Eve-'n-Song in London: Bringing classical music to a wide audience~the Proms 2011

"The world's greatest classical music festival." Six weeks of classical music concerts, founded to bring the best of classical music to a wide audience in an informal and welcoming atmosphere.
After attending seven Proms concerts, what struck me most about these concerts is that they were accessible to a wide audience. Tickets are as cheap as £5. ( about $7.90) The reason the Proms concerts were started over 100 years ago was because classical music tickets were expensive. Most people only heard good music when they walked in the London parks where there were Promenade Concerts. In 1895, Robert Newman had the idea of organizing concerts where ordinary people could go. He wanted to have concerts where people could have standing places that didn't cost much money. At Royal Albert Hall, the entire center of the hall (it's in the round) is for people to stand that have paid £5 for a ticket. And yes, they really do stand the whole time. (They can get more people in that way).

Mozart Requiem-people lined up for £5 tickets

I promise my next blog will be a non music blog, but I had to describe this amazing festival. There were seventy-four concerts from July 15 to September 10. The Last Night at the Proms is a huge event all over the U.K. We went to eight of the concerts including The Last Night at the Proms in the Park. Royal Albert Hall holds six thousand people and all the concerts that we saw were full, some even sold out. We heard everything from Mahler to Bruckner, Britten, Beethoven and Liszt. We heard artists and orchestras from all over Europe as well as the U.S. and the U.K. We went to two Proms Plus Sings on Sunday afternoons and sang the music that was to be performed that night. (another clever marketing tool for getting people involved in the concerts). A leading choir master introduced and rehearsed parts of the work that was to be sung that night. I went to a rehearsal of Britten's Spring Symphony and Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. It was a fantastic two hours of singing challenging repertoire and certainly gave me an insight into the music for that night.

standing places in Royal Albert Hall (cheap tickets)

The Proms Plus Sing is a part of a series of events that is called Proms Plus. It's purpose is to get people closer to the music during the Proms. Here's how the Proms book describes the Proms Plus. "Opportunities to hear musicians talking about their favorite literature, an encounter in Kensington Gardens with music and performers from all over the planet, even a session on junkyard instruments. You can join the Proms Family Orchestra and Chorus or take part in music-inspired poetry workshops. Or why not drop into the Royal College of Music as part of RCM Sparks 2011, take part in a day of creative music-making?" A festival within a festival. Proms Plus Intros, Proms Plus Lates (concerts start at 10:15), Proms Plus Literary, Proms Poetry Competition, Proms Plus Family, Proms Plus Sing, Proms Plus Portraits. There is something for everyone.

Britten's Spring Symphony with Trinity Boys Choir, BBC Singers, Symphony Chorus and Orchestra

Proms in the Park ~Last Night of the Proms (in Hyde Park)

As many of my friends know, I have been looking forward to this night for a long time. I had seen You Tube videos of this mass of people in parks all over the U.K. and in Royal Albert Hall singing together and waving flags from all over the world. It was something I wanted to experience! Especially since they always sing my favorite hymn, Jerusalem. (not well known in the states since it's all about England) As soon as we moved here, I bought tickets for the Last Night of the Proms in the park. The Royal Albert Hall tickets are very hard to obtain and they sell out early but I thought being in the park would be fun. Since Tom had been out of town last week, I invited a friend to come along and Tom met us there upon his arrival back in London (somewhat jet lagged). Keith Lockhart conducted the BBC Concert Orchestra while the BBC Symphony Orchestra was playing in Royal Albert. Josh Groban was supposed to sing but cancelled because of illness (not many people that we talked to even knew who he was). At 10:00, they piped in the concert from Royal Albert and everyone combined for a sing along. A few musical hits, You'll Never Walk Alone, Climb Every Mountain, and the traditional Rule, Britannia, Jerusalem and God Save the Queen. Here are some highlights of the night in pictures and a concluding video of my favorite hymn sung on Saturday night: