Global classical music is at the heart of the 2014 Proms with more international orchestras performing than ever before

Ten international ensembles appear for the first time at the festival, including orchestras from China, Greece, Iceland, Lapland, Qatar, Singapore, South Korea and Turkey

Sakari Oramo, Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducts the Last Night of the Proms for the first time. He also takes to the stage with his violin to perform with violinist and star of the Last Night, Janine Jansen

David Zinman gives his last ever performance as Music Director of the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich at the 2014 Proms

Some of the world’s most renowned orchestras make welcome returns to the Proms, including the Berliner Philharmoniker with Sir Simon Rattle, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra with Riccardo Chailly, the Cleveland Orchestra with Franz Welser-Möst and the Budapest Festival Orchestra with Iván Fischer

Commemorating the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, the Proms teams up with the National Theatre for the first time for the War Horse Prom featuring life-size puppets by the Handspring Puppet Company from the internationally acclaimed production, as well as music performed by the Proms Military Wives Choir directed by Gareth Malone

The first ever BBC Sport Prom, presented by Gabby Logan, will be broadcast simultaneously on BBC Radio 3 and, for the first time, BBC Radio 5 live in its 20th anniversary year

The Shakespeare-inspired Kiss Me, Kate is given its Proms debut by John Wilson and the John Wilson Orchestra

Two BBC commissions composed by the late John Tavener shortly before his death last year are given their world premieres at the festival

The 80th birthdays of two towering figures of British contemporary music – Sir Harrison Birtwistle and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies – are marked across 10 Proms performances

Marking 150 years since the birth of Richard Strauss, three of his best-known operas, Der Rosenkavalier, Salome and Elektra, are performed at the Proms. Following her triumphant Ring cycle performance in 2013, Nina Stemme returns to the Proms as Salome under Donald Runnicles, who conducts his orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin in its Proms debut

Four of Britain’s leading conductors celebrate landmark birthdays this year – Donald Runnicles at 60, Sir Andrew Davis  at 70, Sir Roger Norrington at 80 and Sir Neville Marriner at 90

Sir Neville Marriner, in his 90th-birthday year, returns with the orchestra he founded, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, for a Prom in which his successor Joshua Bell also performs In a major new orchestral work commissioned by the BBC for the Proms, Benedict Mason explores the Royal Albert Hall as it’s never been explored before, using the space to create a brand-new musical landscape. This world premiere will be given by the Aurora Orchestra and Chantage under Nicholas Collon

Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe – better known as electro-pop duo the Pet Shop Boys – open the 2014 Late Night series in a programme combining new orchestral arrangements of some of their most personal songs with the world premiere of a brand-new work, A Man from the Future, based on the life and work of Alan Turing

BRIT Award-nominated singer-songwriter Paloma Faith makes her Proms debut in a Late Night Prom of her work arranged by Guy Barker for his 42-piece jazz orchestra and backed by the Urban Voices Collective

Canadian-American Grammy nominee Rufus Wainwright also makes his Proms debut in a Late Night Prom, performing a selection of his songs in new arrangements with the Britten Sinfonia. He then performs at Proms in the Park, Hyde Park, later that week

Following her Proms debut at the 2013 Urban Classic Prom, Laura Mvula returns to give her own Late Night Prom broadcast simultaneously on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 1

For the first time, the Proms teams up with the BBC’s pre-school channel, CBeebies, for two matinee concerts encouraging learning through music with the help of well-known characters from the Cbeebies channel and the BBC Philharmonic

The music of Lancastrian composer William Walton is put under the spotlight this year with eight works, including rarities such as the Variations on a Theme by Hindemith and Sinfonia concertante

Between them, Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst and the Cleveland Orchestra will give the complete cycle of Brahms symphonies

For the first time, both Bach’s St John and St Matthew Passions are performed in the same Proms season

Alongside some of the most popular violin concertos in the repertoire, the 2014 Proms invites audiences to explore some lesser-known and brand-new works in the genre by composers including Moeran, Mathias, Gabriel Prokofiev and Sally Beamish

American saxophonist Timothy McAllister gives the UK premiere of John Adams’s Saxophone Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop

There are 12 world premieres this season, of which 10 are BBC commissions, with a further 23 European, UK or London premieres

The BBC Orchestras and Singers remain the backbone of the Proms, collectively performing over 30 of the 76 Proms this season

Soloists include soprano Nina Stemme, tenor James Gilchrist, baritone Roderick Williams, trumpeter Alison Balsom, violinists Joshua Bell, Julia Fischer, Janine Jansen and Anthony Marwood, and pianists Ingrid Fliter, Benjamin Grosvenor and Denis Matsuev

There will be 11 Late Night Proms including a recreation of Count Basie  and Duke Ellington’s legendary Battle of the Bands presented by Clare Teal and broadcast live on both BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 2

In its third year the BBC Proms Youth Choir returns to the Royal Albert Hall, and the Proms also welcomes back the National Youth Choirs of Scotland and Wales

The annual free Prom takes place on Bank Holiday Monday and will feature the UK premiere of Irish composer Bill Whelan’s Riverdance: A Symphonic Suite performed by the Ulster Orchestra conducted by Jac van Steen

Eight Monday-lunchtime Proms Chamber Music recitals and four Proms Saturday Matinees at Cadogan Hall include performances from Les Arts Florissants, pianist Benjamin Grosvenor and the Lapland Chamber Orchestra

This year there will be more Proms content available to listen to online for longer than ever before across PC, mobile and tablet, so you can enjoy the Proms whenever and wherever you are

In 2014 selected Proms will also be broadcast on a number of other BBC Radio networks including BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3 and, for the first time, BBC Radio 5 live. Television broadcasts will go out on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four, CBeebies and the Saturday evening magazine show, Proms Extra, will return on BBC Two

Tickets go on sale at 9.00am on Saturday 17 May via bbc.co.uk/proms, by telephone on 0845 401 5040 or in person at the Royal Albert Hall

Promming tickets in 2014 are £5 each for the ninth year running. For the third time, seats are half-price for those aged 18 and under for all Proms concerts across the season (except for the Last Night)