About the program

The BBC Proms is one of classical music's most celebrated events. The Proms is now in its 114th season, one of the longest-running musical festivals in the world. It is the largest in scope, with over 70 concerts performed between mid-July and mid-September. Virtually all of the world's great orchestras have performed at the Proms, and the festival also attracts the most famous of classical music stars to perform. The Proms takes its name from the "promenade" on the floor of London's Royal Albert Hall, where all of the concerts take place. Music-lovers queue up every day of the festival hoping to get tickets that allow them to become one of the "prommers," members of the audience who stand throughout the concert on the promenade.

Although its scope has increased enormously since 1895, the original concept remains largely unaltered: to present the widest possible range of music, performed to the highest standards, to large audiences. The partnership between American Public Media and the BBC Proms will provide audiences across the nation the best of the festival during its culminating week, a week that ends with a concert unlike any other: the sometimes raucous, sometimes stirring, steadfastly iconic Last Night of the Proms.

Brian Newhouse, Host
Peabody Award-winner Brian Newhouse was the producer and host for the Minnesota Orchestra broadcasts from 1986-91, heard live regionally on Minnesota Public Radio, and nationally from American Public Media. In 1992 he moved to Germany and served as a journalist with Radio Deutsche Welle in Cologne, covering topics from the Balkan War to European summer music festivals. He returned to the States and American Public Media, and is happily back in the host's chair for the Minnesota Orchestra broadcasts. He holds degrees in voice and English literature, has been a soloist with the Dale Warland Singers and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and an Artist-in-Residence at the Oregon Bach Festival. He won a Peabody Award, broadcasting's equivalent to the Pulitzer, in 2000 for writing the seven-part music documentary The Mississippi: River of Song. Simon and Schuster published his memoir, A Crossing, in 1998.

Lauren Rico, Producer
For the last 17 years, producer Lauren Rico has been able to combine her love of music with her passion for public radio. A longtime student of the French horn, Lauren holds a Master's degree from George Mason University. She has worked at numerous radio stations in cities across the country including Tampa, Washington, D.C., New York City and Charlotte. Lauren has been with Minnesota Public Radio since 1999. In 2001, she received the Gracie Allen Award for Best National Radio Special from the Association of Women in Radio and Television for Instrumental Women: Orchestrating Change, a series on the role of women in American orchestras.


Silvester Vicic, Executive Producer
Executive Producer Silvester Vicic has been with Minnesota Public Radio since 1992, and is the manager for the award-winning national classical music service, Classical 24 (produced by American Public Media and distributed by Public Radio International). During his tenure, he has distinguished himself as an award-winning producer and broadcaster for such programs as the Minnesota Orchestra broadcasts, The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, The Composer's Voice, Composers Datebook, and the BBC Proms. He has a master's degree in musicology from the University of Western Ontario and a bachelor's degree in music from Queen's University.