91Èȱ¬

The 91Èȱ¬ Proms is widely regarded as the world's greatest music festival – and with more than 170 events in 2009, it is bigger than ever. It includes a multitude of big events, packed weekends and "festival days" over the eight-week season, which contribute to the festival spirit.

Weekend for 91Èȱ¬ Radio 3 New Generation Artists – 29–31 August

Many former Radio 3 New Generation Artists are now firmly established as among the leading musicians on the international scene, and the 91Èȱ¬ Proms has gathered past and present members of the scheme for a packed weekend of 12 concerts at Cadogan Hall over the August Bank Holiday.

They will perform a huge range of music, both as soloists and as chamber musicians, including four 91Èȱ¬ commissions, two of which are world premieres. Among the stars appearing are Alina Ibragimova (violin), Tai Murray (violin), Lawrence Power (viola), Natalie Clein (cello), Aronowitz Ensemble, Galliard Ensemble, Jerusalem Quartet, Royal String Quartet, Ailish Tynan (soprano), Alice Coote (mezzo-soprano), Christine Rice (mezzosoprano), Andrew Kennedy (tenor), Jonathan Lemalu (bass-baritone), Colin Currie (percussion), Steven Osborne (piano), Gwilym Simcock (jazz piano), Simon Trpceski (piano) and Llyr Williams (piano), to name just a few.

Indian Voices – 16 August

Indian Voices is a day-long Proms celebration of India's myriad vocal styles – ranging from traditional khyal singing to a colourful Bollywood climax – with plenty of opportunity for audiences to get involved.

The day brings together some of the biggest stars of Indian music of today and builds on the successes of last year's hugely successful Folk Day, involving a wide range of free performances in Kensington Gardens, workshops and events for audiences to join in and major concerts in the Royal Albert Hall.

The day includes two main concerts in the Royal Albert Hall:

a concert showcasing north Indian classical khyal singing, featuring Pandit Ram Narayan, perhaps the greatest living sarangi (short-necked fiddle) player; Manjiri Asnare Kelkar, the rising star of the Jaipur–Gwalior khyal school; brothers, Rajan and Sajan Mishra, the foremost exponents of the virtuoso Varanasi vocal style; and Asima, an iconoclastic, boundary-breaking young vocal ensemble from Kerala (10.30am)

the first ever Prom devoted to the music of Bollywood, an all-singing, all-dancing extravaganza fronted by popular Indian TV talent-show host and award-winning singer Shaan, backed by the band The Groove, plus the Bollywood moves of Honey's Dance Academy (7.30pm).

An extensive afternoon of free events in Kensington Gardens including:

performances of Indian folk music from a specially created stage where folk musicians from Gujarat and the deserts of Rajasthan give free performances along with performers from some of India’s richest vocal traditions

Proms Bollywood Family Orchestra and Chorus, for which families are invited to bring an instrument and sign up to learn some Indian songs and create Bollywood-inspired music

free Bollywood dancing workshops for everyone in Kensington Gardens (all from 2.00pm)

a Proms Literary Festival event at the Royal College of Music: Prize-winning author Jamila Gavin and Binglish theatre director Jatinder Verma join Rana Mitter to explore great Bollywood stories (5.45pm).

Multiple Pianos – 9 August

A wide range of works for two or more pianos runs throughout the 2009 Proms, with an ambitious festival day at its heart. Multiple Pianos day features two major concerts – with no fewer than 12 well-known pianists joining the Britten Sinfonia, 91Èȱ¬ Singers, London Sinfonietta and conductors Ludovic Morlot and recent Olivier Award-winning Edward Gardner – as well as some 91Èȱ¬ Proms Plus pre-concert events.

The season, and the day, offer a rare opportunity to celebrate the wealth of repertoire for two or more pianos, to hear new music specially commissioned for the occasion and to delve into the background of the instrument and its repertoire.

Multiple Pianos day concerts:

the opening concert (3.00pm) includes three piano duos – the Labeque sisters; Philip Moore and Simon Crawford-Phillips; and the Biziak sisters – joining the Britten Sinfonia. Music includes Mozart's Concerto in E flat for two pianos, Lutosπawski's Variations on a Theme of Paganini, Saint-Saens's The Carnival of the Animals and the world premiere of a specially commissioned new work by Anna Meredith. Rising young conductor Ludovic Morlot makes his Proms debut

the evening event (7.30pm) has a 20th-century view, featuring the many fingers of John Constable, Rolf Hind, Francois-Frederic Guy, Ashley Wass, Llyr Williams, Philip Moore and Simon Crawford-Phillips, alongside percussionists Colin Currie and Sam Walton, the 91Èȱ¬ Singers, London Sinfonietta and Edward Gardner. The programme, for up to four pianos, comprises George Antheil's Ballet mecanique, John Adams's Grand Pianola Music, Bartok's Sonata for two pianos and percussion, and Stravinsky's Les noces.

Other events in Multiple Pianos day:

Proms Family Music Intro features the six-piano ensemble pianocircus and explores the piano

Proms Intro with Rex Lawson introduces the pianola, including performances of Chopin's Scherzo in B flat minor, Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring (Part 1) and Sir Charles Mackerras's arrangement of Sullivan in the finale of Pineapple Poll.

Other multiple piano works during the season:

Poulenc's Concerto for two pianos launches the series of multiple pianos music on the First Night of the Proms, when the Labeque sisters make the first of their three Proms appearances during the season (17 July)

Martinu's 1943 Concerto for two pianos is played by young Czech soloists Jaroslava Pchoova and Vaclav Macha with their compatriot Jiri Belohlavek conducting the 91Èȱ¬ Symphony Orchestra (27 July)

the UK premiere of The Hague Hacking by 70th-birthday composer Louis Andriessen is performed by Katia and Marielle Labeque and the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Esa- Pekka Salonen (17 Aug); Andriessen's De staat, with two pianos at the heart of its ensemble, is given by the Netherlands Wind Ensemble in a Late Night Prom (28 Aug)

the London premiere of Cornelis de Bondt's meditation on death, Doors Closed, with three pianos, completes the multiple piano Late Night with the Netherlands Wind Ensemble (28 Aug)

Mozart's Sonata in D major for two pianos and Zimmermann's Dialoge are played by Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Tamara Stefanovich at the heart of the London Philharmonic Orchestra Prom conducted by Vladimir Jurowski (3 Sept).

Celebration of West–Eastern Divan Orchestra – 21 & 22 August

A weekend of concerts and other events marks the 10th anniversary of the foundation of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. The Orchestra was founded in 1999 by Israeli pianist-conductor Daniel Barenboim and the Palestinian-American cultural historian, the late Edward Said. The aim was to bring together young players from both sides of the Arab-Israeli divide in what Barenboim insists is not "an orchestra for peace", but "an orchestra against ignorance". It is now universally acclaimed for its remarkable performances, regardless of the ideals behind its beginnings.

The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra events include:

Liszt, Wagner and Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique (21 Aug)

Mendelssohn's Octet and Berg's Chamber Concerto with Barenboim's violinist son Michael and his pianist protege Karim Said, himself a relative of the orchestra's co-founder, Edward Said (21 Aug)

a rare Proms performance of Beethoven's only opera Fidelio, with an international cast including Waltraud Meier as the opera's heroine Leonore, also speaking the English narration by Edward Said, and Sir John Tomlinson as the jailor Rocco (22 Aug)

Proms Plus event with Barenboim and members of the West-Eastern Divan playing music by Pierre Boulez (22 Aug)

screening of Knowledge is the Beginning, a documentary film about the orchestra, introduced by Mariam Said (22 Aug).

1934 weekend – 25 & 26 July

1934 was the year in which three towering figures of British music died. Frederick Delius, Edward Elgar and Gustav Holst are commemorated with a weekend of events devoted to their music.

The 1934 weekend includes:

Sir Charles Mackerras conducting the 91Èȱ¬ Philharmonic and 91Èȱ¬ Singers in Elgar's Cockaigne, Delius's The Song of the High Hills (with soloists Rebecca Evans and Toby Spence joining the 91Èȱ¬ Singers) and Holst's The Planets in a Prom to be televised by 91Èȱ¬ Two (25 July)

Holst's First Choral Symphony, Delius's Brigg Fair and Elgar's Enigma Variations from 91Èȱ¬ National Orchestra of Wales, joined by Susan Gritton, the 91Èȱ¬ National Chorus of Wales and the 91Èȱ¬ Symphony Chorus, under David Atherton (26 July)

former 91Èȱ¬ Young Musician of the Year and current Radio 3 New Generation Artist Jennifer Pike plays Holst's A Song of the Night for violin and orchestra with the 91Èȱ¬ Philharmonic under Tecwyn Evans, in the Free Family Prom, which also includes Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No. 4 (26 July)

an organ recital by David Titterington features both Elgar Sonatas
(25 July).

Creation day – 18 July

Marking the joint anniversaries of both Haydn and Darwin (the latter born in 1809, the year of the former's death), Haydn's The Creation – his Handel-inspired hymn to "God's glorious work" – burst into life 60 years before Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859) and opens a day that culminates in a performance of Stan Tracey's jazz recreation of the creation story, Genesis.

Haydn's The Creation is sung in conductor Paul McCreesh's own English version by Rosemary Joshua (Gabriel), Sarah Tynan (Eve), Mark Padmore (Uriel), Neal Davies (Raphael) and Peter Harvey (Adam), joining Chetham's Chamber Choir and the Gabrieli Consort & Players (18 July, 7.00pm)

Stan Tracey's classic recreation of the biblical version of the Big Bang, Genesis, gets its first Proms performance by Stan Tracey and his Orchestra in a Late Night Prom (18 July, 10.15pm)

Darwin is also the inspiration for Evolution! A Darwin inspired extravaganza for kids, with C91Èȱ¬ presenters Barney Harwood and Gemma Hunt, special guest Sir David Attenborough and plenty of wildlife action (1 & 2 Aug).