Clive Myrie and special guests present the first night of the Proms, live from the Royal Albert Hall. The eight-week season of exceptional music is kicking off with a bang as conductor Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra take on Verdi's monumental Requiem.

The orchestra will be joined by two choirs - the BBC Symphony Chorus and Crouch End Festival Chorus, as well as a quartet of superstar soloists: soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston, tenor Freddie De Tommaso and bass-baritone Kihwan Sim.

The piece bursts with lush melody, drama and musical fireworks, and the famous Dies Irae section will push choirs and soloists alike to their vocal limits.

The Royal Albert Hall is in a particularly regal mood tonight, as Clive Myrie, with special guests, presents a Prom of music written for royal occasions in honour of Her Majesty the Queen's platinum jubilee.

Conductor Barry Wordsworth leads the BBC Concert Orchestra and BBC Singers in a varied programme featuring works by the very best British composers from across the last 500 years. Expect triumphant trumpet fanfares, soaring choruses and glorious organ playing, with particular highlights to include Handel's ever-popular coronation anthem Zadok the Priest, Parry's I Was Glad - which ushered the Duchess of Cambridge down the aisle - and even a song written by Henry VIII.