The BBC Proms, Britain’s annual celebration of classical music, is to include a celebration of David Bowie’s music.
The rock and pop legend, who died at the age of 69 in January this year and whose influence was felt in every field of the arts, will be honoured with a late-night Prom on 29 July.
The Bowie Prom is billed as a “celebration and reinterpretation” of the star’s music “from right across the spectrum”, and will feature the Berlin-based, genre-defying musicians’ collective s t a r g a z e and its Artistic Director André de Ridder.
They are joined by guest singers and collaborators – including Jherek Bischoff, Amanda Palmer, Neil Hannon and Marc Almond – to re-imagine the Bowie catalogue with fresh settings of classic works.
“Bowie is one of those people who had a tremendous influence on musicians of all kinds,” said Proms’ new director David Pickard. “I wanted to celebrate that and show just how versatile and extraordinary a song-maker he was.”
Tickets for the performance will cost between £10 and £35.
Despite budget cuts across the BBC, the Proms had had its funding protected. The event costs £10 million to stage, half of which comes from the licence fee, with the rest raised via ticket sales.
All of the concerts will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3, with 26 filmed for television or iPlayer. Television coverage will be limited to Saturday nights during the Olympic Games in August, but a week-long series of concerts will be broadcast on BBC Four immediately after the games.