Truro.

Brought together by New York’s Metropolitan Opera, and the Polish National Opera, the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra will perform at the Royal Albert Hall on 31 July as part of its European and US tour this summer. Led by Canadian-Ukrainian conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson, it includes Ukrainian members of European orchestras alongside refugeed Ukrainian musicians, with military-age male players from within the country granted a special exemption by The Ukraine Ministry of Culture.

Theis year’s festival will also mark the centenary of the BBC with partnerships across the broadcaster including the organisation’s first ever Earth Prom presented by Chris Packham. David Pickard, BBC Proms director, said: ‘In the BBC’s centenary year, we can be proud that the Proms has been a part of the organisation for 95 of those 100 years, playing a key role in the Corporation’s mission to inform, educate and entertain.’

The 2022 Proms will also feature performances of Verdi’s Requiem by BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus with Crouch End Festival Chorus, Mahler’s Second Symphony by London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle as well as Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony performed by the Chineke! Orchestra and Chineke! Voices. Pickard commented: ‘I’m delighted that large-scale orchestral and choral repertoire will once again be heard in the Royal Albert Hall, and that we can celebrate the return of international orchestras.’

Every concert will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3, and 22 of this year’s Proms will be available to watch on BBC channels. This will include the First Night of the Proms, presented by Clive Myrie, and the Last Night of the Proms, presented by BBC Radio 3 presenter Katie Derham and featuring conductor Dalia Stasevska and soloists Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Lise Davidsen.

Alan Davey, Controller, BBC Radio 3, BBC Proms, BBC Orchestras and Choirs, said: ‘With more ways than ever for people to enjoy the events in person, on radio, television and online, the BBC’s on-going commitment to running the biggest classical music festival in the world allows the Proms to be one of the most inclusive musical experiences anywhere.’

This year’s event sees the return of international orchestras, including Berliner Philharmoniker, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Australian World Orchestra as well as the breaking of new ground, with a multi-genre Prom presented in the club venue Printworks London and the first ever Gaming Prom presented by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Robert Ames.

In recognition of anniversaries celebrated in 2022, the BBC Concert Orchestra will mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee with Music for Royal Occasions, a Prom celebrating the between music and monarchy with a programme including Handel, Britten, Vaughan Williams and Elgar, along with a new commission from British composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad. The 150th anniversary of Ralph Vaughan Williams’s birth is celebrated with works by the composer interspersed throughout the season.

As well as presenting more Proms than ever across the country, the Proms has also announced a new partnership with Sage Gateshead, which will host a Prom conducted by Dinis Sousa with the Royal Northern Sinfonia as well as a choir of young singers from across the North-East brought together for this concert.

Over 96,000 tickets will be available for £20 and under, with half-price tickets for under-18s and Promming from as little as £6. General booking opens here at 9am on 21 May.

You can find out more about the Proms here.