Is the Proms the worlds greatest musical festival?
Well, it’s a tag that we didn’t write ourselves, but was written about us, and I suppose I’m proud and happy that the Proms is described as the world’s greatest music festival. You could argue about other festivals that involve Opera…. But I think in terms of orchestral music, there is no doubt that it is the biggest and most wide-ranging festival in the world. That’s something we’re very committed to uphold. WE don’t use that phrase lightly, but as a challenge to live up to and a challenge which means the Proms has constantly to renew itself and refresh itself. One of the great issues of today is how great institutions do move on into a new century. The Proms is over 100 years old and it has a great history behind it, but it would be absolutely fatal if it relied only on that tradition. What we’re trying to do is recreate the Proms as a vital, lively, committed place for music, new music and adventurous music as we enter a new century and as whole new generations of people come to exp
