Musical greats from the past and the present brought together in one extraordinary Proms season

From Bernstein to Benedetti, Haitink to Hvorostovsky, Mackerras to Kanneh-Masons, musical greats, from the past and the present, are coming together in one extraordinary Proms season.

• BBC Radio 3 opens this summer’s Fantasy Proms with a programme of great Proms moments including Iain Farrington’s world premiere for the BBC Grand Virtual Orchestra, putting Beethoven’s symphonies in a spin.
• Nicola Benedetti, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Simon Rattle, Anoushka Shankar and Mitsuko Uchida, amongst artists performing live from the Royal Albert Hall.
• Live performances from the RAH to begin with a momentous opening night conducted by BBC Symphony Orchestra Chief Conductor Sakari Oramo.
• A unique Last Night to unite the world led by Finnish conductor Dalia Stasevska with South African soprano Golda Schultz
• BBC Four selects six momentous Proms from across the archive from the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra, Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra and Chineke! Orchestra
• Katie Derham, Tom Service, Suzy Klein, Danielle de Niese and Josie d’Arby lead the line-up of TV presenters.
• An ambitious, challenging and celebratory multi-platform season.

In the year that the Proms turns 125 years old, the 2020 season brings the spirit of the Proms to music-lovers at home. BBC Radio 3 and BBC Four broadcasts treasures from the past 30 years of the Proms across six weeks, before two weeks of incredible live performances at the Royal Albert Hall.

In challenging times, the BBC Proms aims to shine a beacon of hope, with its mix of seminal moments from Proms history alongside live performances from the Royal Albert Hall. The season will bring a summer of music to celebrate a wealth of talent, genres and styles, creating a line-up which brings together legendary performers from the past through its unrivalled archive, with a diverse line-up of the biggest stars of the present and future.