BBC Proms 2022: CHINEKE! Orchestra plays Beethoven No. 9

‘Be embraced, all you millions!’ Since the earliest days of the Proms, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony has had a special place in each season – and with its climactic choral ‘Ode to Joy’, it’s one of those works that takes on a new meaning every time it’s played. This year, it’s performed by Chineke! – Europe’s first majority Black and ethnically diverse orchestra, along with Chineke! Voices. BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Nicole Cabell leads a world-class team of solo singers, and opens the Prom with the haunting Lilacs, the heartfelt song-cycle with which George Walker became the first African American composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. “A high-voltage performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 that took off from the start and did not hit the tarmac again until the last bars. […] Beethoven’s Ninth should always be as exhilarating as this.” (Financial Times) / Program Walker: Lilacs; Beethoven: Symphony No. 9