86 concerts, 20 premieres and a season-long celebration of American music
BBC Proms 2026: 86 concerts, 20 premieres and a season-long celebration of American music
The BBC Proms returns to London’s Royal Albert Hall and venues across the UK from this month, presenting 86 concerts over eight weeks showcasing the world’s finest orchestras, conductors and soloists alongside the best of British musical talent.
A season-long celebration of American music marks 250 years since the signing of the US Declaration of Independence, headlined by the Met Orchestra’s Proms debut, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and the return of the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel after nearly a quarter of a century. The season includes UK premieres of major new works co-commissioned by the BBC from Wynton Marsalis and Jessie Montgomery, alongside appearances from Marin Alsop, Angel Blue and Joyce DiDonato.
The season features 20 premieres in total. This includes 17 BBC commissions and co-commissions, from composers including 100-year-old Betsy Jolas and 98-year-old Thea Musgrave, and Dani Howard, Mark-Anthony Turnage and Gabriel Kahane.
Composer anniversaries and centenaries are marked throughout, including 50 years since the death of Benjamin Britten, the 90th birthday of Steve Reich and centenaries for John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Morton Feldman, György Kurtág, Hans Werner Henze and 100 years since the death of Edmund Thornton Jenkins.
Among the season’s highlights are the First Night, featuring pianist Yunchan Lim performing Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major and a world premiere from Josephine Stephenson, and the Last Night (12 September), with Yuja Wang returning to the Proms after three years to perform Barber’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Piano Concerto under chief conductor Sakari Oramo. Martha Argerich returns to perform 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.
Cross-genre highlights include a concert marking the 40th anniversary of Paul Simon’s Graceland with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a Prog Rock Prom, a Miles Davis centenary concert, a celebration of Marvin Gaye: Prince of Soul and a Prom with Turkish psych-folk band Altın Gün. The Proms also makes its debut in Mold, North Wales, and returns for residencies in Bristol and the North-East of England.
Promming tickets remain at £8, with seated tickets starting from £12.20. Every Prom will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds, with 24 programmes on BBC television and iPlayer.
For further information, visit bbc.co.uk/proms