The Proms at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport suggested "that the Proms was one of several big cultural events that many people did not feel comfortable attending" and advocated an increase in multicultural works and an effort to broaden the audience. Her comments received wide criticism in the musical world and media as being a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the Proms, with Gordon Brown even distancing himself from her remarks. In the 2009 season, which ran from 17 July to 12 September 2009, the total number of concerts reached 100 for the first time. The principal anniversary composers
Night of the Proms classical concerts held yearly in the Royal Albert Hall in London, but it is organised independently. Though its inclusion of large portions of pop music does not match its British counterpart and originator, it did share certain elements for a time, such as the tradition of ending the performance with the British patriotic song Land of Hope and Glory. The closing song has varied every year since 2011. Night of the Proms was created by two Belgian students, Jan Vereecke and Jan Van Esbroeck in 1985. The first NotP took place at the Antwerp Sportpaleis in Belgium on 19 October