The 2024 BBC Proms are fast approaching. Once again, some of the world's finest orchestras, choirs, conductors and performers will be descending on London this summer. Not just London, in fact. This year, the Proms are spreading their wings as far as Gateshead, Bristol, Newport, Belfast, Aberdeen and Nottingham. Here's our guide to some of the 2024 Proms performers to look out for. And don't forget to check out our full 2024 Proms schedule elsewhere on the site.
Who is performing at the 2024 BBC Proms?
Let's take a look at a few of the orchestras, choirs, conductors and performers appearing at this year's Proms. NB this is not a comprehensive list: for full listings visit our 2024 Proms schedule linked above.
2024 BBC Proms performers: orchestras
Here are some of the orchestras performing at the 2024 Proms.
Berlin Philharmonic
Indisputably one of the world's greatest orchestras, the Berlin Phil look in for two back-to-back concerts. On Saturday 31 August, the orchestra and conductor Kirill Petrenko are joined by pianist Víkingur Ólafsson for Robert Schumann's Piano Concerto and Smetana's Má vlast. The following day, they are joined by the BBC Singers for an all-Bruckner evening, featuring the motets Os justi, Locus iste and Christus factus est, plus his monumental Symphony No. 5.
Royal Northern Sinfonia
Based at the Sage Gateshead, the Royal Northern Sinfonia will, as last year, be performing a trio of concerts at their home venue. These include French/Finnish/Czech menu on Friday 26 July, when they perform Germaine Tailleferre's Little Suite for Orchestra, Sibelius's chilly, atmospheric Violin Concerto, and Dvořák's joyous Symphony No. 8.
The Hallé
Manchester’s Hallé Orchestra has been around since 1857. Its long and storied past includes the premiere performance of Elgar’s Symphony No. 1. Later, under conductor John Barbirolli, the Hallé became a world-famous band.
It's currently enjoying another golden age under Sir Mark Elder, and is noted particularly (as in the Barbirolli era) for its performances of English repertoire. At the Proms, you'll hear the whole Hallé family (Hallé Children’s Choir, Hallé Youth Choir, Hallé Choir, and the Hallé orchestra itself) play Prom 4 on Sunday 21 July, featuring James MacMillan's Timotheus, Bacchus and Cecilia and Mahler's Symphony No. 5.
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
The CBSO was formed under its current name in 1920, although orchestras have been performing in Birmingham since 1740. The CBSO's past conductors include Adrian Boult, Sakari Oramo and, famously, Sir Simon Rattle.
The CBSO makes one appearance at the 2024 BBC Proms. On Thursday 22 August, for Prom 43, the CBSO and their chief conductor Kazuki Yamada joins forces with pianist Paul Lewis for a programme including Ravel's Mother Goose – suite and the final Piano Concerto, No. 27, by Mozart.
The programme also includes Ludus pro patria – ‘La nuit et l’amour’ by French composer Augusta Holmès, and Mussorgsky's colourful, evocative suite, Pictures at an Exhibition. Pictures has had various different orchestrations - suitably, the CBSO will perform the orchestration made by the conductor and legendary Proms founder Sir Henry Wood.
BBC Symphony Orchestra
One of the five BBC orchestras - along with the BBC Philharmonic, BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and BBC National Orchestra of Wales - the BBC Symphony gets the honour of performing at both the First Night of the Proms and the Last Night of the Proms. But they also appear at Prom 8 (Wed 24 July), a celebration of the music of Nick Drake. For Prom 14 (Thur 29 July), they perform Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major ‘Emperor’ and Bruckner's Symphony No. 1 in conjunction with pianist Yunchan Lim and under the baton of conductor Paavo Järvi.
On Saturday 3 Aug, they're back with an all-English programme featuring Jonathan Harvey's Tranquil Abiding and Elgar's much-loved Cello Concerto, along with The Cloud Messenger by Holst. The soloist for that one is contralto Jess Dandy. ANd for Prom 27 on Friday 9 August, the BBC SO present Mirage by the late Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, plus Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9 in E flat major ‘Jeunehomme’ and Richard Strauss's An Alpine Symphony.
On Sunday 18 August, for Prom 38, they give us Dukas's The Sorcerer’s Apprentice plus the UK premiere of Francisco Coll's Cello Concerto with cellist Sol Gabetta. Also on the programme are Puccini's Preludio sinfonico, and Stravinsky's Firebird Suite (1945 version).
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Under current artistic director Kirill Karabits, the BSO is enjoying a very fruitful era. For the 2024 Proms, they appear in their second home, Bristol, for a concert at the Bristol Beacon on 25 August, featuring Jennifer Higdon's Percussion Concerto (with soloist Evelyn Glennie) and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5.
Aurora Orchestra
Formed in 2004, the Aurora Orchestra was the first orchestra to perform whole symphonies from memory as a regular feature of its artistic output. And it will be doing just that on Wednesday 21 August (Prom 42) , playing Beethoven's monumental Symphony No. 9 from memory.
Chineke!
Chi-chi Nwanoku's trailblazing orchestra is providing a platform for brilliant musicians from the black, Asian and ethnically diverse community who aren't getting the performance opportunities they deserve elsewhere. In this way, Chineke! has kickstarted the careers of artists including cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and trumpeter Aaron Akugbo. Bassoonist and Radio 3 presenter Lynton Stephens is also a regular performer with the orchestra. .
Chineke! returns for the 2024 Proms for Prom 66 (Sunday 8 September), in company with pianist Stewart Goodyear.
2024 Proms performers: choirs
BBC Singers
Britain's only full-time professional chamber choir, the BBC Singers made headline news in 2023 when the BBC announced that the Singers would be disbanded as part of a new classical music strategy.
That decision has since been suspended, and this year the BBC Singers are able to celebrate their 100th birthday in style, with have a very busy Proms including both the First Night and Last Night. They also get their own 100th birthday concert at the Bristyol Beacon on Sunday 25 August, performing John Tavener's Song for Athene, John Pickard's Mass in Troubled Times, and Britten's A Shepherd’s Carol.
The King's Singers and VOCES8
Prom 3 (Sun 21 July) is a meeting of two great a cappella ensembles. The King’s Singers and VOCES8 mingle pop classics with classical, showcasing their world-class close-harmony singing.
The Sixteen
For Prom 63 (Sat 7 Sept), the first concert of Proms Choral Day, one of Britain’s best-loved choirs, The Sixteen, returns to the Proms under their founder and conductor Harry Christophers for a selection of serene and spiritual Victorian choral works from Parry, Elgar, Stanford and others.
2024 Proms performers: conductors
Which conductors are performing at the 2024 BBC Proms? They include:
Sir Simon Rattle
Perhaps the most famous living British conductor, Rattle had a long and fruitful tenure with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra from 1980 to 1998. He was then principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic from 1999 to 2018. His most recent post was as music director of the London Symphony Orchestra: he makes his final performances with the LSO at this year's Proms.
He's made acclaimed recordings of the symphonies of Sibelius and Mahler (in Birmingham) and Beethoven and Brahms (in Berlin). We named one of the 20 greatest conductors of all time.
This year, Rattle leads the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in two concerts, Proms 61 and 62, featuring, respectively, Thomas Adès and Bruckner, and Mahler's Symphony No. 6.
Dalia Stasevska
We made Dalia Stasevska BBC Music Magazine's Personality of the Year for 2023, in recognition of her tireless efforts to support her Ukrainian countrymen both on and off the podium.
This year she brings the BBC SO to London for Prom 45 (Sat 24 August), featuring Symphony No. 2 by Julius Eastman, Mahler's Rückert-Lieder and Sibelius's radiant Symphony No. 5. Joining them are mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton.
Daniel Barenboim
The first person to hold both Palestinian and Israeli citizenship simultaneously, the great pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim has stepped back somewhat from pubic performances of late, but the lure of the Proms has brought him to London for a concert on Sunday 11 August. Barenboim's West–Eastern Divan Orchestra and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter join him for performances of two cornerstones of the classical repertoire: the Brahms Violin Concerto and Schubert's Symphony No. 9 in C major, ‘Great’
Gemma New
Up-and-coming US conductor Gemma New is joined by clarinettist Anthony McGill, the National Youth Choir of Scotland and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra for Prom 36 (Fri 16 Aug), featuring Salomé by French composer Mel Bonis, plus Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and the incidental music from Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
John Wilson
A Proms favourite, John Wilson is a conductor, arranger and musical scholar probably best known for his hugely popular programmes of light music - which he often performs with his own ensemble, the John Wilson Orchestra. He's also, however, a proven conductor of the standard classical repertoire.
At the 2021 Proms, Wilson caused a stir with his re-established orchestra, The Sinfonia of London, and a programme conjuring up the world of fin-de-siècle Vienna. More recently, Wilson and the Sinfonia fared very well at the 2024 BBC Music Magazine Awards, winning the Orchestral Award for their disc of British orchestral favourites by Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Delius and Holst; and also the Opera Award for their scintillating recording of the musical Oklahoma!
You can see Wilson and the Sinfonia in action at Prom 21 (Sun 4 Aug), for an all-American lineup including Copland's Billy the Kid Suite, Barber's Adagio for strings, Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue, Charles Ives's The Unanswered Question, and John Adams's Harmonielehre.
2024 Proms performers: soloists
Laura van der Heijden
The former BBC Young Musician of the Year Laura van der Heijden returns to the Proms this year, for Prom 10 (Fri 26 July), featuring Benjamin Britten's symphonic suite Gloriana, Cheryl Frances-Hoad's Cello Concerto ‘Earth, Sea, Air’, and Elgar's Symphony No. 2.
Sheku Kanneh-Mason
Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason appears twice at this year's Proms, and both times alongside his violinist brother Braimah Kanneh-Mason. On Sunday 4 August (Prom 20), the brothers are joined by Plínio Fernandes (guitar), and the Fantasia Orchestra for a programme of chamber arrangements of songs and dances including 'I Say a Little Prayer', 'Redemption Song', and 'Scarborough Fair'. You'll also get some Romanian Folk Dances from Bartók and some Hungarian Dances from Brahms.
The same forces return the next day (Monday 5 August, Prom 22), for a relaxed performance of the same repertoire, presented by Jess Gillam.
Yunchan Lim
On Monday 29 July (Prom 14), the fast-rising South Korean pianist Yunchan Lim makes his Proms debut with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Paavo Järvi, performing Beethoven’s ‘Emperor’ piano concerto.
Alice Coote
British mezzo-soprano Alice Coote has a wide repertoire - she has played both male and female roles across a wide range of repert, from early and Baroque works to contemporary music. She was made an OBE for services to music in Queen Elizabeth's 2018 Birthday honours list, and has had a song cycle composed for her by British composer Judith Weir.
Alice performs Mahler's Kindertotenlieder with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at Prom 9 (Thursday 25 July).
Jakub Józef Orliński
The golden-voiced countertenor (and 2024 BBC Music Magazine Award winner) Jakub Józef Orliński joins Il Pomo d’Oro for a journey through the music of the early Baroque, showcasing composers including Caccini, Cavalli, Frescobaldi, Monteverdi and Strozzi. (Prom 7, Tue 23 July).
Benjamin Grosvenor
After the delicious curtain-raiser that is Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances, British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor tackles Ferruccio Busoni’s huge (and hugely captivating) Piano Concerto with Edward Gardner and his London Philharmonic Orchestra (Prom 23, Mon 5 Aug).
Patricia Kopatchinskaja
The BBC Symphony Orchestra join violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja and conductor Tarmo Peltokoski for performances of Vaughan Williams's Fantasia on ‘Greensleeves’, Schoenberg's Violin Concerto, and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 in D minor. (Prom 67, Monday 9 Sept).
Which of the 2024 BBC Proms are on TV?
You can find transmission dates for the televised 2024 Proms in our article on how to watch this year's Proms. We will update this piece as we get transmission dates.
