BBC Proms: NYOGB and a Family Prom with the Kanneh-Mason siblings

Harriet Clifford
Thursday, May 27, 2021

The just-announced BBC Proms programme promises live classical music at the Royal Albert Hall every day for six weeks this summer.

Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason with his sister, pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason
Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason with his sister, pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason

BBC Jude Edginton

It’s an exciting day for classical music lovers, as the BBC Proms announces its programme of live concerts running daily from 30 July to 11 September 2021.

Featuring a host of young talent, including organist Anna Lapwood and all seven the Kanneh-Mason siblings, this year’s Proms welcomes rising star Jonathan Heyward to conduct violinist Nicola Benedetti and the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. 

Alongside Beethoven’s famous ‘Eroica’ Symphony, Heyward will lead the young players in Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No.2 with Benedetti as the soloist, the UK premiere of Jessie Montgomery’s Banner, and the London premiere of a new NYOGB commission by British composer, jazz trumpeter and former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist, Laura Jurd. 

On 29 August, the Kanneh-Mason siblings and friends will perform Saint-Saëns’s The Carnival of the Animals with a new narration from children’s author Michael Morpurgo. The concert, performed at both 2.30pm and 7pm, will also feature the world premiere of a BBC commission by Daniel Kidane. 

For the first time this year, the Proms also includes four unprogrammed ‘Mystery Proms’ which will be announced at a later date and allow the festival ‘to respond to the changing times’. 

Seated tickets at the Proms start at £7.50, with half-price tickets available for under-18s and Promming day tickets for £6 plus booking fees. Whether Prommers will be able to stand is yet to be confirmed. 

David Pickard, director of the Proms, said: ‘Planning a Proms season in a pandemic isn’t easy. We have relied on the creativity and collaboration of many people to offer a programme of such ambition, scale and quality, and are proud to celebrate so much outstanding British talent this summer. 

‘We are looking forward to welcoming live audiences back to the Royal Albert Hall in its 150th anniversary year, and to sharing six weeks of live music with audiences in the Hall and at home on BBC Radio 3 and on BBC TV. I hope you will join us for a summer filled with music.’

The full programme and more information is available online

www.bbc.co.uk/proms