David Farnor | On 06, Aug 2020

Laura Marling, Benjamin Grosvenor and the Philharmonia Orchestra have joined the line-up of live concerts being performed for the 2020 Proms.

This year’s same-but-different classical festival is currently streaming online, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Running from 17th July to 12th September, the season is bringing together Proms past and present, celebrating everything from Bernstein to Benedetti.

Throughout the summer, BBC Radio 3 and BBC Four are broadcasting archive performances from the past 30 years of the Proms, and a collection of archive Proms are also available on BBC iPlayer.

This, however, is all building up to two weeks of live performances at the Royal Albert Hall. British singer-songwriter Laura Marling will be part of that live run, performing songs from her recent album Song for Our Daughter, as well as selected songs from her previous albums in brand-new string arrangements. She will be joined by pioneering string group 12 Ensemble at the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday 6th September.

British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor will appear with the Philharmonia Orchestra and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen on Wednesday 9th September), while organist Jonathan Scott will perform a recital of popular classical works on Saturday 29th August. A programme of contemporary classical works will also be performed by the London Sinfonietta on Tuesday 1st September). The full line-up includes previously announced stars such as Nicola Benedetti, Stephen Hough, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Sir Simon Rattle, Anoushka Shankar and Mitsuko Uchida. The BBC Singers will also make a special appearance at the First Night of the live Proms, joining the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Sakari Oramo on Friday 28th August.

The two weeks of live Proms include seven new commissions highlighting the Proms’ commitment to contemporary music. The opening night sees a new work by Hannah Kendall whilst Aziza Sadikova, Jay Capperauld and Gavin Higgins all have world premieres, in addition to the three commissions already announced by Thomas Adès, Andrea Tarrodi and Richard Ayres.

Whilst there will not be an audience at the Royal Albert Hall, every live Prom will be broadcast – for the first time – on BBC Four (Thursday, Friday, Sunday) and BBC iPlayer (Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday).

A series of additional late-night broadcasts will take place on BBC Four, featuring some of the most exciting Late Night Proms from past years.

For more on the Proms, including a full schedule of what’s streaming when, click here.

Add to Watchlist