Night of the Proms

Night of the Proms is a series of concerts held annually in Belgium (since 1985), the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg. Regularly there are also shows in France, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Denmark, the United States and Sweden. The concerts consist of pop music and popular classical music (often combined) and various well-known musicians and groups usually participate (see below).[1][2]

Night of the Proms is the biggest annually organised indoor event in Europe.

Night of the Proms is based on the Last Night of the Proms, the last concert of the BBC Proms, a series of seventy or so classical concerts held yearly in the Royal Albert Hall in London, but it is organised independently.[3] Though its inclusion of large portions of pop music does not match its British counterpart and originator, it did share certain elements for a time, such as the tradition of ending the performance with the English patriotic song "Land of Hope and Glory."[3] The closing song has varied every year since 2011.[4]

History

Night of the Proms was created by two Belgian students, Jan Vereecke and Jan Van Esbroeck in 1985. The first NotP took place at the Antwerp Sportpaleis in Belgium on 19 October 1985.[3] Nowadays the event is organized by PSE Belgium (Promotion for Special Events), still managed by Vereecke and Van Esbroeck. PSE co-operates with local promoters (Mojo in the Netherlands, Dirk Hohmeyer in Germany, Niels Estrup in Scandinavia, Music Events Poland, etc.).

Musicians

Night of the Proms location by country and year

Musicians who have participated in The Night of the Proms:

  • Orchestra: Il Novecento (1991–2016), Antwerp Philharmonic Orchestra (since 2016)
  • Conductor: Robert Groslot (1991-2015), Alexandra Arrieche (since 2015)
  • Choir: Fine Fleur (since 1995, except 2008, 2012 & 2015), Harlem Gospel Choir (2008), Naturally 7 (2012), Scala (2015), Lodz University of Technology Academic Choir (since 2014, concerts in Poland)

References

  1. ^ "Belgian Goes to the Prom; Germany gets a date too". Billboard. 29 October 1994. p. 60.
  2. ^ "Pop Meets Classical on a Starry German Night". Billboard. 21 December 2002.
  3. ^ a b c "History". notp.com. 2008. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  4. ^ Huybrechts, Carl (2012). Night of the Proms een terugblik vanuit de coulissen (in Dutch). Borgerhoff & Lamberigts. pp. 45–50. ISBN 9789089313164. OCLC 901643210.