The BBC Proms, the world's largest classical music festival, begins on Friday 18 July 2025, with eight weeks of concerts at the Royal Albert Hall and beyond. Radio 3 and the BBC Symphony Orchestra launch the season, which includes a vast range of premieres and contemporary works.
Opening Night and Early Premieres
The First Night features the world premiere of Josephine Stephenson's That the Sunrise Not Leave Us Unmoved. On 20 July, Jessie Montgomery's cello concerto These Righteous Paths, performed by Abel Selaocoe, promises a soul-searching experience. Michelle Assay described the work at its North American premiere as “a living organism that gradually absorbs orchestra and audience alike into its breathing body.”
Contrasting Orchestral Visions
On 22 July, Sakari Oramo conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra in György Kurtág's Stele, a three-movement tapestry of lament. Kurtág described the piece as a vision “of someone lying wounded on a battlefield… He sees only a very clear, very blue sky… Nothing is as important as this sky.” The work opens with a reference to Beethoven's Fidelio but offers no release, ending in a muffled march to oblivion.
On 27 July, the London Philharmonic and Edward Gardner perform Kristine Tjøgersen's Between Trees (2021), a nature-inspired piece that takes listeners “on a sonic excursion” inside a forest. The work incorporates sounds of squirrels eating nuts, birdsong from cuckoos, owls, and magpies, and orchestral depictions of pastoral harmony.
Triple Concertos and More Premieres
Two triple concertos premiere this season: Édith Canat de Chizy's Skyline for three percussionists and timpani on 18 August, and Gwilym Simcock's concerto for saxophonist Jess Gillam, horn-player Ben Goldscheider, and cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason on 6 September. Thea Musgrave's bassoon concerto Out of the Darkness, composed for Amy Harman, premieres on 23 August.
Adès's Dante and Other Highlights
Thomas Adès conducts the National Youth Orchestra in Purgatorio on 8 August, and Gustavo Dudamel leads the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Inferno a few days later. The LA Phil also performs the UK premiere of Gabriela Ortiz's Revolución Diamantina.
Other top picks include the Jupiter ensemble with lutenist Thomas Dunford in Dowland and Purcell on 21 July, and the Mahler Academy Orchestra playing period instruments on the penultimate night.
All Proms are broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and available on BBC Sounds for 30 days.
