The BBC Proms 2024 came to a close on Saturday, with the celebratory Last Night rounding off a season of 90 concerts in the Royal Albert Hall and across the UK. Celebrating the very best of British musicians and creativity, the BBC’s own ensembles performed in 38 Proms, more than one third of total concerts. A further 20 orchestras and over 25 choirs from all over the UK performed throughout the season, from Sir Antonio Pappano’s first Proms appearance as Chief Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra to Sir Mark Elder’s final performance as the Hallé’s Music Director.
The Proms hosted some of the finest international orchestras including a return from the Berlin Philharmonic, the Bavarian Symphony Orchestra with Sir Simon Rattle, and Jakub Hruša and the Czech Philharmonic. Anne-Sophie Mutter joined Daniel Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan orchestra for an unforgettable performance, and the Orchestre de Paris made its first appearance at the Proms with Chief Conductor Klaus Mäkelä.
On the opening day of booking, with Florence Welch making her BBC Proms debut, the online queue for tickets tipped just over 80,000, and on the day of her concert, Promming tickets sold out in under 7 minutes.
In their centenary year, the BBC Singers featured in seven Proms: the First Night of the Proms, the Last Night of the Proms, Berlin Philharmonic’s Bruckner Prom, Aurora Orchestra’s Beethoven’s Ninth by Heart, BBC Singers at 100 at Bristol Beacon, CBeebies Prom – Wildlife Jamboree and in their own Late Night Prom for the world premiere of Eternity in an Hour, specially written for them by Eric Whitacre, the ensemble’s recently-announced Artist in Residence.
Audiences flocked to the Royal Albert Hall this season. Over two thirds of concerts sold out and the average audience attendance at main evening concerts was 96%. Over a third (38%) of audiences at the Royal Albert Hall were attending a Prom for the first time.
The first ever Proms residency launched at Bristol Beacon. Over 6,500 people bought tickets for the six performances that took place over the weekend. 46% of people booking tickets for the Proms were first-time visitors to the Beacon. The Proms returned to the Glasshouse International Centre for Music for a second year. Over 5,000 people attended concerts in the halls, with hundreds more enjoying the free performances on the concourse. Among these attendees, 3,500 were attending the venue for the very first time.
Sam Jackson, Controller of Radio 3 and BBC Proms says: “It has been another extraordinary Proms year – 90 concerts in the Royal Albert Hall and across the UK, bringing the finest music-making to our audiences in person and live every night on BBC Radio 3, with every concert still available to listen to on BBC Sounds until midnight on 13 October We are hugely grateful to our teams across the country, who help bring this extraordinary and unique festival to an audience of millions.”
