Performer: Matthew Coorey

A family concert based on We’re Going on a Bear Hunt and featuring much-loved household names Michael Rosen and Tony Ross drew in a willing and high-spirited audience for this afternoon Prom, many with their own teddy bears in tow.

The reason for this all-American programme was ostensibly pragmatic: the concert was to coincide with the opening night of the British-American Business Council annual conference. In practice, the programme was a triumph. Significantly, dozens of schoolchildren were present to witness an evening of fine and involving music-making.The concert began with Charles Ives’ Variations on America.

It was announced shortly before tonight's concert that the advertised conductor, the London Philharmonic's Principal Guest Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, was indisposed. In a programme which included Mahler's enormous Symphony no. 9, it was no small thing for Australian conductor Matthew Coorey to take over at short notice.