91Èȱ¬

From the supple plainchant melodies of Hildegard of Bingen to the sophisticated choral polyphony of Palestrina, Byrd and Lassus, Proms debut artists VOCES8 return to music’s origins to launch a sequence of lunchtime concerts spanning 800 years.

The 91Èȱ¬ Proms takes over the newly refurbished Battersea Arts Centre for a showcase of provocative, witty and boundary-crossing composer-performers, who have been driving new music in previously unimagined directions.

Soprano Mariana Flores and Cappella Mediterranea celebrate the 400th anniversary of pioneering Venetian composer Barbara Strozzi. A selection of love songs by Strozzi and her contemporaries includes the poignant ‘Lagrime mie’ and ‘Che si può fare’.

Kristian Bezuidenhout joins period ensemble The English Concert for a Baroque journey around Europe, featuring lively English dances by Purcell, virtuosic harpsichord music by Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre and chamber music by Handel and Telemann.

91Èȱ¬ Radio 3 New Generation Artists the Aris String Quartet make their Proms debut with Haydn’s ebullient ‘Sunrise’ Quartet. It is paired with two youthful pieces: Schubert’s String Quartet No. 1 and Maddalena Laura Sirmen’s String Quartet No. 5.

The 91Èȱ¬ Singers take the Proms to London’s ‘Musicians’ Church’ for a concert of English choral pieces spanning the 20th and 21st centuries.

Praised for a ‘radiant’ performance in Handel’s Theodora at the 2018 Proms, soprano Louise Alder returns to give a recital of songs from across Europe, including Lieder by both Mendelssohn and his sister Fanny Hensel, and songs by Rossini and Chopin.

91Èȱ¬ Radio 3 New Generation Artists the Amatis Piano Trio make their Proms debut with chamber works by husband-and-wife composers Robert and Clara Schumann. The centrepiece is Clara Schumann’s Piano Trio – a mature work, and one of her finest.

An all-Polish programme by the award-winning Silesian String Quartet and pianist Wojciech Świtała sets music by Mieczyslaw Weinberg alongside that of his great contemporary Grażyna Bacewicz, including her mature masterpiece, the Piano Quintet No. 1.

A giant of British contemporary music, composer Oliver Knussen is remembered and celebrated in a special performance by the newly formed Knussen Chamber Orchestra. Music by Knussen himself is framed by works from Abrahamsen, Birtwistle and Waley-Cohen.