Sponsored: The music, the cheers, the flag waving – make way for BBC Proms, coming to Dubai in March.

A fixture on any music lover’s calendar, the BBC Proms is one of the world’s best known music festivals – and a much-loved British tradition – and it returns to Dubai Opera to be staged over four days from 19 to 22 March 2019.

Aiming to bring the best classical music to as wide an audience as possible, BBC Proms Dubai 2019 hosts a rich programme including core classical repertoire, British music and new music. Check out the schedule highlights below…

The schedule

March 19
BBC Proms Dubai 2019 opens with a short, punchy world premiere – Tmesis – from the exciting British composer Bushra El-Turk, drawing on her Lebanese roots for its sound-world. The fast-rising British conductor Ben Gernon is then joined by violinist Karen Gomyo in Tchaikovsky’s lush, romantic violin concerto. Karen is truly a world artist, she has already performed with many of the world’s top orchestras and we are delighted to welcome her to Dubai for her BBC Symphony Orchestra debut.

March 20

Conducted by Sofi Jeannin, the BBC Singers showcase on the second night of the Proms some of the most exciting choral music of the last 100 years in a programme that ranges from Gershwin to Abba, Francis Poulenc to Laura Mvula.

March 21
William Walton’s beautiful Cello Concerto dates from the 1950s and precedes what will surely be one of the highlights of this 2019 BBC Proms Dubai – the premiere in Dubai of Beethoven’s great ‘Choral’ Symphony (No. 9). Conducted by Richard Farnes and with a hand-picked quartet of British soloists, the BBC Singers and the newly created Dubai Opera Festival Chorus – with choristers from local schools, should be unmissable.

March 22

Hosted  by Petroc Trelawny, the Last Night of the BBC Proms Dubai 2019 brings everyone together for a massive musical party. The BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers, baritone Roderick Williams, Johanna Juhola and the Dubai Opera Festival Chorus come together for an epic evening of music and pride. This is the big concert of the entire festival and one you won’t want to miss.

Tickets are available on the Dubai Opera website and start from Dhs50. Or you can opt for a season pass, which costs Dhs375.

March 19 to 22
Dubai Opera, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard, Downtown Dubai. Tel: (04) 4408888. dubaiopera.com

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Images: Supplied/Simon van Boxtel/Mark Allan/BBC