The Festival that reaches well beyond “the sea itself” launches in style.

Royal Albert Hall, London July 12

Before I begin, let me declare some bias. I am evangelical about London and the Proms. Where else in the world can you attend 75 concerts of a truly international standard over eight weeks for as little as $8 a night? But what makes me even more zealous to spread the word, now that I live in Sydney, is that as each year goes by the festival’s outreach seems to grow exponentially, its musical tentacles spreading out to embrace classical music lovers worldwide.

Two years ago I discovered the BBC iPlayer. This simple application allows you to listen to each and every concert for free in High Definition sound online for up to seven days after the event. What’s more, you can even interact with the extremely engaging (and engaged) Proms team via their excellent website and Twitter (@BBCProms). I confess I was smitten, and travelling back to my college days as a student at a university slap bang next door to the Albert Hall...