Charlotte Ritchie and Karl Queensborough to join Aurora Orchestra at BBC Proms

Fresh Meat actress Charlotte Ritchie and West End star Karl Queensborough will join the Aurora Orchestra on stage at the BBC Proms, it has been announced.

The acting duo will join the returning orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall on September 2 for the first half of The Rite By Heart performance.

They will deliver a dramatic exploration of Russian composer Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite Of Spring – a ballet that caused a riot at its premiere in 1913.

Ritchie and Queensborough will “get under the skin” of the work and delve into its origins, reliving scenes of its creation and its notorious concert premiere, the BBC said.

Their performance, which promises to “utilise movement, design, lighting, and newly commissioned projections”, comes before the Aurora perform the “masterpiece” from memory.

On Friday, Ritchie and Queensborough met with Nicholas Collon, principal conductor of the Aurora Orchestra, to rehearse for the performance.

Ritchie, who has starred in Netflix psychological thriller You and BBC sitcom Ghosts, said: “Aurora Orchestra is brilliant, it’s so innovative, its ability to educate and include the audience, as well as presenting them with beautiful music, is quite a special thing.

“I’ve never done anything like this before and I feel quite honoured to be a part of it.

“The Rite Of Spring is an unbelievable piece of music, and it’s a very rare pleasure as an actor to be on stage with this many musicians.”

Queensborough, who plays Alexander Hamilton in the self-titled West End production, told of his excitement to be joining the performance.

“I’m not used to being with the orchestra from the beginning; to be with the musicians from day one, really dissecting the music and finding out how it all comes together is so exciting,” he said.

“And then there’s the actual performance: to be guided through the creation of the piece and then to hear it played from beginning to end is a totally unique experience.

“I’m a massive fan of influencing younger generations, generations that wouldn’t necessarily listen to classical music, and getting them interested in such a unique way as Rite of Spring will is very important for broadening their imaginations and getting them engaged with classical music.”

The performance at 3pm and 7.30pm will be broadcast live on Radio 3 and will be available on BBC Sounds, as with all of the Proms.

British conductor Collon said: “I’m so delighted that two fabulous actors, Charlotte Ritchie and Karl Queensborough, will be joining Aurora for our Rite Of Spring performances at the BBC Proms.

“The whole event will be devoted solely to Stravinsky’s great masterpiece, comprising a first half presentation which delves into the work itself, and a second half memorised performance of the piece.

“Using the words of those present at its creation – Stravinsky, Marie Rambert, Vaslav Nijinsky, Nicolas Roerich and others – we will plunge into the genesis of the ballet as well as shedding light on some of the musical elements that make the Rite such a vital and endlessly shocking work of art.

“We’re so pleased to be bringing our eighth memorised Proms performance to the audiences in the Hall and live on BBC Radio 3.”

Tickets are on sale now for BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall.