Its patriotic songs ignited a culture war last year. Is it time to rethink the Proms’ closing concert? A panel of leading musical figures suggest some alternative ways of approaching the contentious evening
The Last Night of the Proms is a fantastic opportunity for classical music to reach audiences across the UK. This wonderful event must be forward-looking, rather than scanning backwards to old tropes of empire – however good the tunes. It is the ultimate programming challenge.