In recent years the BBC Proms have woken up to the idea that an audience for classical music can be captured young. The Doctor Who Prom was the first to harness a BBC brand and turn it into a stealthy orchestral primer. The Horrible Histories has served its turn too. This season the Proms aimed at smaller listeners are multiplying. Last weekend there was the Sports Prom, with a programme of popular theme tunes bulked out by music on the theme of outdoor pursuits. This weekend there brought the CBeebies Prom with the BBC Philharmonic.
The programme included a BBC commission for Barrie Bignold called Around Sound, Holst's St Paul's Suite finale and Sir Henry Wood's Fantasia on British Sea-Songs, plus a lot of music from the CBeebies schedule. It was probably the BBC Proms' youngest ever audience. Enjoy our gallery of images by Proms photographer Chris Christodoulou, featuring CBeebies presenters and characters. One fluffly assistant even whipped the baton from conductor Stephen Bell. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge.
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