The Proms season ran from 13 July to 8 September. Early press coverage focused heavily on the fact that musical theatre star Michael Ball would be the central performer in a concert on 27 August and a concert of British film music on 14 July. This led to media accusations of "dumbing down", despite Kenyon's defence of the programme. Anniversaries marked in this Proms season included: The series also included an additional series of four Saturday matinee concerts at Cadogan Hall. The 2007 season was Kenyon's last season as controller of the BBC Proms, before he became managing director at the Barbican
The Proms included: Other composer anniversaries noted in the 2009 Proms included: The humorist and music impresario Gerard Hoffnung was also remembered with the performance in the Last Night of Malcolm Arnold's "A Grand Grand Overture", which was commissioned for the first Hoffnung Music Festival. The 2009 Proms featured Bollywood music for the first time, as part of a day-long series of concerts and events also covering Indian classical music. Performers in the day included Ram Narayan, Rajan and Sajan Mishra, and Shaan. Noted historical anniversaries covered in the 2009 Proms included the 75th anniversary of the MGM film musical, and the