Sunderland in on the BBC Proms action
And which ‘superstar’ is Gateshead-bound?
The BBC Proms are embracing the North East again with concerts scheduled over the weekend of July 24-27 at The Glasshouse in Gateshead and, for the first time, The Fire Station in Sunderland.
It’s on Wearside that the North East music will begin with a live broadcast of Soweto Kinch’s BBC Radio 3 programme ’Round Midnight (Thursday, July 24, 8pm).
On stage at The Fire Station with Kinch – saxophonist, hip-hop artist, curator and presenter - will be jazz trumpeter Theo Croker, the Joe Web Trio and, to open proceedings, Newcastle-based singer-songwriter Rivkala.
Proms music at The Glasshouse begins with conductor Robert Ames, Royal Northern Sinfonia and a yet-to-be-announced ‘global superstar’ on stage in Sage One (Friday, July 25, 8.15pm).
Ames, an eclectic, genre-crossing figure in music, has previously appeared on stage here with Self Esteem (BBC Proms 2023) and conducting Philip Glass’ The Bowie Symphonies in 2022.
The concert, whoever it might feature, will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and recorded for a later TV showing.
Sage Two will be the venue for a Saturday early evening concert (July 26, 5.30pm) by folk singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Angeline Morrison, plus band, performing numbers from her album The Sorrow Songs: Folk Songs of Black British Experience.
Folk legend Eliza Carthy and percussionist Andrew Neilson will also perform.
In Sage One on the Saturday (July 26, 7.30pm) Dinis Sousa and Royal Northern Sinfonia will be joined by soloists and more than 200 singers from the RNS Chorus, Huddersfield Choral Society and Voices of the River’s Edge.
The concert will feature Bach’s Keyboard Concerto in D Minor and
Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 2, ‘Lobgesang’ and soloists David Fray (piano), Adèle Charvet (mezzo-soprano), Benjamin Hulett (tenor) plus a soprano to be announced.
The resident orchestra will have a different hat on when it reconvenes in Sage One on the Sunday (July 27, 1.30pm and again at 4pm) for a Wildlife Jamboree with CBeebies presenters Chantelle Lindsay and Puja Panchkoty and a medley of Cbeebies theme tunes and music celebrating the natural world.
Rounding things off in Sage Two (Sunday, July 27, 3pm) will be a concert by guitarist Sean Shibe and friends, and featuring the premiere of a specially commissioned new piece by American composer Tyshawn Sorey.
As always, ‘promming’ (which is to say standing) tickets will be on sale for £8.
This year’s BBC Proms runs from Friday, July 18 to Saturday, September 13.
For updates and details of North East concerts and tickets, go to the BBC Proms section of The Glasshouse website.