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Chineke! Orchestra at the 2022 BBC Proms

Image: Mark Allan

‘Be embraced, all you millions!’ Since the earliest days of the Proms, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony has had a special place in each season – and with its climactic choral ‘Ode to Joy’, it’s one of those works that takes on a new meaning every time it’s played. This year, it’s performed by Chineke! – Europe’s first majority Black and ethnically diverse orchestra, along with Chineke! Voices. BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Nicole Cabell leads a world-class team of solo singers, and opens the Prom with the haunting Lilacs, the heartfelt song-cycle with which George Walker became the first African American composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music.

Broadcast on BBC Four on Sunday 4 September

Performers

  • Nicole Cabell, soprano

  • Raehann Bryce-Davis, mezzo soprano

  • Zwakele Tshabalala, tenor

  • Ryan Speedo Green, bass-baritone

  • Chineke! Voices

  • Chineke! Orchestra

  • Kevin John Edusei, conductor

Programme

  • George Walker: Lilacs for Soprano and Orchestra

    Interval

  • Beethoven: Symphony No 9 in D minor (Choral)