BBC Proms returns to the North East with world-class music, emerging talent and a regional story to tell
BBC Proms returns to The Glasshouse this July (24–27) with four days of live music, family shows and free performances – and with less than two weeks to go, there’s still time to book for some of the biggest and boldest moments.
This year’s BBC Proms in the North East reflects a region on the rise musically and culturally. It’s a festival that platforms North East talent alongside world-class orchestras and artists and offers more ways than ever for audiences to get involved. Many performances will also be broadcast nationally on BBC TV, radio and iPlayer.
From a 200-strong classical epic to a joyful family jamboree and folk storytelling, here’s what not to miss:
Bach and Mendelssohn with Royal Northern Sinfonia
Saturday 26 July 2025 – Sage One, The Glasshouse
Presented by Linton Stephens
A large-scale choral spectacular, led by Royal Northern Sinfonia and acclaimed Music Director Dinis Sousa, this concert brings together over 200 performers to celebrate two giants of classical music. The massed voices of the Chorus of Royal Northern Sinfonia, Voices of the River’s Edge and Huddersfield Choral Society join the orchestra, Sousa and pianist David Fray and singers soprano Hera Hyesang Park, mezzo-soprano Adèle Charvet and tenor Benjamin Hulett for this performance, broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and recorded for BBC TV.
They perform Bach’s dark and dramatic Keyboard Concerto in D minor followed by Mendelssohn’s Second Symphony, better known as Lobgesang (Hymn of Praise).
Broadcast live on BBC Radio 3, with a TV broadcast to follow.
Dinis Sousa, Music Director says:
“Our programme with Royal Northern Sinfonia is with two composers who are very close to me – Bach and Mendelssohn. I love [Mendelssohn’s Second Symphony] because it’s monumental. It’s a little bit like a cathedral – super imposing and grand, but also very joyful and festive, and has this sort of epic proportions which I think is a really wonderful piece. We’re doing a big choral programme and also it’s being televised, so we’re very excited about that – the first televised Proms here from Gateshead.”
CBeebies Wildlife Jamboree
Sunday 27 July 2025 – Sage One, The Glasshouse
The CBeebies Proms returns with a brand-new musical adventure. Two performances of the CBeebies Prom: Wildlife Jamboree welcome younger families to join Duggee, the Squirrels, and CBeebies presenters Chantelle Lindsay and Puja Panchkoty as they go on an epic wildlife adventure. All backed by the mighty Royal Northern Sinfonia. This is a chance to sing, dance, wiggle and giggle along to favourite theme tunes and animal-themed classics – from Lovely Day to The Four Seasons.
Alongside the shows, families can enjoy a full day of free wildlife-themed activities on the concourse. From 11am to 6pm, kids can get creative at craft tables, making musical instruments and colourful creations inspired by the natural world.
There are hands-on music workshops (11am–11.45am and 12.15pm–1pm), packed with animal beats and silly sounds. Then from 2.30pm–3.30pm, face painting and balloon magic from Sparkle and Twist will bring the animal kingdom to life – think stripes, spots, whiskers and wings.
Angeline Morrison: The Sorrow Songs
Friday 26 July, 7.30pm, The Glasshouse
Singer-songwriter Angeline Morrison brings her beautiful arrangements of folk songs of the Black British experience in The Sorrow Songs joined by The Sorrow Songs Band. Special guests include English folk legend Eliza Carthy and percussionist Alex Neilson. Broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.
Angeline Morrison says:
“It’s a massive honour to perform at The Glasshouse and BBC Proms for the first time. I’m very excited but quite nervous. Many thematic threads run through the album, but the key themes are resilience, tenderness, love and loss. All of these are deeply, universally human feelings that have the power to unite us as we can all relate to them in some way.”
BBC Introducing Stage – free music all afternoon
Saturday 27 July, 12–5.15pm, Concourse, free
Free and un-ticketed, this live stage brings together BBC Introducing acts and Radio 3 New Generation Artists, with a mix of folk, jazz and future-classical. It’s all part of a commitment to give local and emerging artists national visibility and audiences something new to discover.
Line-up includes:
- Smith & Liddle (BBC Introducing act and Summer Studio at The Glasshouse alumni)
- Frankie Archer (BBC Introducing act and former Artist in Residence at The Glasshouse)
- Amelia Coburn (Tees Valley Artist of the Year 2024 and BBC Introducing act)
- Fergus McCreadie (Mercury Prize nominee, Radio 3 New Generation Artist, past performer at Gateshead International Jazz Festival)
- Astatine Trio (Radio 3 New Generation Artist, making their debut at The Glasshouse)
They join other BBC Introducing-supported artists across the Proms weekend – including Finn Forster, who supports JADE in Sage One at The Glasshouse on Friday night, and Rivkala, performing as part of Round Midnight at The Fire Station on Thursday night.
JADE & Royal Northern Sinfonia with support from Finn Forster
Friday 25 July 2025 – Sage One, The Glasshouse
Presented by Greg James, Sian Eleri and Elizabeth Alker.
Fresh from supporting Stereophonics across Europe, Finn Forster returns to The Glasshouse to open for South Shields star JADE in one of the most anticipated events of the weekend. broadcast on BBC TV, live on BBC Radio 3, and on Sunday 27 July at 8pm on Radio 1.
Finn Forster says:
“I want younger generations to follow a similar route and know that your background doesn’t matter and shouldn’t limit you. If you believe you can do it, you can.”
Also happening across the weekend…
- Sean Shibe brings genre-defying classical guitar to The Glasshouse on Friday night. Celebrating the centenary of Pierre Boulez’s birth, the programme features a performance of his acclaimed surrealist work, Le marteau sans maître, Cassandra Miller’s Bel canto and a BBC co-commission from Tyshawn Sorey. This concert will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.
- Jazz saxophonist, hip-hop artist, curator and presenter Soweto Kinch hosts a special edition of his nightly BBC Radio 3 show ‘Round Midnight in Sunderland at The Fire Station, Sunderland
Standing promming tickets remain at £8. Last year, over 5,000 people attended the Proms in Gateshead, with hundreds more enjoying the free performances on the concourse. Among them, 3,500 experienced the BBC Proms for the very first time. Thousands more tuned in to national broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 through the weekend which featured 250 musicians, with over half of them from the North East. National broadcasts across BBC Radio 3 ensured that performances from Gateshead reached audiences far beyond the region.
This year’s BBC Proms weekend in the North East is a major cultural moment for Newcastle, Gateshead and Sunderland – reflecting the strength of local talent and collaboration. The festival also comes as the North East’s music scene gains momentum nationally, building on recent milestones including Sunderland named a Music City, the MOBO Awards coming to the region for the first time this year, Newcastle becoming home to the Mercury Prize, and the continued national success of North East artists like JADE and Sam Fender.
According to UK Music’s 2023 report, music tourism to the North East rose by 29%, and events like the BBC Proms continue to raise the region’s profile as a vibrant cultural destination. In 2023/24, The Glasshouse generated £14.1 million in social value, returning nearly £11 to the economy for every £1 of public funding. Every year, it contributes £38.6 million in economic value, help to create jobs, attract visitors and grow the region’s reputation as a must-visit location for music lovers.
Tickets for all events at The Glasshouse are on sale now at: https://theglasshouseicm.org/seasons/bbc-proms-in-the-north-east/ Tickets for ‘Round Midnight with Soweto Kinch at The Fire Station are on sale now at:
/ENDS
Media contacts:
Orla Noble, Premier Comms, orla.noble@premiercomms.com | 07808 282795
The Glasshouse:
Jackie Thompson, The Glasshouse International Centre for Music, Jackie.thompson@theglasshouseicm.org | 0191 443 4602
Beverley Knight, The Glasshouse International Centre for Music, beverley.knight@theglasshouseicm.org | 0191 443 4583
LISTINGS
Thursday 24 July 2025 – The Fire Station, Sunderland
‘Round Midnight with Soweto Kinch
Time: 20:00
Broadcast: BBC Radio 3 (deferred)
Performers: Soweto Kinch, Theo Croker, Joe Webb Trio, Rivkala
Friday 25 July 2025 – Sage One, The Glasshouse
JADE & Royal Northern Sinfonia
Time: 20:15
Broadcast: BBC Radio 3 (live), BBC iPlayer/TV, BBC Radio 1 Sunday 27 July, 8pm.
Performers: JADE, Robert Ames (conductor), Royal Northern Sinfonia
Saturday 26 July 2025 – Sage Two, The Glasshouse
Angeline Morrison: The Sorrow Songs
Time: 17:30
Broadcast: BBC Radio 3 (live)
Performers: Angeline Morrison and the Sorrow Songs Band + special guests Eliza Carthy and Alex Neilson
Saturday 26 July 2025 – Sage One, The Glasshouse
Bach and Mendelssohn with Royal Northern Sinfonia
Time: 19:30
Broadcast: BBC Radio 3 (live), BBC Four/iPlayer
Performers: Dinis Sousa (conductor), David Fray (piano), Adèle Charvet (mezzo-soprano), Benjamin Hulett (tenor), soprano (TBC), Royal Northern Sinfonia, Chorus of Royal Northern Sinfonia, Voices of the River’s Edge, Huddersfield Choral Society
Sunday 27 July 2025 – Sage One, The Glasshouse
CBeebies Wildlife Jamboree
Times: 13:30 & 16:00
Performers: Royal Northern Sinfonia + CBeebies presenters Chantelle Lindsay and Puja Panchkoty.
Sunday 27 July 2025 – Sage Two, The Glasshouse
Sean Shibe and Friends
Time: 15:00
Broadcast: BBC Radio 3 (live)
Performers: Sean Shibe (guitars), Alphonse Cemin (conductor), Ema Nikolovska (mezzo-soprano), George Barton (percussion), Sam Wilson (percussion), Iris van den Bos (percussion), Adam Walker (alto flute), Emma Wernig (viola), Matthew Hunt (clarinet), Mira Benjamin, Colin Alexander, Alphonse Cemin.
About the BBC Proms
As the world’s biggest classical music festival, the BBC Proms offers eight weeks of world-class music-making from a vast array of leading orchestras, conductors and soloists from the UK and around the world. Across 86 concerts, the festival offers a summer of music that allows for the most diverse and exciting musical journeys. One hundred and thirty years after it was founded, the driving factor in building a festival of this scale is to offer exceptional music-making at the lowest possible prices, continuing founder-conductor Henry Wood’s original ambition of bringing the best classical music to the widest possible audience. With every Prom broadcast on BBC Radio 3, available across multiple platforms and 25 Proms programmes televised on the BBC, the Proms reaches far beyond the Royal Albert Hall. This year’s BBC Proms season runs from Friday 18 July to Saturday 13 September 2025.
About The Glasshouse International Centre for Music
The Glasshouse International Centre for Music is a home for live music lovers.
It’s a place where you can hear rock legends or pop icons on the same night as folk trios or string quartets. Where new musicians are nurtured and showcased on the same stages as platinum-selling performers. And where youth choirs and tambourine-shaking toddlers practise in the same spaces as its acclaimed orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia.
Because as an international centre for music they’re focused on creating and celebrating outstanding music – whether that’s unearthing or growing talent from the region or bringing the world’s best artists to their stages. And as a charity they’re focused on making sure all of that is available to anyone – no matter where you’re from, how old you are, how much money you have, or what challenges you face.
Which is why every year more than 2 million people are able to join for top-notch gigs, concerts, and classes – in their venue at Gateshead Quays, out in communities across the North East, and through livestreamed performances and digital lessons.
Whether you’re making it up or taking it in, you’ll find music lives and grows there.
More about The Glasshouse International Centre for Music
- Since opening in 2004, The Glasshouse has hosted over 10,000 performances, welcoming nearly 5 million audience members and a total of 8 million visitors through its doors. It would take more than 27 years to see every show if you attended one every day.
- Over two decades, the charity has delivered around 233,000 music lessons, reaching young people and adults 2.8 million times across its education programmes (1.8 million of which were young people).
- As its resident orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia has toured globally, performing across four continents and livestreaming to audiences across five. Royal Northern Sinfonia also continues to bring world-class music to communities across the country, with 58% of performances in “levelling up for culture” areas.
- The Glasshouse has supported the careers of thousands of artists like Ward Thomas who have worked their way from free stages to headline shows in its main hall, achieving national and global recognition.
- A recent report quantified its annual social value through education, inclusion and community programmes at £14.1 million.
- Since 2004, The Glasshouse has welcomed over 400,000 delegates for conferences and events, hosting organisations such as Greggs, NHS, and British Engines. Through conferences and events it has generated £10.6 million, helping to fund the venue and support live music and education programmes.
- Over the past two decades, The Glasshouse has generated £681.2million to the UK economy with £38.6m each year in ongoing impact. It supports 700 jobs directly and indirectly.
- The iconic building, designed by Foster + Partners, has 630 panes of glass and stands 40 metres tall. In its opening year, it was exhibited at the Venice Biennale and won the RIBA Inclusive Design Award in 2005.
Celebrating 20 years – In December 2024, The Glasshouse marked its 20th birthday. Over the next year, the charity will reflect on two decades of achievements and look ahead to its third decade, with major initiatives like the Music Academy and Music Pass for newborns, making music accessible to all.
About Royal Northern Sinfonia
Internationally renowned, calling Gateshead home.
37 musicians at the top of their game. Electrifying music, old and new. All the talent, determination and creativity of the North East on a worldwide stage. From their home at The Glasshouse International Centre for Music, Royal Northern Sinfonia share the joy and wonder of orchestral music with thousands of people across the North of England – and beyond – every year.
From symphonies to string quartets, film soundtracks to choral masses, and original performances with awesome artists from Sheku Kanneh-Mason to Self Esteem, the orchestra’s members have got one of the most varied jobs there is. They’re always looking for fresh new sounds from up-and-coming composers, inviting local communities to share a stage, and doing everything they can to inspire and prepare the musicians of tomorrow to one day take their place.
They’re also working hard to smash the barriers that can stop brilliant people getting into classical music. They’ve teamed up with national partners to support women conductors to develop their careers, to help global majority musicians get vital experience in the orchestra world, and to celebrate disabled and non-disabled musicians breaking new ground together in RNS Moves. And they bring new musical opportunities to the region, headlining the first-ever BBC Proms weekend outside London.
Because they whole-heartedly believe orchestral music is for anyone – big cities and tiny villages, brand-new babies and life-long listeners, die-hard fans and curious minds – they travel far and wide to make sure there’s top-notch classical music on offer for anyone ready to say, “I’ll give that a go”. You’ll find them in churches, castles, and community venues across the North, as well as spearheading concert seasons in Carlisle, Kendal, Middlesbrough, and Sunderland.
With 65 years of success to build on, they’ve signed a dynamic young artistic leadership – Music Director Dinis Sousa, Artistic Partner Maria Włoszczowska, Principal Guest Conductor Nil Venditti and Associate Conductor Ellie Slorach – to lead the way into a bold, bright future. They’re joined by Conductor Laureate Thomas Zehetmair.
Wherever the orchestra play and whoever they share a stage with, every performance is a chance to see, hear and feel the music.