Angel Blue, Nicky Spence, Joyce DiDonato, Leah Hawkins, Rachel Willis-Sørensen & Charles Castronovo Lead BBC Proms’ 2026 Season
By Francisco SalazarThe BBC Proms has announced its 2026 season. Here are the vocal performances.
The festival opens on with pianist Yunchan Lim and tenor Thomas Atkins joining Dalia Stasevska and the BBC Symphony Orchestra for music by Ravel, Copland, Gershwin and Finzi. There will also be a world premiere by Josephine Stephenson.
Performance Date: July 17, 2026
Gianandrea Noseda leads Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with soloists Leah Hawkins, Stephanie Wake-Edwards, Martin Muehle, and Derek Welton. The program also includes Jessie Montgomery’s “These Righteous Paths” with cellist Abel Selaocoe.
Performance Date: July 20, 2026
The Jupiter Ensemble makes its Proms debut with British tenor Laurence Kilsby in a program of the English Renaissance and Baroque featuring works by John Dowland, Henry Purcell, and George Frideric Händel.
Performance Date: July 21, 2026
Ryan Bancroft and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales perform music by Lili Boulanger, Szymanowski, Messiaen and Strauss. Mari Eriksmoen, Paula Murrihy, James Way, and Szymon Mechliński are the soloists.
Performance Date: July 23, 2026
The BBC Singers and the Chorus of Royal Northern Sinfonia join forces for Parry’s “Songs of Farewell” and Tavener’s “Song for Athene.”
Performance Date: July 25, 2026
Edward Gardner and the London Philharmonic Orchestra are joined by Louise Alder for music by Kristine Tjøgersen, Joseph Canteloube, and Richard Strauss.
Performance Date: July 27, 2026
Ryan Wigglesworth and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra perform Elgar, Judith Weir and Brett Dean. Claire Booth is the soloist.
Performance Date: July 29, 2026
Nicholas Collon and the Aurora Orchestra perform Mahler’s First Symphony, while mezzo-soprano Natalie Lewis performs a musical and dramatic exploration of Mahler’s Symphony No. 1.
Performance Dates: August 1 & 2, 2026
Sir Mark Elder conducts the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, Monteverdi Choir in Weber’s final opera “Oberon.” The cast includes Nicky Spence, Jennifer Davis, Charles Castronovo, Yannick Debus, Rachael Wilson, Jasmin White, Charlotte Bowden, and Jessica Cale.
Performance Date: August 6, 2026
The BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus join forces with the Epiphoni Consort for Rossini’s operatic Stabat mater. Nil Venditti also conducts the Proms premiere of Respighi’s “Church Windows.” Soloists include Federica Lombardi, Chiara Amarù, René Barbera, and Nicola Ulivieri.
Performance Date: August 7, 2026
Performance Date: August 9, 2026
Nigel Short conducts his choir Tenebrae in the Proms premiere of Joby Talbot’s “Path of Miracles.”
Performance Date: August 9, 2026
Celebrated Finnish musicians Anu Komsi and Sakari Oramo perform György Kurtág’s “Kafka Fragments.”
Performance Date: August 9, 2026
Peter Whelan leads the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment for Haydn, Mozart, and Zelenka. The soloists are Erin Morley, William Thomas, Helen Charlston, an Guy Cutting.
Performance Date: August 9, 2026
Percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie joins the Fantasia Orchestra and BBC Singers for a program that features music by Vaughan Williams, Radiohead, John Coltrane and Caroline Shaw.
Performance Date: August 11, 2026
The Los Angeles Philharmonic and its Music Director Gustavo Dudamel pair Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 with a contemporary ballet by Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz featuring the Los Angeles Master Chorale.
Performance Date: August 12, 2026
Sir Antonio Pappano conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in Berlioz’s “Requiem” with Julien Henric.
Performance Date: August 15, 2026
Strauss’s “Ariadne auf Naxos” will star Rachel Willis-Sørensen, David Butt Philip, Alina Wunderlin, Mikhail Timoshenko, and Samantha Hankey. Robin Ticciati conducts the London Symphony Orchestra.
Performance Date: August 19, 2026
Mezzo Jamie Barton and tenor Clay Hilley joins Anja Bihlmaier and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra for Mahler. The program also includes music by Haydn and Bushra El-Turk.
Performance Date: August 21, 2026
The Chineke! Orchestra under Jonathon Heyward will perform Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8, and Samuel Barber’s “Knoxville: Summer of 1915” with soprano Angel Blue.
Performance Date: August 22, 2026
The Met Orchestra and Yannick Nézet‐Séguin perform works by Strauss with Elza van den Heever.
Performance Date: August 26, 2026
The Met Orchestra is joined by Joyce DiDonato for Mahler’s “Rückert- Lieder.” The concert also includes Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 and Kaija Saariaho’s “Lumière et pesanteur.” Yannick Nézet‐Séguin conducts.
Performance Date: August 27, 2026
Jakob Lehmann and Les Siècles bring to life Berlioz’s “La Damnation de Faust” with John Osborn, Gerald Finley and Véronique Gens.
Performance Date: August 30, 2026
The Gesualdo Six and the Colin Currie Group appear in choral works by Renaissance composers including Hildegard of Bingen, Josquin and Pérotin with Steve Reich’s take on traditional Hebrew Psalms, Tehillim.
Performance Date: Sept. 2, 2026
John Wilson and the Sinfonia of London present a concert of English music, pairing two works by Britten and Frank Bridge with music by Berkeley, Bridge and Imogen Holst. Julie Roset is the soloist.
Performance Date: Sept. 6, 2026
Paweł Kapuła conducts the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in a program of music by Hans Werner Henze, Schubert, Strauss, and Mahler. Soprano Natalya Romaniw is the soloist.
Performance Date: Sept. 9, 2026
Arcangelo and Music Director Jonathan Cohen perform J. S. Bach’s Mass in B minor. The concert stars Jeanine De Bique, Eva Zaïcik, Hugh Cutting, Nick Pritchard, and Florian Störtz.
Performance Date: Sept. 10, 2026
The closing night of the Proms will showcase pianist Yuja Wang nd tenor Nicky Spence alongside Sakari Oramo in music by Thomas Arne, Edward Elgar, and Hubert Parry.
Performance Date: Sept. 12, 2026
