The 2018 BBC Proms has been announced. One of - if not the - highest profile of international music festivals, the BBC Proms draws artists and ensembles from around the world to London's Royal Albert Hall over the summer months.

Key themes this year will include marking the centenaries of: the end of the First World War (including with a commission from composer Anna Meredith on the opening night on July 13), of the birth of Leonard Bernstein, and of women receiving the right to vote in the UK. Other anniversary events include a concert celebrating 40 years of the BBC Young Musician competition, at which former winners Nicola Benedetti and Sheku Kanneh-Mason will perform. Ninety debuts by artists include the first visit to the Proms by the Estonian Festival Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Teodor Currentzis and MusicAeterna (recipients of Recording of the Month in our January issue for their Sony release of Tchaikovsky's Pathétique Symphony). The music of Debussy, Lili Boulanger and Hubert Parry also get a special focus, while Bach's Brandenburg Concertos will be heard alongside new responses comissioned from contemporary composers including Uri Caine, Brett Dean and Anders Hillborg. For details of the full season, visit the BBC Proms website.

Gramophone’s Editor Martin Cullingford caught up with the Proms director David Pickard, and Francesca Kemp, the Director of Proms on Television, to talk through some of the season’s highlights for our latest Podcast, which you can listen to below. 

To hear other Gramophone podcasts, or subscribe for free to new editions, search for 'Gramophone Magazine' in your Podcast application of choice, or visit Gramophone's page at iTunes.