Minnesota Orchestra to perform at BBC Proms in London

The lights of Orchestra Hall shine on the Minnesota Orchestra.
The lights of Orchestra Hall shine on the Minnesota Orchestra in Minneapolis on Thursday, April 13, 2017.
Evan Frost | MPR News

The Minnesota Orchestra will perform this summer at the prestigious BBC Proms, the music festival held mainly at Royal Albert Hall in London, it was announced Thursday.

This will be the orchestra's third appearance at the Proms. The Aug. 6 engagement occurs just before the Minnesota Orchestra, led by Music Director Osmo Vänskä, begins its tour of South Africa, scheduled for Aug. 7-19.

The Proms performance will include the overture to "Candide," by Leonard Bernstein, as well as works by Charles Ives and George Gershwin. The orchestra will perform the same program in Minneapolis Aug. 1. Classical MPR will broadcast the Proms performance live, scheduled for 1 p.m. Aug. 6.

The eight-week festival known as the Proms dates to 1895. Its formal name is the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC.

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