Classical music festival BBC Proms opens in London

The annual classical music festival BBC Proms opened Friday.
The festival is celebrating its 120th year, and this year features 92 major concerts at the main venue, the Royal Albert Hall, as well as other concerts at alternative venues, BBC Proms director Roger Wright told Xinhua.
The season climaxes on September 13 with the famous Last Night of the Proms, a traditional opportunity for Prommers to celebrate with a boisterous party involving audience participation with the orchestra.
A total of 10 orchestras from around the world will make their first appearances at the Proms, including orchestras from China, Greece, Iceland, Lapland, Qatar, Singapore, South Korea and Turkey, according to Wright.
The Proms has several themes this year, principal among which is the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War which falls on August 4.
Wright said the First World War theme would be marked with several concerts and pieces of music including Benjamin Britten's War Requiem which contains some of the most famous poems of the war by Wilfred Owen, who was killed in the last week of the war.
"There are also pieces by Vaughan Williams and George Butterworth, who were involved in the First World War," informed Wright.
In addition, music and scenes from the hit Hollywood film "War Horse," which has a First World War theme, will take center stage at one concert.
Wright said: "What seems to have captured people's attention is the 'War Horse' prom. We are bringing, in collaboration with the National Theater, the extraordinary 'War Horse' puppets on the stage of the Albert Hall and using it as an opportunity to play music related not only to 'War Horse' but other related music."
New music is a theme of the Proms each year, and this year is no exception.
"It is a really vital part of what we do. It is one of those things that for me remains a litmus test of the Proms brand. The fact that we get large audiences for new work is quite extraordinary," said Wright.