BBC Proms - Season 19 / Year 2021

Conductor Dalia Stasevska and the BBC Symphony Orchestra kick off a six-week season with Vaughan Williams's ravishing Serenade to Music and Poulenc's dazzling Organ Concerto. They're joined by the BBC Singers and a cast of soloists, including soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn, tenor Allan Clayton and organist Daniel Hyde, for a celebration of the power of music to comfort and lift your spirits. Katie Derham presents from the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Katie Derham presents from the Royal Albert Hall, as the opening concert of the 2021 Proms season continues in front of a live audience. Conductor Dalia Stasevska and the BBC Symphony Orchestra perform Sibelius's thrilling Second Symphony. They are joined by soloists including soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn and tenor Allan Clayton for the world premiere of When Soft Voices Die, a poignant piece for our times by Scottish composer Sir James MacMillan.

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra and their dynamic new principal conductor, Maxim Emelyanychev, kick off the BBC Four Proms 2021 season with a night dedicated to Mozart. For the first time in Proms history, they'll perform all three of Mozart's last three symphonies, which together explore all sides of humanity: the grand introduction of No 39 with its fanfares and dances, the dark drama of the famous No 40 and finally No 41, the dazzling 'Jupiter' Symphony. Tom Service and guests present this much-anticipated evening.

Mirga Grazinyte-Tyla returns to the BBC Proms to conduct the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in a concert featuring Brahms's beloved Third Symphony as its lyrical centrepiece. Two British works complete the programme: a London premiere from composer Thomas Adès, celebrating his 50th birthday in 2021, and a Proms premiere from the prodigiously talented but neglected composer Ruth Gipps, born 100 years ago. Petroc Trelawny presents a night of musical delight and discovery from the Royal Albert Hall.

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales present a concert featuring composers who found inspiration in music that came before them. Musical echoes resonate in a programme featuring Brahms' Fourth Symphony and a string arrangement of Purcell's timeless masterpiece, Dido's Lament, as well as a performance of Saint-Saëns' First Cello Concerto by Guy Johnston. Join Suzy Klein and her guest, double bassist Chi-chi Nwanoku, for an evening that also celebrates the world premiere of a new piece by Elizabeth Ogonek and the 150th birthday of the Royal Albert Hall.

Katie Derham presents a dazzling evening of musical hits from the Golden Age of Broadway, including showstoppers from South Pacific, Oklahoma!, Carousel, High Society and Anything Goes! Stars of the West End and Broadway perform enduring classics alongside the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Richard Balcombe. Neil Brand and Bonnie Langford are Katie's guests, sharing insight into the glamorous era which rose out of the Great Depression and the Second World War, giving us unforgettable songs such as There's No Business Like Show Business, Some Enchanted Evening, My Funny Valentine and You're the Top!

The much-anticipated annual Prom from the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain returns, this year under the baton of one of the most exciting young conductors on the international scene, Jonathon Heyward. The NYO is joined by superstar violinist Nicola Benedetti, performing Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto, in a programme that includes specially commissioned music by Laura Jurd and the UK premiere of Jessie Montgomery's Banner. The evening comes to a climax with Beethoven's revolutionary Third Symphony, the Eroica. Presented by Jess Gillam and special guests.

Tom Service, conductor Nicholas Collon and the Aurora Orchestra continue their impressive feat of explaining complex works and then performing them from memory. This year, their biggest challenge yet to the Proms: Stravinsky's Firebird Suite. Russian fairy tales and folk melodies collide with Stravinsky's bold modernism in one of the great ballet scores of the 20th century. The concert opens with another Russian classic: Rachmaninov's virtuosic Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, performed by former Radio 3 New Generation Artist Pavel Kolesnikov.

Award-winning Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson makes his much-anticipated Proms debut, as soloist in both Bach's Keyboard Concerto in F minor, whose energised outer movements frame a ravishing central Adagio, and Mozart's pioneering Piano Concerto K491, a rare minor-key work whose stormy, richly orchestrated music climaxes in a relentless dance. The Philharmonia Orchestra and Estonian conductor Paavo Järvi frame the concert with two symphonies: Prokofiev's playful ‘Classical' Symphony, with its clever juxtaposition of traditional forms and contemporary colours, and the more loaded irony of Shostakovich's compact Symphony No. 9.

An evening of opera excerpts on the themes of separation and reconciliation A host of British opera stars join Ben Glassberg and the BBC Philharmonic for a night rich in emotion and drama. After a year of lockdowns and social distancing, the themes of isolation and loneliness as well as the joy of reunion have particular poignancy in excerpts from much-loved operas including Handel's Rodelinda, Beethoven's Fidelio, Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel and Puccini's La bohème.

British saxophonist, composer, DJ and bandleader Nubya Garcia is one of the brightest of a new generation of jazz talent, drawing comparison with greats such as Sonny Rollins and Dexter Gordon. Named a ‘major voice' by The New York Times, she has devised a brand of ‘eclectic, danceable, political jazz' that draws on influences from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. Tonight marks her Proms debut.

The London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle mark 2021's Stravinsky anniversary with a series of symphonic snapshots. We follow Stravinsky's view of the symphony from the experimental, colour-blocked ‘ritual' of the Symphonies of Wind Instruments, through the transitional Symphony in C – reflecting both the composer's European past and his American future – to arrive at the bold Symphony in Three Movements.

Tom Service introduces the Chineke! Orchestra, Britain's only majority black and ethnically diverse orchestra, in works by Florence Price, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Fela Sowande, at the Royal Albert Hall. Pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason gives the Proms premiere of Price's Piano Concerto in One Movement. Coleridge-Taylor's Overture to Hiawatha's Wedding Feast and First Symphony in A Minor sit alongside the Proms premiere of African Suite for Strings by Nigerian composer Sowande. Conducted by Kalena Bovell, the Prom shines a light on rarely heard composers of African heritage who were huge stars in the first half of the 20th century, but were subsequently written out of classical music performance history.

American violinist Joshua Bell and the string orchestra of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields mix up the familiar with the unfamiliar, 18th-century Italy with 20th-century Argentina, baroque with tango, as they interweave Vivaldi's famous Four Seasons with Astor Piazzolla's The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires. Argentinian musician Guillermo Willis joins presenter Josie d'Arby at the Royal Albert Hall for this celebration of the centenary year of Astor Piazzolla - and of virtuosic talent, past and present.

Michael Morpurgo joins cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason and his siblings at the Royal Albert Hall for a dramatically staged performance of Saint-Saëns's Carnival of the Animals. Katie Derham presents this special Prom for all the family, which also features a newly commissioned companion piece, Revel, by Daniel Kidane, including poems written and read by Lemn Sissay.

The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ilan Volkov, perform Beethoven's Second Symphony and Ah! Perfido, with soprano Lucy Crowe, and a world premiere by George Lewis.

Genre-defying Ghanaian-American musician Moses Sumney makes his Proms debut with conductor Jules Buckley and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Moses describes his music as an amalgamation of soul, jazz, folk and experimental indie rock. Presented by Clara Amfo from the Royal Albert Hall, this Prom promises to be a unique trip through the multi-faceted music of this indefinable artist.

Marking his 60th Prom, John Eliot Gardiner directs the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists in a celebration of the early works of Handel and Bach. Mezzo-soprano Ann Hallenberg is the soloist in Handel's Donna, che in ciel, which is followed by Bach's Easter cantata Christ lag in Todes Banden. The Prom culminates in Handel's Dixit Dominus. Presented by Petroc Trelawny from the Royal Albert Hall.

From the Royal Albert Hall, Suzy Klein introduces an evening of music inspired by Vienna. John Wilson conducts the award-winning Sinfonia of London in Johann Strauss's overture to Die Fledermaus, which incorporates a famous Viennese waltz, complemented by a performance of Ravel's darker La Valse. The programme also offers insights into some different styles of Viennese music, with Berg's intimate Seven Early Songs, performed by Nigerian-American soprano Francesca Chiejina, plus Korngold's rarely heard Symphony in F Sharp.

Bach's profound choral masterpiece, the St Matthew Passion, transcends eras and faiths with its exploration of courage, compassion, sacrifice and redemption. Here it headlines at the Royal Albert Hall in a performance by period instrument ensemble Arcangelo, directed from the harpsichord by Jonathan Cohen. They are joined by a double choir and a stellar line-up of soloists, including Iestyn Davies, Roderick Williams and rising star Stuart Jackson. Presenter Anna Lapwood is jjoined by musician and broadcaster Hannah French. 

Katie Derham presents live coverage from the Royal Albert Hall of the opening part of the climax of the classical music festival. Latvian accordionist Ksenija Sidorova and Australian tenor Stuart Skelton join conductor Sakari Oramo, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Singers in a programme that includes Malcolm Arnold's Variations on a theme of Ruth Gipps, a special arrangement of Barber's Adagio for Strings, and pieces by Ravel, Piazzolla and Wagner. Katie is joined by guests Gareth Malone and Maggie Aderin-Pocock.

Katie Derham hosts continued live coverage from the Royal Albert Hall, at the climax of the Last Night of the Proms. Latvian accordionist Ksenija Sidorova and Australian tenor Stuart Skelton join Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Singers for a programme including music by Florence Price, Latin flavours from Piazzolla and Troilo, English folk courtesy of Percy Grainger and, of course, all the traditional favourites including Rule, Britannia, Land of Hope and Glory and Jerusalem. Katie is joined by special guests Gareth Malone and Maggie Aderin-Pocock.