About this season
The World's Greatest Classical Music Festival. The BBC Proms is a classical music festival held every summer at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and in recent years has explored an innovative series of Proms around the UK with concerts in all four nations. Its aim: to bring the best in classical music to the widest possible audience, which remains true to founder-conductor Henry Wood’s original vision in 1895. Whether you are a classical connoisseur or think classical music isn’t for you, there is something for everyone in the eight-week stretch of concerts.
Episodes (27)
1. First Night of the Proms
Aired 17 July 2015 • 180 min
Sakari Oramo conducts this year’s opening concert, in a programme that includes Walton’s pithy choral masterpiece 'Belshazzar’s Feast' and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 with soloist Lars Vogt.
2. Ten Pieces Prom
Aired 18 July 2015 • 180 min
Join CBBC presenters Barney Harwood and Dick and Dom for an introduction to some of the greatest pieces of classical music and a celebration of children’s creative responses to them.
3. Ten Pieces Prom
Aired 19 July 2015 • 180 min
Barney Harwood and Dick and Dom join the BBC National Orchestra of Wales to celebrate some of the best pieces to introduce children to classical music – and to inspire a life-long love of it.
4. Beethoven - Symphony No.9
Aired 19 July 2015 • 180 min
Beethoven’s ‘Choral’ Symphony returns to the Proms in the hands of Andris Nelsons and the massed forces of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the CBSO Chorus.
5. Haydn, HK Gruber & Stravinsky
Aired 20 July 2015 • 180 min
The BBC Philharmonic’s programme spans more than two centuries, opening with Haydn’s ‘La reine’ Symphony and closing with Stravinsky’s fairy-tale ballet 'Petrushka'.
6. Poulenc, Stravinsky, Haydn & Mozart
Aired 21 July 2015 • 180 min
Poulenc’s Organ Concerto raises the curtain on this BBC National Orchestra of Wales Prom which also includes Stravinsky’s 'Symphony of Psalms' and Mozart’s Symphony No. 41.
7. Delius, Nielsen, Hugh Wood & Ravel
Aired 22 July 2015 • 180 min
Mark Simpson performs the Clarinet Concerto by Carl Nielsen, whose 150th anniversary falls this year, in a programme which also includes an alluring suite from Ravel’s 'Daphnis and Chloe'.
10. Beethoven Piano Concertos
Aired 24 July 2015 • 180 min
Leif Ove Andsnes continues his survey of Beethoven’s works for piano and orchestra with the Piano Concerto No. 3 and the ‘Choral Fantasy’.
13. Holst - The Planets
Aired 27 July 2015 • 180 min
Susanna Mälkki conducts Holst’s masterpiece in a programme which also includes the UK premiere of a new violin concerto by Luca Francesconi, written for and performed by Leila Josefowicz.
16. Radio 1 Ibiza Prom
Aired 29 July 2015 • 92 min
Pete Tong takes charge of the BBC Radio 1 Prom and decides to employ the Heritage Orchestra to play a selection of Ibiza classics. The Royal Albert Hall has never seen anything like it! Jules Buckley conducts the orchestra through dance masterpieces by Fatboy Slim, Eric Prydz, Shapeshifters, Robert Miles, ATB, Moby, Frankie Knuckles, Orbital, Inner City, Daft Punk, Faithless, Stardust and so many more, with the help of Ella Eyre and John Newman.
17. Hallé - Debussy, Vaughan Williams & Elgar
Aired 30 July 2015 • 180 min
Sir Mark Elder conducts the Hallé in music they have made their own – Vaughan Williams and Elgar. Opening the programme is Debussy’s luscious 'Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune'.
19. Alina Ibragimova plays Bach (1)
Aired 31 July 2015 • 180 min
Virtuoso violinist Alina Ibragimova has the stage to herself for an evening of solo works by Bach.
21. Alina Ibragimova plays Bach (2)
Aired 1 August 2015 • 180 min
Violinist Alina Ibragimova concludes her performance of Bach’s complete Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin in the second of her two Late Night Proms.
22. Aurora Orchestra
Aired 2 August 2015 • 180 min
The ever innovative Aurora Orchestra returns to the Proms with two ‘Pastoral’ Symphonies – the first by Brett Dean, the second by Beethoven – and a world premiere by Anna Meredith.
24. James MacMillan & Mahler
Aired 3 August 2015 • 180 min
The world premiere of James MacMillan’s Symphony No. 4 is paired with Mahler’s monumental Fifth Symphony. Renowned Mahlerian Donald Runnicles conducts the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
30. The John Wilson Orchestra performs Frank Sinatra
Aired 7 August 2015 • 180 min
Seth MacFarlane and other guest vocalists join the John Wilson Orchestra to celebrate the centenary of Frank Sinatra in this Late Night Prom.
31. National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain
Aired 8 August 2015 • 180 min
The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain brings Mahler’s epic Ninth Symphony to the Proms, paired with a brand-new work by Tansy Davies. Sir Mark Elder conducts.
32. Eric Whitacre and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Aired 9 August 2015 • 180 min
Eric Whitacre, one of the biggest names in choral music, conducts a programme including his own 'Cloudburst', as well as other American Gershwin’s 'Rhapsody in Blue'.
34. Bournemouth Symphony Orchestr
Aired 10 August 2015 • 180 min
Nicola Benedetti is the soloist in Korngold’s Violin Concerto as part of a programme which also sees the Bournemouth SO perform Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony and music from Britten’s 'Peter Grimes'.
37. Prom 37: Late Night With … BBC Radio 1Xtra
Aired 13 September 2015 • 82 min
MistaJam and Sian Anderson present a Late Night Prom from some of the UK’s best urban artists, including Wretch 32, Stormzy and Krept & Konan.
44. West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and Daniel Barenboim
Aired 18 August 2015 • 180 min
Daniel Barenboim returns to the BBC Proms to perform Beethoven and Tchaikovsky with the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra, an ensemble featuring musicians from across the Middle East.
46. Danish National Symphony Orchestra
Aired 20 August 2015 • 180 min
The Danish National Symphony Orchestra celebrates the 150th anniversary of Carl Nielsen, performing some of his best-loved orchestral works, alongside Brahms’s Violin Concerto.
50. Bach - Goldberg Variations
Aired 22 August 2015 • 180 min
Sir András Schiff brings Bach’s monumental work for solo keyboard to the Royal Albert Hall. Join the great pianist on a voyage through this masterpiece.
57. Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Bernard Haitink
Aired 28 August 2015 • 180 min
One of today’s greatest conductors brings Schubert's Ninth Symphony (the 'Great') to the Proms, along with Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23, performed by the inimitable Maria João Pires.
67. Bernstein - Stage and Screen
Aired 5 September 2015 • 180 min
Celebrate the music of Leonard Bernstein with John Wilson and his orchestra in this Prom which features highlights from 'Candide', 'Wonderful Town', 'Fancy Free', 'West Side Story' and 'Peter Pan'.
68. Bach - Six Cello Suites
Aired 5 September 2015 • 180 min
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma has the Royal Albert Hall stage to himself for this Late Night Prom as he takes on the challenge of J. S. Bach’s Six Cello Suites.
76. Last Night of the Proms 2015
Aired 12 September 2015 • 180 min
Pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, soprano Danielle de Niese and tenor Jonas Kaufmann are the stars at this year’s Last Night. The programme includes Richard Strauss, Shostakovich, Grieg and much more …