Proms 2026 First Night of the Proms 2026

Dalia Stasevska and massed BBC forces launch the 2026 season with an American accent. The widescreen vision of Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man zooms in to teeming city streets in Gershwin’s ‘rhapsodic ballet’ An American in Paris, before piano superstar Yunchan Lim performs Ravel’s bluesy Concerto in G major, a musical postcard inspired by the composer’s time in the States. The second half sees a world premiere from French-British composer Josephine Stephenson, before Finzi’s ode to the patron saint of music, premiered in this same Hall nearly 80 years ago.

Broadcast live on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer

Dalia Stasevska © Veikko Kähkönen