This year's BBC Proms (the one hundred and fifteenth season, if you're counting!) runs from Friday 17th July until Saturday 12th September. The Proms are without doubt one of the most famous institutions in British musical life, and this year's concerts promise to be a treat for pianophiles. There are a huge number of events to choose from, including a family day starring the six-piano ensemble pianocircus. Details of all one hundred concerts can be found here, along with information on how to book.

If you weren't fully-sated by all that Rachmaninov last year, you'll be pleased to hear Tchaikovsky features heavily this time: every one of his compositions for piano and orchestra will be performed by Stephen Hough. Meanwhile Denis Matsuev makes his Proms debut on August 19th, playing Rachmaninov's fiendishly difficult variations on Paganini's most famous Caprice, and Lang Lang returns on August 27th to play Chopin's Second Concerto with the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden.

On August 30th, the legendary Martha Argerich will play Ravel's Piano Concerto in G (which I shall be writing about next month, when I conclude my exploration of Impressionism) and Prokofiev's First Piano Concerto, under conductor Charles Dutoit. This year also marks the two hundredth anniversary of Mendelssohn's birth, and on September 7th Barenboim protégé Saleem Abboud Ashkar will perform his First Piano Concerto with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.

Multiple Piano Day

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this year's Proms season is the inclusion of numerous works for more than one piano. Poulenc's Concerto for Two Pianos will be performed by Katia and Marielle Labèque on the opening night, July 17th. Other highlights include Martinů's Concerto for Two Pianos (played by Jaroslava Pechocová and Václev Mácha) on July 27th and Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos (played by Pierre-Laurent Aimard and Tamara Stefanovich) on September 3rd.

On August 9th, 'Multiple Piano Day', there will be two concerts. The first sees three separate duos play with the Britten Sinfonia, under Ludovic Morlot: The Labèque sisters, Philip Moore and Simon Crawford-Phillips and Lydia and Sanya Biziak. The programme includes Fauré's Dolly Suite, surely one of the most instantly recognisable duets ever written, Mozart's Double Piano Concerto (which was probably intended to be played by him and his sister) and Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals.

At 7.30pm, Edward Gardner leads the London Sinfonietta in a rather more modern programme which includes Bartók's Sonata for two pianos and percussion and George Antheil's wild Ballet Mécanique. The latter had been intended as a soundtrack to a film, but communication was minimal and the music ended up twice as long as required. It was also a logistical nightmare: the original version called for sixteen player pianos, percussion, aeroplane propellers and two 'normal' pianos!

Tickets can be purchased online, or by calling the Royal Albert Hall box office on 0845 401 5040.