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)