Samara Joy to head the jazz contingent at this year's BBC Proms
Kevin Whitlock
Thursday, April 24, 2025
The BBC Proms is back for another summer of world leading orchestras, musicians and conductors - including some big-name jazz inclusions from Friday 18 July to Saturday 13 September at various venues, including the Royal Albert Hall in London.
The world's biggest and most important serious music festival, the BBC Proms is back for another summer of world leading orchestras, musicians and conductors - including some big-name jazz inclusions. This year's season will run from Friday 18 July to Saturday 13 September at various venues, including the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Heading the jazz contingent this year will be acclaimed and award-winning singer Samara Joy, who plays a show at the Albert Hall on 19 July with the Samara Joy Octet and The BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Miho Hazama. We're promised selections from "the Great American Songbook and beyond" as well as cuts from her recent Grammy-winning albums. As well as saluting figures including Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Charles Mingus and Oscar Peterson, Joy will add her personal lyrical twist to instrumental classics.
The show will be broadcast on BBC Four and BBC iPlayer.
29 July sees Lebanese trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf teams up with Pakistani-American singer, composer, and producer Arooj Aftab. On 3 August there's Soul Revolution – with guest vocalists, a gospel choir and Radio 2 presenter Trevor Nelson, the BBC Concert Orchestra and Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser trace a path from spirituals through gospel to soul, revealing the role of these genres in supporting the Civil Rights movement. Inspirational tracks made famous by Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone and Aretha Franklin rub shoulders with hidden gems in a celebration of black music.
Sitar virtuoso and composer Anoushka Shankar returns to the Proms on 12 August for the world-premiere performance of music from her three Chapter albums, tracing her musical and geographical journeys. She is joined by Robert Ames and the London Contemporary Orchestra to perform new orchestral arrangements of the trilogy – Forever, For Now, How Dark It Is Before Dawn and We Return To Light.
The BBC Concert Orchestra returns on 4 September with its Principal Guest Conductor and Curator Edwin Outwater to celebrate the composer’s iconic film scores in Classic Thriller Soundtracks, a suspenseful programme that includes classics from the late Quincy Jones.
Most concerts will be broadcast live on BBC TV and radio, and will be available to catch up with on Sounds and iPlayer.
Full programme and ticket details at:
https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/proms/bbc-proms-2025#e8449 or https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/rb5v4f