Here’s the rundown of the string soloists that will feature throughout this year’s edition of the world’s biggest classical music festival
The programme for the 2025 BBC Proms has been announced today. This year’s festival will take place over eight weeks from Friday 18 July to Saturday 13 September 2025, with a star-studded line-up comprising soloists, orchestras, conductors and ensembles from around the globe.
86 Proms events will be held, with 72 at the Royal Albert Hall in London and 14 at venues across the UK, including debuts in Bradford and Sunderland, plus Bristol, Gateshead and Belfast.
String soloists feature heavily in this year’s festival, many of whom have featured on the cover or within the pages of The Strad, performing classic, favourite repertoire, to new discoveries. Here are the Proms that put string stars in the limelight:
Violinist Lisa Batiashvili headlines the First Night of the Proms 2025 on Friday 18 July, where she will perform the ever-popular Sibelius Violin Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sakari Oramo.
French violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte and his ensemble Le Consort will perform violin concertos by Vivaldi alongside works by Avison, Legrenzi, Marcello and Matteis Jr. Taking place on Saturday 20 July, the performance marks Langlois de Swarte and Le Consort’s debut at the Proms.
US violinist Randall Goosby makes his Proms debut on Wednesday 23 July with the Orchestre National de France and Cristian Măcelaru performing Joseph Bologne’s Violin Concerto in G major, Op. 8, and Chausson’s passionate musical love letter, Poème.
The following evening, Augustin Hadelich will perform Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto on Thursday 24 July with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Sakari Oramo, in a programme also featuring works by Stravinsky, Anthony Davis and Richard Strauss.
Liya Petrova features in the Great British Classics Prom on Tuesday 5 August, where she will perform Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Nil Venditti. The programme also features works by Walton, Avril Coleridge-Taylor, Britten, Wiliam Mathias, John Rutter, Grace Williams, and closes with Elgar’s ‘Enigma’ Variations.
From 8 to 9 August, an all-night Prom entitled From Dark Till Dawn will take place in the Royal Albert Hall, featuring organist Anna Lapwood, cellist Anastasia Kobekina, pianist Hayato Sumino and Norwegian ensemble Barokksolistene.
On Friday 22 August, the UK premiere of Thomas de Hartmann’s Violin Concerto will be given by Joshua Bell, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor Dalia Stasevska, in a programme that also features a performance of Górecki’s Symphony No.3, ‘Symphony of Sorrowful Songs’.
Violinist and director Zoë Beyers will lead the Britten Sinfonia on Saturday 23 August in a Prom featuring works by Mozart, Arvo Pärt and Gavin Higgins. Featuring violin soloist Miranda Dale, the performance will take place at Bristol Beacon.
Klaus Mäkelä will appear at the Proms for the first time as chief conductor designate of Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. He will be joined by Janine Jansen for Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto no.1 on Sunday 24 August, the recording of which garnered The Strad Recommends accolade in August 2024.
Pekka Kuusisto will serve as violinist and director of the strings of the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra on Sunday 31 August. With singer and composer Katarina Barruk, they will perform songs based on the joik indigenous song-type from Sábmie, plus works by Michael Tippett, Philip Glass, Hannah Kendall, Bach and Caroline Shaw. The programme concludes with Arvo Pärt’s Fratres and Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony - the powerful arrangement of String Quartet no.8 by Rudolf Barshai.
The Strad’s April 2025 cover star Arabella Steinbacher will perform on Sunday 7 September with Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. She will take to the stage in Darius Mihaud’s Le boeuf sur le toit in a version for violin and orchestra.
On Wednesday 10 September, cellist Anastasia Kobekina returns to the Proms for a performance of Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto no.1. She will be joined by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Delyana Lazarova in a programme that concludes with Rachmaninov’s Symphony no.2 in E minor.
Check out the full 2025 BBC Proms programme here.
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