The concert celebrating the composer’s work will take place as part of this year’s BBC Proms on the 31st August.
Organisers of the BBC Proms, which will run at the Royal Albert Hall from the 17th July until the 12th September, has announced the complete line up for this year’s festival.
On the first weekend, the BBC Proms launches with the first ever Prog Rock Prom with legendary drummer Carl Palmer of Emerson, Lake & Palmer – one of the biggest bands of the 1970s – and Peter Hammill, founder member and the original singer of the prog rock band Van der Graaf Generator. They will be joined by Elbow frontman Guy Garvey, Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys and singer-songwriter Jane Weaver. The concert is conducted by Robert Ames and presented by BBC Radio 6 Music’s Stuart Maconie and features symphonic tributes to ELP, Genesis, Jethro Tull, Mike Oldfield, Renaissance and more, performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra.
Meanwhile, Weyes Blood, aka Natalie Mering, will present an intimate late-night Prom, taking a symphonic dive into her wistful, transcendent folk-pop (8 September, Late Night). She joins forces with Jules Buckley and his orchestra, whose previous Proms collaborations include Florence + The Machine, Laura Mvula, Jacob Collier and St. Vincent.
Genre-crossing and family friendly Proms will include: Horrible Science: The Big Bang Experiment (25 July, matinee and evening), Under African Skies: The Songs of Graceland (5 August, Late Night), Marvin Gaye: Prince of Soul (14 August), Miles Davis Centenary (20 August), Bond and Beyond (25 August, and broadcast on BBC TV and BBC iPlayer), Ultimate Calm (27 August, Late Night), Altın Gün (28 August) and Enchanted: Alan Menken’s Music for Disney (31 August).
Every Prom will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3, and a special week of five Proms will air on Radio 2 – the UK’s most popular radio station with a weekly audience of 12.6m listeners – from 17 August. Prog Rock: A Fanfare for the Common Man will be broadcast on BBC Radio 6 Music. The Proms airing on Radio 2 are Prog Rock: A Fanfare for the Common Man (17 August), Black Dyke Band (18 August), Under African Skies: Songs from Graceland (19 August), Marvin Gaye: Prince of Soul (20 August) and Miles Davis Centenary (23 August). Proms programmes will also be televised on BBC TV and iPlayer.
Although seats for 12 Proms are currently unavailable, up to 1,000 Promming tickets will be released for every single Prom, priced at £8 and available at 9.30am the day before concert. Returns are often available from the Royal Albert Hall Box Office.
For more information and to book tickets visit: https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets