There will be five concerts
Conductor Charles Hazlewood
Bristol will once again take centre stage in the classical music world this summer as the BBC Proms returns to the city for a weekend of live performances at Bristol Beacon and St George’s Bristol.
Building on the success of its inaugural 2024 programme, the 2025 edition will feature four concerts at Bristol Beacon – all broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 – and one recorded concert at St George’s.
Tickets start at £8, with Promming options available for all events, continuing the Proms’ commitment to making world-class music accessible to wider audiences.
Highlights include the return of Bristol-based Paraorchestra, led by Charles Hazlewood, who will collaborate with folk duo The Breath and composer Oliver Vibrans for a new orchestral arrangement that promises to push musical boundaries.
The concert will take place in Beacon Hall on Friday, August 22.
Charles Hazlewood said: “We’re beyond excited to be bringing another world premiere to the BBC Proms, from our home at Bristol Beacon.
“This is a new collaboration, and we have fallen in love. The Breath are in a lane of their own, as storytellers, as powerful music makers, and with the glorious Oliver Vibrans working as a conduit between them and us, the signs are already of something new, unusual, thrilling and life-affirming. I can say, hand on heart, that this will be so much more than the standard orchestra-meets-band.
“I guarantee you will hear things – and instrumental combinations – that you have never heard before.”
Later that evening, BBC Radio 3’s Verity Sharp will present a special late-night edition of Late Junction in the more intimate Lantern Hall, featuring performances by DJ Sarahsson and audio-visual artist Wojciech Rusin.
Saturday’s line-up begins with a choral concert at St George’s Bristol, led by the Danish National Vocal Ensemble under conductor Martina Batič. The programme spans centuries of vocal music, from Palestrina to Mahler.
Later in the day, Britten Sinfonia, conducted by Tess Jackson, will perform a politically charged programme including Gavin Higgins’ Rough Voices , written in response to the pandemic. The concert also includes works by Mozart, Arvo Pärt and Sibelius, with violinists Zoë Beyers and Miranda Dale.
The weekend concludes on Sunday, August 24, with the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera conducted by Carlo Rizzi. The programme, titled Under the Italian Sun , features works by Rossini, Puccini, Berio, Verdi, Respighi and Elgar, and includes a performance by mezzo-soprano Avery Amereau.
Simon Wales, chief executive of Bristol Beacon, said: “We are enormously pleased to be working with the BBC Proms once more as a host venue and to be part of the Proms Across the UK series.
“We strive to offer world-class classical music to our audience as part of our wider artistic programme and we are proud to be working with the BBC Proms to continue to offer music that is open to all. We look forward to inviting both existing and new audiences into Bristol Beacon this summer.”
For full programme details and ticket information, visit bristolbeacon.org/bbc-proms-2025.