Populist poet Andrew Motion will perform at the first Poetry Prom

"But what we want to do as we go into the next century is make sure that the Proms is reinventing itself.

"You have to make a splash. You have to say, 'We are doing some very definite things to show we are looking after young people'."

Flexibility and innovation

Among the innovations are Proms Explorer ticket packages to encourage under-16s to discover a wider range of music at a reduced cost.

A Millennium Youth Day on 12 August will feature all the national youth and children's orchestras in a two-day celebration of jazz, brass and choral work.

Musician Sawhney (second from left) also won fans for Goodness Gracious Me

A competition for young composers aged 12 to 16 will be held, with extracts from winning entries broadcast in a Prom on 8 July, while specially-commissioned pieces will be performed by young musicians on 13 July.

Elsewhere, Asian musician Nitin Sawhney - best known for his album Beyond Skin - will perform Urban Prophecies at a new concert, Scry.

Following past celebrations of Indian music, this year's Proms will showcase an evening of Cuban sounds.

Among those taking part will be sextet Vocal Sampling who use their hands and voices to create the effect of a 20-piece salsa band.

Top Cuban dance act Los Van Van will also perform.

Concerts will again centre on the Albert Halll

Other Proms highlights include a series of concerts devoted to Christian music, including Handel's Messiah and Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms.

Most of this year's concerts will come from London's Royal Albert Hall, with performances broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

The four Poetry Proms, however, will be held at the Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park.

Meanwhile, 10 concerts will be screened on television, on both BBC One and BBC Two.

This year's Proms season runs from 14 July to 9 September.