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Selected winners of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Proms Inspire Young Composers' Competition are to be offered the chance to write fanfares for the Last Night Of The Proms (12 September 2009) – the world's most-famous classical concert.

The fanfares will link up the Royal Albert Hall with the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Proms In The Park celebrations in London, Glasgow, Swansea, Salford and Hillsborough in Northern Ireland, and be heard by millions on ´óÏó´«Ã½ TV and radio, and around the world.

The ´óÏó´«Ã½ Proms Inspire Young Composers' Competition, now in its 11th year, has helped many thousands of creative young people aged 12 to 18 gain skills and confidence in expressing themselves through music, and set others on the road to recognition.

The competition prize already includes the chance for up to six winners to have their work broadcast on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3, performed by professional musicians in a Proms Plus concert at the Royal College of Music (14 August) and be commissioned to write for Inspire events at the Proms in 2010. Now, the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Proms has revealed that the stakes are even higher.

New music has long been a vital part of Proms programming and has often been featured at the Last Night, and commissioning ´óÏó´«Ã½ Proms Young Composers to write for the Last Night in 2009 follows last year's commission to Scottish-born composer Anna Meredith.

She wrote a short celebratory piece called froms for 40 singers (in Cardiff), the brass section of the Ulster Orchestra (in Belfast), the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Scottish Symphony Orchestra (in Glasgow), the entire ´óÏó´«Ã½ Symphony Orchestra, ´óÏó´«Ã½ Singers and ´óÏó´«Ã½ Symphony Chorus (in the Royal Albert Hall) and the percussion section from the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Concert Orchestra (in Hyde Park), all held together by the miracle of satellite broadcasting.

The closing date of the competition is 29 May 2009 and entries are judged by a panel of top composers from varied musical fields.

The competition is part of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Proms Inspire scheme which – through a year-round programme of Composer Labs around the country as well as an Inspire Day on 14 August – provides an opportunity for young composers to attend a main evening Prom in the Royal Albert Hall; meet professional musicians, leading composers, other young composers and key music industry people; and participate in creative workshops.

It aims to give the broadest range of young talent across the UK the opportunity to explore their musical boundaries, new ways of composing and get a taste of what it means to be a composer in the 21st century.

The Last Night of the Proms takes place on 12 September 2009 and is broadcast on ´óÏó´«Ã½ national and regional TV and radio, and internationally.

Full information at bbc.co.uk/proms/takepart.

Key dates for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Proms Inspire Young Composers' Competition

Friday 29 May
Closing date for entries

Friday 7 August
Young Composers' Winners Day: Members of the Aurora Orchestra perform commissions by 2008 winners of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Proms Inspire Young Composers' Competition.

Friday 14 August
Inspire Day – offering all entrants to the competition the opportunity to take participate in workshops and talks, and to attend the Young Composers' Concert at Cadogan Hall and the performance that evening in the Royal Albert Hall: ´óÏó´«Ã½ Symphony Orchestra and ´óÏó´«Ã½ Singers performing the central section of Sir Harrison Birtwistle's opera The Mask Of Orpheus, plus music by Jonny Greenwood and Stravinsky.

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