The BBC Proms returns to London’s Royal Albert Hall in summer 2026, presenting eight weeks of world-class music from an array of leading orchestras, conductors and soloists from across the UK and around the world.
The BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, led by Dalia Stasevska, performs in the First Night of the Proms (17 July) alongside the BBC Singers, tenor Thomas Atkins and pianist and global phenomenon Yunchan Lim. The concert opens with Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man followed by Gershwin’s An American in Paris, and Lim performs Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major.
The second half opens with a world premiere from Josephine Stephenson, commissioned by the BBC, and culminates with Finzi’s rarely performed For St Cecilia, a work inspired by the patron saint of music.
Last Night Of The Proms 2026: Yuja Wang Headlines
The Last Night of the Proms (12 September) features a star-spangled array of musical treats, including the first performance at the Promsof Barber’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Piano Concerto performed by Yuja Wang, returning to the Proms after three years.
Classical music’s biggest party features the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus under Chief Conductor Sakari Oramo, alongside the BBC Singers and Scottish tenor Nicky Spence, leading the festivities.
American Music Spotlight: 250 Years Of US Independence
A season of American music marks 250 years since the signing of the US Declaration of Independence, with many of the world’s greatest American orchestras, composers and musicians making appearances this summer. The LA Philharmonic conducted by their outgoing Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel performs two Proms: a programme of Beethoven and Thomas Adès (11 August) and Beethoven and Gabriela Ortiz (12 August).
The Met Orchestra, New York, makes its Proms debut, conducted by Music Director Yannick Nézet‑Séguin, also performing two Proms: a programme of Strauss with mezzo-soprano Elza van den Heever (26 August) and Mahler with mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato (27 August).
Marin Alsop conducts an American Classics Prom featuring music by Bernstein, Gershwin, Copland and more (24 August), and a special Miles Davis Prom marks the centenary of the great jazz musician’s birth (20 August). Wynton Marsalis’s Concerto for Orchestra, co-commissioned by the BBC, gets its UK premiere (13 August), as does Jessie Montgomery’s new Cello Concerto, a co-commission between the BBC and Lincoln Center, New York (20 July).
The American soprano and Last Night of the Proms alumna Angel Blue joins the Chineke! Orchestra for a Prom that includes music by the Charleston-born composer Edmund Thornton Jenkins (22 August) and Steve Reich’s 90th birthday is celebrated in two Proms: Paraorchestra performs Music for 18 Musicians (7 August), opening Bristol Beacon’s Proms season, and The Colin Currie Group performs Tehillim in a Late Night Prom at the Royal Albert Hall that includes a programme of early sacred choral music with The Gesualdo Six (2 September).
World-Class Orchestras At BBC Proms 2026
The world’s finest orchestras take centre stage, with the Proms debut of the Spanish National Orchestra and their Chief Conductor and Artistic Director David Afkham performing a vibrant programme of Spanish music and works inspired by Spain (19 July). Europe’s Mahler Academy Orchestra makes its Proms debut conducted by Music Director Philipp von Steinaecker, with Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 (11 September).
Sir Simon Rattle conducts three works by Schumann with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and violinist Isabelle Faust (7 September), and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla makes a welcome return to the Proms conducting the Oslo Philharmonic and violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, in a programme that includes Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto (29 August).
Classical music’s global superstars make appearances throughout the season: Martha Argerich performs Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Munich Philharmonic, almost 60 years to the day since she made her Proms debut at The Last Night of the Proms in 1966. The concert also includes Farrenc’s Overture No. 2 and Brahms’s Symphony No. 4 (5 September).
Augustin Hadelich performs Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic in a concert that also features Scriabin’s Symphony No. 3, ‘The Divine Poem’ (3 September). This is the second of two Proms performed by the Berlin Philharmonic; the first features Elgar’s Enigma Variations and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 (2 September).
Leonidas Kavakos plays Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in a concert that also includes the world premiere of Dani Howard’s Concerto for Brass, ‘SIGNAL’, co-commissioned by the BBC, and Scriabin’s Symphony No. 2 (2 August).
Felix Klieser, who was born without arms and who plays the French horn with his feet, returns to the Proms after two years to perform Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 3 in a Prom with Academy of St Martin in the Fields, also featuring works by Britten and Elgar and the world premiere of Thea Musgrave’s Bassoon Concerto, Out of the Darkness, performed by Amy Harman (23 August – matinee).
Major Soloists And Anniversary Performances
Celebrating the best homegrown creativity, this season marks ten years since Sheku Kanneh‑Mason won BBC Young Musician, and he returns to the Proms alongside his fellow 2016 finalists: saxophonist Jess Gillam and French horn player Ben Goldscheider. They perform the world premiere of Gwilym Simcock’s Triple Concerto for Soprano Saxophone, Horn and Cello, commissioned by the BBC to mark the anniversary (6 September).
The BBC’s own orchestras and choirs are, as ever, the backbone of the Proms, making 42 appearances this season, with Ryan Bancroft making his final appearances as Chief Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. There are performances from 41 orchestras and choirs from across the UK including Aurora Orchestra, returning with Mahler‘s Symphony No. 1 (1 August and 2 August – matinee).
The first half of the concert showcases actors bringing Mahler’s creative process to life, and the second half features the symphony performed by the orchestra, entirely from memory.
British soloists making appearances at the Proms this year include euphonium player David Childs, who appears as part of a programme of brass band music with the Black Dyke Band (19 July – matinee), and tenor Laurence Kilsby, who sings alongside the Jupiter Ensemble in a Late Night Prom which includes music by Dowland, Purcell and Handel (21 July – Late Night).
Soprano Louise Alder, who dazzled at the Last Night of the Proms in 2025, this year performs with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and their Principal Conductor Edward Gardner (27 July). Scottish percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie makes a highly-anticipated return alongside Fantasia Orchestra and the BBC Singers, in a Late Night Prom that includes music by Caroline Shaw, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington and Radiohead (11 August – Late Night).
Fantasia Orchestra and the BBC Singers perform a relaxed version of the concert in a matinee on 9 August.
The season marks a plethora of composer anniversaries and centenaries, including 50 years since the death of Benjamin Britten, with Guy Johnston performing the Cello Symphony (28 July), Simone Lamsma performing the Violin Concerto (4 September) and the Sinfonia of London and their Principal Conductor John Wilson performing Les Illuminations and Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge (6 September – matinee).
The iconic showpiece The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, meanwhile, is performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sakari Oramo (6 September).
There are works throughout the season that reflect on the afterlife, including a Visions of the Beyond Prom with music by Lili Boulanger, Szymanowski, Messiaen and Richard Strauss, Berlioz’s dramatic legend The Damnation of Faust featuring an all-star cast: tenor John Osborn, soprano Véronique Gens, baritone Gerald Finley and bass Thomas Dolié, and Parts 1 and 2 of Thomas Adès’s Dante – Part 1: Inferno (11 August) and Part 2: Purgatorio (8 August).
Beyond The Royal Albert Hall: Proms Across The UK
The BBC Proms continues its commitment to bringing the world’s greatest classical music to audiences across the UK. This summer marks the Proms debut in Mold, Wales with a concert based on the popular Radio 3 programme, Words and Music, performed by Sinfonia Cymru conducted by Iwan Davies (29 August).
The BBC Proms Bristol residency includes a Relaxed Prom with the National Open Youth Orchestra, made up of disabled and non-disabled musicians alongside players from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Alice Farnham (9 August – matinee).
The concert includes the world’s first ever Clarion Concerto, Michael Betteridge’s Soaring Through Sparks, arranged by Julia Koelmans and performed by Alessandro Vazzana, and a performance of Charlotte Harding’s The Orchestra: A Young Person’s Guide, co-commissioned by the BBC.
The BBC Proms North-East residency returns for its fourth year at the Glasshouse International Centre for Music, Middlesbrough Town Hall and The Fire Station, Sunderland.
Highlights include Christian Ihle Hadland performing Mendelssohn’s Concerto for Violin, Piano and Strings with Director/Violinist Maria Włoszczowska, Bacewicz’s Divertimento and Mozart’s Symphony No. 39 (25 July).
There’s also an afternoon of choirs on the concourse featuring the BBC Singers, Voices of the River’s Edge and the Chorus of Royal Northern Sinfonia, conducted by Sofi Jeannin (25 July).
The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra presents an all-Russian programme that includes Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances, Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 and Gubaidulina’s Fairy-Tale Poem (8 August).
Crossover And Popular Culture Proms
The Proms celebrates some of the most influential sounds of the past century, beginning with a symphonic tribute to the British movement of Prog Rock, as the BBC Concert Orchestra and conductor Robert Ames reimagine classics by Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Genesis, Jethro Tull, Mike Oldfield and more, presented by BBC Radio 6 Music’s Stuart Maconie (18 July).
A Late Night Prom honours Paul Simon’s landmark album Graceland (5 August), while Bond and Beyond brings iconic 007 film music to the Royal Albert Hall with Daniel Bartholomew‑Poyser and the BBC Concert Orchestra (25 August).
The season also celebrates the composer Alan Menken, one of only 22 people worldwide who have won at least one Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Award, with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and special guests performing favourites from Disney films including The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and Enchanted (31 August).
Following the success of Horrible Histories: ‘Orrible Opera in 2023, the Proms partners with BBC Children and Education’s for Horrible Science: The Big Bang Proms Experiment, featuring the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Karen Ní Bhroin (25 July – matinee and evening performances). Radio 3’s Ultimate Calm makes its Proms debut in a Late Night Prom curated by Erland Cooper, blending classical, ambient and electronic sound worlds (27 August, Late Night).
Spectacular moments, one-off large-scale performances and rarely performed works of the kind only the Proms can offer include the first ever Proms performance of Weber‘s final opera, Oberon, 200 years after the composer’s death. Soloists Nicky Spence (tenor) and Jennifer Davis (soprano) sing alongside the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and the Monteverdi Choir, conducted by Sir Mark Elder(6 August).
Kurtág’s Kafka Fragments is performed by Anu Komsi (soprano) and Sakari Oramo (violin) as part of BBC Proms Bristol (9 August – Bristol Beacon). The BBC Symphony Orchestra, led by Oramo, performs Kurtág’s monumental Stele (22 July). There are also performances of Berlioz’s Requiem (Grande messe des morts) (15 August) and Zimmermann’s Märchen‑Suite (4 August).
The Proms shines a spotlight on underrepresented voices, including Czech composer Vítězslava Kaprálová with her radiant Suita rustica (1 September), the prodigiously talented French composer Lili Boulanger, who died at the age of 24, with her haunting Vieille prière bouddhique (23 July), and Nadia Boulanger, whose rarely heard Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra will be performed by Alexandra Dariescu, making her Proms debut (5 August).
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