´óÏó´«Ã½

• 5% increase in overall attendances for largest ever Proms season
• 87% average attendance for Royal Albert Hall concerts
• 11% increase in number of people buying tickets for the first time
• 32% increase in numbers of under-16s attending

As the 115th season of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Proms comes to its spectacular conclusion tomorrow, Saturday 12 September, with more people than ever around the world expected to join in the festivities, Roger Wright announces that audiences in 2009 are in line with last year's record-breaking season, with particular success in reaching new and young audiences.

Roger Wright, Director of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Proms, says: "The 2009 ´óÏó´«Ã½ Proms has seen two months of outstanding and inspiring music-making, featuring leading musicians and orchestras from the UK and abroad.

"The ´óÏó´«Ã½'s commitment to the Proms remains vital and it is heartening to see again the strong appreciation of Proms audiences, not least in their curiosity for new and unfamiliar music.

"We are delighted that in offering excellence, a value-for-money experience and a broad programme, we are succeeding in reaching new and young audiences."

With 12 extra Cadogan Hall concerts in 2009, the audience grew overall by 5% with 297,500 tickets sold [1].

Average attendance for the 76 Royal Albert Hall concerts was 87%, on a par with recent years.

Through the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s commitment to the Proms, the festival continues to offer value-for-money ticket prices, broad programming, creative use of interactive technology, an extensive learning programme, and a rich contextual offering of daily pre-concert and participatory events, all of which help to enrich the core audience's experience and reach new and young attenders.

In 2009, 37,000 people bought tickets for the first time, an 11% increase on 2008.

Nearly 5,000 people under the age of 16 took advantage of the half-price seats for every concert (excluding the Last Night), a 32% increase on 2008.

Eighty thousand people are expected to attend ´óÏó´«Ã½ Proms In The Park events around the UK in London, County Down, Glasgow, Swansea and Salford, featuring artists including Barry Manilow, Katherine Jenkins, Chris de Burgh, Swansea Bach Choir, Nicola Benedetti and the ´óÏó´«Ã½ orchestras.

These events are broadcast live on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 2, ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Ulster, ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Scotland, ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Wales and ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio Manchester respectively.

´óÏó´«Ã½ Proms on ´óÏó´«Ã½ TV this season have reached more than 12 million viewers to date (excluding the Last Night Of The Proms and time-shifted viewing via the ´óÏó´«Ã½ iPlayer), and countless millions more around the world are expected to enjoy the Last Night on every continent via cinema screens, TV and radio.

In 2009, the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Proms staged more events than ever with 100 concerts, including 76 in the Royal Albert Hall, 19 chamber music concerts at Cadogan Hall, and five ´óÏó´«Ã½ Proms In The Park events around the country on the Last Night. This was 12 more concerts than in 2008.

There were a further 70 Proms Plus events – talks, workshops, films, free performances and activities – offering extra context and insight to audiences on every one of the 58 days of the season.

The ´óÏó´«Ã½ Proms remains committed to new music with 12 ´óÏó´«Ã½ commissions in 2009 and a further 15 world, UK or London premieres.

There was also a significant body of music by important voices of the 20th and 21st centuries, including such composers as Lutoslawski, Zimmermann, Ligeti, Xenakis and Takemitsu.

Along with many of the UK's leading orchestras and a glittering array of ensembles – from Amsterdam to Zurich (taking in Budapest, Dresden, Leipzig, Lyons and Vienna along the way) – many of the world's most celebrated artists performed.

These ranged from pianists Lang Lang and Martha Argerich to soprano Dawn Upshaw, violinists Joshua Bell and Gidon Kremer to cellist Yo-Yo Ma, as well as such conductors as Riccardo Chailly, William Christie, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Valery Gergiev, Bernard Haitink, Mariss Jansons, Zubin Mehta and Sir Charles Mackerras, to name but a few.

Among the highlights in 2009 were big weekends celebrating tenth anniversaries of ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3's New Generations Artists scheme and Daniel Barenboim's West-Eastern Divan Orchestra.

The celebration of MGM film musicals inspired much acclaim from audiences and critics alike and a Late Night Proms concert with the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain was perhaps the most talked-about concert of the season.

Notes to Editors

[1] All concerts at the Royal Albert Hall and Cadogan Hall, not including free events and ´óÏó´«Ã½ Proms In The Park.

The Last Night Of The Proms takes place in the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday 12 September, and there are five ´óÏó´«Ã½ Proms In The Park events in London, County Down, Salford, Swansea and Glasgow.

Televised highlights of the Proms In The Park events will be shown as part of ´óÏó´«Ã½ One and ´óÏó´«Ã½ Two's live coverage of the Last Night Of The Proms.

Digital TV viewers can press the red button to select any of the five concerts in the parks and these concerts will be available from Sunday morning for a week on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Proms website – bbc.co.uk/proms.

´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3 broadcasts the concert from the Royal Albert Hall with highlights from the Park during the interval.

´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 2 broadcasts Proms In The Park from Hyde Park, while national and regional ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio networks broadcast their local events.

Coverage is also available on all platforms via the ´óÏó´«Ã½ iPlayer for seven days.

Tickets: Standing tickets for the Royal Albert Hall available on the day at £5 per person.

For Proms In The Park tickets please call See tickets on 0844 412 4630, online at www.seetickets.com/proms or in person at the Royal Albert Hall (9.00am-9.00pm).

´óÏó´«Ã½ Proms Publicity