Imust admit that generally I wouldn’t bother, snob that I am, with the first night of the Proms. I usually save my precious summer Trainline budget for more pretentious heights than the “classical for starters” programmes, a series of Proms aimed at the classical beginner. Two years into a music degree and almost sixteen into violin and viola lessons, I’m not quite the target market. My friend Sophie, however – a NatSci, Proms novice and amateur clarinettist – is.

“Classical music often struggles with reaching new audiences”

Classical music often struggles with reaching new audiences. With a classical music education being expensive and time-consuming (and many believing that pursuing arts education is a waste of time and money), the more esoteric Proms inevitably preach to the converted.

The Proms’ “classical for starters” marker, assigned to seven concerts this summer, shows that the concert series is facing this issue head-on. I wanted to see whether it was working. So, I decided to stomach London Northwestern’s ticket prices, convince my (thankfully willing) friend to be my guinea pig and travel to the Royal Albert Hall for my first ever first night of the Proms.

Just as I finished giving Sophie a short but deeply nerdy intro to the repertoire (neither of us bought a programme but I came prepared), Elim Chan arrived on stage. Coming to the end of her tenure at the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Chan is an exciting and commanding conductor – it’s always encouraging to see a relatively young woman at the helm of a Prom.

“It’s always encouraging to see a relatively young woman at the helm of a Prom”

First was Handel’s ‘Music for the Royal Fireworks’, a piece (despite its composer’s German heritage) that is just as British as, well, the Proms. Sophie, in true STEM student fashion, ranked every piece and this came in a resounding last. In her words: “a classic piece but perhaps not the most interesting.” We weren’t off to the best start.

We were back on track with Bruckner’s ‘Psalm 150’ – a dramatic few minutes that jolted the rather stuffy hall to attention. Achieving Sophie’s approval (with an impressive third-place ranking), Bruckner clearly had an impact. True delight, however, came with Isata Kanneh-Mason’s rendition of Clara Schumann’s ‘Piano Concerto in A minor.’ We both agreed that the middle section of interaction between the piano and solo cello stole the evening with an enthralling sensitivity. This achieved the precious first-place ranking (and with good reason).

The audience insisted on an encore, which took the form of Gershwin’s ‘The Man I Love.’ While virtuosic displays can be great fun, Kanneh-Mason’s choice of encore shone with subtlety and clarity – this was a soloist who wanted to connect with her audience, not just impress them. This short moment got fourth place from Sophie, losing out to the larger-scale works. However, she did say it made her forget that her feet were hurting, which is no small feat.

“Kanneh-Mason’s choice of encore shone with subtlety and clarity”

After the interval came a new commission by British-Japanese composer Ben Nobuto. Entitled ‘Hallelujah Sim’, this was a short work combining electronics with choir and orchestra in a video game structure – where the electronics give instructions to the choir (e.g., “hallelujah, first syllable”) which they must complete to progress in the game/piece. New works are always a risky business. Fortunately, this work didn’t take itself too seriously, engaging with the classical tradition in a novel yet accessible way. Sophie ranked it fifth, likening it to “a school choir warm-up but better”. Nevertheless, it achieved a huge cheer from the audience as well as several laughs along the way.

Guiding the Proms back to safe ground, this was followed by Beethoven’s fifth symphony (yes, that one). Sophie’s second-place ranking received the succinct feedback, “symphonies are better when they aren’t too long” – high praise indeed. We both genuinely enjoyed this performance of one of the most well-known symphonies in the classical canon. As if trying to reinvigorate those well-trodden first notes, Chan started the work while the audience was still unsettled. This version remained engaging and arresting, even if you had heard it a few too many times before.

When asked for general feedback, Sophie told me she found standing surprisingly manageable (with the thought of the money you’re saving getting you over the line) and appreciated the programme’s variety, even if she didn’t adore the whole thing. She also said she would recommend the Proms to anyone wanting to give classical concerts a good go.

In a sphere where we too often talk to ourselves, the Proms is trying to reach out. It’s not perfect but, as far as Sophie and I are concerned, it’s working. There are still several “classical for starters” Proms to come and, having got off my mightily high horse, I’d encourage anyone, novice or expert, to give them a go. You never know: you may even forget for a moment that your feet hurt.