BBC Proms - Season 18 / Year 2020

Season 18 / Year 2020

Episodes

First Night of the Proms
Katie Derham presents the First Night of the live classical music festival, with a feast of performances including Beethoven's Third Symphony, Aaron Copland's Quiet City, and a new work by young British composer Hannah Kendall, all performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Singers, under conductor Sakari Oramo. Katie and special guest Stephen Fry also celebrate the return of live music to the Royal Albert Hall.

Sir Simon Rattle and the LSO
Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra perform a packed programme, featuring star pianist Mitsuko Uchida playing Beethoven, works by much-loved British composers Elgar and Vaughan Williams, and a new composition by Thomas Adès. Suzy Klein presents from the Royal Albert Hall.

Nicola Benedetti and Alina Ibragimova
Violin superstars Nicola Benedetti and Alina Ibragimova lead a high-energy evening of baroque music by Vivaldi, Handel, Bach, and little-known English composer Charles Avison. If three double violin concertos weren't enough, there's also a double oboe concerto. With the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, led by Jonathan Cohen. Presented by Danielle de Niese.

Anoushka Shankar and Gold Panda
At the Royal Albert Hall, Indian sitar player and composer Anoushka Shankar participates in an evening dedicated to her father and musical guru, Ravi, in what would have been his centenary year. Anoushka is joined in the first half by electronic music guru Gold Panda for a new imagining of Ravi's music. In the second half, conductor Jules Buckley, the Britten Sinfonia and soloist Manu Delago accompany Anoushka in a selection of her music. Presented by Josie d'Arby.

Laura Marling and the 12 Ensemble
Mercury Prize-nominated artist Laura Marling teams up with the pioneering strings-based collective the 12 Ensemble for a retrospective journey through her back catalogue, as well as showcasing tracks from her current album, Song for our Daughter. In her first Prom as a headliner, Laura will perform an acoustic set accompanied by brand-new string arrangements from the unconducted 12 Ensemble. Presented by Suzy Klein.

Exploring Beethoven's Seventh
To celebrate Beethoven's 250th anniversary, Tom Service presents a concert in which conductor Nicholas Collon and the Aurora Orchestra unpick Beethoven's Seventh Symphony to explore the composer's creative genius, before performing the work from memory. Also on the bill at the Royal Albert Hall is a new work by British composer Richard Ayres, whose piece is inspired by Beethoven's struggle with his loss of hearing.

Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason
Siblings Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason take to the stage for their first Prom together to present an evening of chamber music for cello and piano. Featuring works by Beethoven, Rachmaninov, American composer Samuel Barber, and English composer Frank Bridge, the brother and sister pairing bring their unique musical chemistry to the Royal Albert Hall. Presented by Tom Service, with guest Joanna MacGregor.

Last Night of the Proms
Katie Derham hosts the climax of the classical music festival, live from the Royal Albert Hall, drawing a unique season of live performances to a celebratory close. Soprano Golda Schultz and violinist Lisa Batiashvili join Dalia Stasevska, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Singers in a programme that includes music from Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, a world premiere from Andrea Tarrodi, music by Richard Strauss, Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, and The Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams. The night comes to a jubilant close with all the traditional favourites, including the Fantasia on British Sea-Songs, You'll Never Walk Alone, Rule, Britannia, Pomp and Circumstance March No 1, and Jerusalem.
Recently Updated Shows

The Gilded Age
The American Gilded Age was a period of immense economic change, of huge fortunes made and lost, and the rise of disparity between old money and new.
Against this backdrop of change, the story begins in 1882 — introducing young Marian Brook, the orphaned daughter of a Union general, who moves into the New York City home of her thoroughly old money aunts Agnes van Rhijn and Ada Brook. Accompanied by Peggy Scott, an accomplished African-American woman, Marian inadvertently becomes enmeshed in a social war between one of her aunts, a scion of the old money set, and her stupendously rich neighbors, a ruthless railroad tycoon and his ambitious wife, George and Bertha Russell.
In this exciting new world that is on the brink of the modern age, will Marian follow the established rules of society, or forge her own path?

Rebus
Rebus follows 40-year-old police detective John Rebus, who finds himself at a psychological crossroads following an altercation with an infamous Edinburgh gangster. At odds with a job increasingly driven by corporate technocrats, involved in a toxic affair he knows he needs to end, and all but supplanted in his daughter's life by his ex-wife's wealthy new husband, Rebus begins to wonder if he still has a role to play – either as a family man or a police officer.
In a world of divisive politics and national discord, does the law still have meaning, or is everyone reverting to an older set of rules? And if so, why shouldn't Rebus do so too?

Chopped
Chopped is a cooking competition show that is all about skill, speed and ingenuity. Each week, four chefs compete before a panel of expert judges and turn baskets of mystery ingredients into an extraordinary three-course meal. Course by course, the chefs will be "chopped" from the competition until only one winner remains. The challenge? They have seconds to plan and 30 minutes to cook an amazing course with the basket of mystery ingredients given to them moments before the clock starts ticking! And the pressure doesn't stop there. Once they've completed their dish, they've got to survive the Chopping Block where our three judges are waiting to be wowed and not shy about voicing their culinary criticisms! Our host, Ted Allen, leads this high-energy, high-pressure show that will have viewers rooting for a winner and cheering for the losers. Chopped is a game of passion, expertise and skill — and in the end, only one chef will survive the Chopping Block. Who will make the cut? The answer is on Chopped!

The 1% Club
The 1% Club is a unique, compelling and funny entertainment show that tests the nation's intelligence, based on a scientific survey. It's a chance to test how your brain works through a series of questions that all have a right answer but can also lead to a series of entertaining wrong answers along the way. Whether you're a contestant vying for the cash prize or a viewer playing with your friends and family on the app, answer enough questions correctly, and you could earn yourself a place in the 1% Club: an elite group of people who can honestly say they've outwitted 99% of the population.

America's Got Talent
With the talent search open to acts of all ages, America's Got Talent has brought the variety format back to the forefront of American culture by showcasing performers from across the country. The series is a true celebration of the American spirit, featuring a colorful array of singers, dancers, comedians, contortionists, impressionists, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists and hopeful stars, all vying for their chance to win America's hearts and the $1 million prize.