The inaugural BBC Proms Dubai to be held in March 2017 at Dubai Opera

The BBC Proms, the world’s largest classical music festival, together with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Singers, has today announced it is going to Dubai for a four-day festival in March 2017.

Taking place from 21 to 24 March at Dubai Opera, part of the UK/UAE 2017 Year of Cultural Collaboration led by the British Council, BBC Proms Dubai will give audiences the opportunity to experience some of the music, talent and tradition the festival offers. Only the second time abroad, following the inaugural BBC Proms Australia in April 2016, this will be the first time the BBC Proms has travelled to the Middle East and will also mark the first visit to the UAE for the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Singers.

BBC Proms Dubai will host a rich programme including core classical repertoire, British music and new music, all accompanied by a full and varied schedule of learning activity in the region. Mohammed Fairouz’s music will feature in the festival alongside world premieres of works by Dubai-based British composer Joanna Marsh and Australian-Egyptian composer Joseph Tawadros.

BBC Proms favourites, conductor Edward Gardner and pianist Benjamin Grosvenor (pictured), will join the BBC Symphony Orchestra on stage, whilst James Burton leads the BBC Singers in two a cappella programmes of British choral music and the Joseph Tawadros Quartet lead their own Late Night Prom.

The series of six concerts will culminate in the traditional and wildly popular Last Night of the Proms, where Edward Gardner will lead the BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Singers performing Last Night favourites including Henry Wood’s Fantasia on British Sea-Songs, Thomas Arne’s Rule, Britannia! and Edward Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1.

In the spirit of the founding principle of the Proms – to bring the best of classical music to the widest possible audience – nearly 600 ‘Promming’ (standing) tickets will be made available each day for each concert, priced from just 50 dirhams (£10).

In collaboration with the UK/UAE 2017 Year of Cultural Collaboration led by the British Council, there will be a comprehensive learning programme across the four-day festival, with workshops, masterclasses and open rehearsals providing budding musicians and singers with the opportunity to develop their skills and engage with the performers. Activities include a workshop for the Arabian Youth Orchestra with players from the BBC Symphony Orchestra, a series of workshops for local adult and children’s choirs with the BBC Singers and a masterclass for chamber musicians at the Centre for Musical Arts in Dubai.

The BBC Proms Dubai concerts will be recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

Now in its 122^nd year the BBC Proms is the world’s largest classical music festival reaching more than 300,000 people live and many millions more both in the UK and internationally via radio, television and online. The Proms’ founding principle – to bring the best of classical music to the widest possible audience – remains its primary mission today. The festival consists of an eight-week summer season of concerts, talks, workshops and family events, culminating in the world-famous Last Night of the Proms at London’s Royal Albert Hall and four Proms in the Park events around the UK.

Find full details of BBC Proms Dubai. 

Tickets are now available.