Last Night of the Proms 2026: Yuja Wang, Barber and the final week
After eight weeks and more than 80 concerts, the 2026 BBC Proms reach their finale on Saturday 12 September at the Royal Albert Hall, with the Last Night starting at 7.15pm. This has been a season built around the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence, and the closing concert echoes that American thread while keeping every tradition that makes the evening what it is.
Who is performing
The star soloist is pianist Yuja Wang, returning to the Proms for the first time since 2023. She plays Samuel Barber's Pulitzer Prize-winning Piano Concerto, a fitting centrepiece for an American-themed summer. Alongside her is the Scottish tenor Nicky Spence, whose range runs from Britten and Janáček to the wit of Noël Coward, and the massed BBC forces, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Chorus and BBC Singers, are conducted by Chief Conductor Sakari Oramo in his fifth Prom of the summer.
The programme
The first half, as listed on the BBC Proms page for the Last Night, opens with Bernstein's overture to Candide and moves through Dvořák and Smetana's Vltava to a BBC-commissioned world premiere by Samy Moussa before the Barber concerto. After the interval comes To Dolly, With Love, a tribute to Dolly Parton taking in '9 to 5', 'Jolene' and 'I Will Always Love You', Holst's 'Jupiter' and two further new BBC commissions. Guys and Dolls also gets a look in, with 'Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat'. Then the traditional finale: the Fantasia on British Sea-Songs, Rule, Britannia!, Land of Hope and Glory, Jerusalem, the National Anthem and Auld Lang Syne. Expect flags, streamers and a great deal of singing.
The final week
If you cannot get into the Last Night, the closing days of the season are just as rewarding and often easier to book:
- Thursday 10 September, 7pm: Arcangelo and Jonathan Cohen perform Bach's Mass in B minor.
- Friday 11 September, 8pm: the Mahler Academy Orchestra makes its Proms debut under Philipp von Steinaecker with Mahler's Ninth Symphony.
- Sunday 13 September, 6pm: the traditional End of Proms Service at Holy Sepulchre London, the National Musicians' Church and resting place of Sir Henry Wood, founder of the Proms.
The full schedule is on the BBC Proms 2026 calendar.
Making a night of it
Tickets for the Last Night are famously hard to come by, but the concert is broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and BBC television, so a gathering at home is a respectable alternative. If you do have a ticket, arrive early: Kensington Gore fills quickly with flag-waving concertgoers, and soaking up the atmosphere outside is part of the fun. For dinner, book well ahead anywhere within walking distance of the Hall, from South Kensington to Knightsbridge, and plan to eat before the 7.15pm start, because the evening runs late. Afterwards, South Kensington station will be busy, so a walk east along Kensington Road towards Knightsbridge is often the most pleasant way home.
Lead image: Loco Steve via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.
