American Public Media is pleased to showcase some of the most memorable performances of the 2016 BBC Proms. Share up to 10 weeks of programs with your audience, whether you carry the BBC World Service, SymphonyCast®, Performance Today®, or C24®. This year’s highlights include Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, a gospel ‘superchoir,’ a Brazilian night, and more.
UPDATE: Please note that BBC World Service programs WILL NOT follow the standard BBC program clock. There will be no posts or news updates at the bottom of the hour. There will be no posts or news updates at the bottom of the hour. Please see the Partners Site Proms page for more clock and program details
BBC World Service will also broadcast the episodes on the seven consecutive weekends from July 30 – September 16. Broadcast times are Saturday at 2:00pm ET and repeated Sunday at 7:00am ET.
The BBC World Service provides accurate, accessible news with a global perspective – and much more, including some of the finest musical programming. Expand your listeners’ horizons with seven unique Proms episodes.
This year’s BBC Proms programs start with Prokofiev’s take on Romeo and Juliet, and end with Dvorak’s Slavonic Dances. Each hour-long episode will be hosted by BBC Radio 3’s Andrew McGregor or Sarah Walker and include conversation with special guests on the themes around the chosen works, the composers and performers, and the context in which the music is written and performed.
Broadcasts begin Saturday, July 30 and continue through Saturday, September 10.
These BBC World Service programs WILL NOT follow the standard BBC program clock. There will be no posts or news updates at the bottom of the hour. Please see the Partners Site Proms page for more clock and program details.
BBC World Service will also broadcast the episodes on the seven consecutive weekends from July 30 – September 16. Broadcast times are Saturday at 2:00pm ET and repeated Sunday at 7:00am ET.
Episodes are available for download from the BBC Partners Site for seven days each:
Episode One: First Night of the Proms
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Conducted by Jac van Steen
This year’s BBC Proms opens with one of the most dramatic and colorful of all ballets. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet may be the best-known tragic love story in Western drama, but that didn’t stop the ever-innovative Prokofiev experimenting with alternative endings.
BROADCAST WINDOW: July 30 through August 5
Episode Two: Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor
Vaughan Williams: Toward the Unknown Region
Ray Chen (violin)
BBC Symphony Chorus
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Andrew Davis
A violinists’ favorite throughout the 150 years since its premiere, Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor seems custom-made for the Taiwan-born virtuoso Ray Chen.
BROADCAST WINDOW: August 6-12
Episode Three: Gospel Proms
Hosted by Michelle Williams
London Adventist Chorale
London Community Gospel Choir
University Gospel Choir of the Year Mass Choir
Conducted by Karen Gibson
A selection of handpicked singers from leading gospel groups come together to form an elite gospel ‘superchoir’ at the Royal Albert Hall, the Proms main venue for the last seven decades.
BROADCAST WINDOW: August 13-19
Episode Four: Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1
Wagner: Tannhäuser, The Mastersingers of Nuremberg Overtures
Martha Argerich (piano)
West-Eastern Divan Orchestra
Conducted by Daniel Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim returns to the Proms with his orchestra of young Arabs and Israelis, and with another iconic musician, Martha Argerich.
BROADCAST WINDOW: August 20-26
Episode Five: A Brazilian Night at the Proms
Villa Lobos: Bachianas brasileiras No. 4 – Prelude
São Paulo Symphony Orchestra
São Paulo Jazz Symphony
Conducted by Marin Alsop
A Brazilian night at the Proms. The doyen of Brazilian composers, Villa Lobos, opens this BBC Prom with his unique fusion of European baroque and the beguiling sound-world of Latin America.
BROADCAST WINDOW: August 27-September 2
Episode Six: Beethoven – Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major
András Schiff (piano)
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
Conducted by Herbert Blomstedt
One of the world’s oldest orchestras, conducted by one of its closest collaborators, join forces with Sir András Schiff to perform the composer’s most commanding piano concerto.
BROADCAST WINDOW: September 3-9
Episode Seven: Dvorak – Slavonic Dances op.46 (1-8)
Julian Anderson: Incantesimi (UK premiere)
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Sir Simon Rattle
When the first set of Dvorak’s Slavonic Dances were printed in 1878, their success with the piano-playing public quickly led to a request to turn them into the colorful orchestral version we hear in this BBC Prom concert. And to underscore the Proms’ continuing commitment to present the best music of today, a new work from one of UK’s most talented composers.
BROADCAST WINDOW: September 10-16
APM’s Classical programs from this side of the pond will feature a variety of BBC Proms concerts as well.
SymphonyCast will broadcast 10 concerts in their entirety. Performance Today and C24 will highlight performances from 40 other concerts in the series. Listen for C24 highlights from August 15-26.
From the first night to the last night, SymphonyCast will offer 10 weeks of BBC Proms programs:
July 25: First night of the 2016 BBC Proms
Concert from July 15, 2016
BBC Symphony Orchestra
BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC National Chorus of Wales
Sakari Oramo, conductor
Sol Gabetta, cello Olga Borodina, mezzo-soprano
TCHAIKOVSKY: Fantasy Overture ‘Romeo and Juliet’
ELGAR: Cello Concerto
PROKOFIEV: Cantata ‘Alexander Nevsky’
August 1: Prom 4
Concert from July 18, 2016
Munich Philharmonic Orchestra
Valery Gergiev, conductor
Behzod Abduraimov, piano
RAVEL: Bolero
RACHMANINOV: Piano concerto no. 3
USTVOLSKAYA: Symphony No. 3
STRAUSS: Der Rosenkavalier Suite
August 8: Prom 13
Concert from July 24, 2016
London Philharmonic Orchestra
London Philharmonic Choir
Vladimir Jurowski, conductor
LINDBERG: New Work
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 9
August 15: Prom 17
Concert from July 28, 2016
Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra
Sir Roger Norrington, conductor
Robert Levin, piano
BERLIOZ: Beatrice and Benedict
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 4
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 1
August 22: Prom 24
Concert from August 2, 2016
BBC Philharmonic
Juanjo Mena, conductor
Steven Osborne, piano
GINASTERA: Ollantay
BRITTEN: Piano Concerto
SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 9
August 29: Prom 29
Concert from August 7, 2016
National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain
Edward Gardner, conductor
SCHIPHORST: Gravitational Waves
STRAUSS: Also sprach Zarathustra
HOLST: The Planets
September 5: Prom 41
Concert from August 16, 2016
Hallé Orchestra
Sir Mark Elder, conductor
Leonard Elschenbroich, cello
Gregory Kunde, tenor Alic Coote, mezzo- soprano
BERLIOZ: King Lear, Op. 4, overture
MATTHEWS: Berceuse for Dresden
MAHLER: Das Lied von der Erde
September 12: Prom 50
Concert from August 23, 2016
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Alexander Vedernikov, conductor
Stephen Hough, piano
TCHAIKOVSKY: Fantasy-Overture ‘Hamlet’
RACHMANINOV: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
PROKOFIEV: Symphony No. 3
September 19: Prom 69
Concert from September 5, 2016
Staatskapelle Berlin
Daniel Barenboim, piano/director
MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 24
BRUCKNER: Symphony No. 4
September 26: Last Night of the 2016 BBC Proms
Concert from September 10, 2016
BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC Singers Sakari Oramo, conductor
Juan Diego Florez, tenor
HARROLD: Raze
BUTTERWORTH: The Banks of Green Wilow
BORODIN: Prince Igor: Polovtsian Dances
ROSSINI: La Cenerentola
DONIZETTI: L’elisir d’amore ‘Una furtive lagrima’
BRITTEN: Matinees musicales
DOVE: Our revels now are ended
WILLIAMS: Serenade to Music
DONIZETTI: ‘Ah! Mes amis’
ELGAR: Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1
ARNE: Rule, Britannia!
PARRY: Jerusalem
Unknown: The National Anthem
We’ll continue to share updates on BBC Proms programming in the coming weeks. Please contact your Station Representative to learn more about APM’s portfolio of programs.