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Singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger and political activist: Nina Simone is a giant of jazz history. In 2019 Jules Buckley and his Metropole Orkest joined forces with vocal trio LaSharVu and singers Ledisi and Lisa Fischer to celebrate Simone’s unparalleled legacy. The programme took a deep dive into the back catalogue of the ‘high priestess of soul’, featuring classics such as ‘Feeling Good’, ‘My Baby Just Cares for Me’ and ‘I Put a Spell on You’ alongside lesser-known gems such as ‘Four Women’ and ‘Dambala’. There was even a tribute to Simone’s passion for classical music (she was a highly accomplished classical pianist): ‘Dido’s Lament’, Purcell’s heartbreakingly poignant aria from Dido and Aeneas, was rendered in a unique and soulful duet by Ledisi and Fisher.

In 2014, following an evening concert from the visiting Berlin Philharmonic, British singer-songwriter Paloma Faith wowed late-night audiences with her sleek vocals and retro style. She was joined by the swinging 42-piece Guy Barker Orchestra and the Urban Voices Collective, together performing a selection of specially arranged songs from Faith’s first three, (double-platinum-selling) albums.

Three years later Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie were the focus of a Prom marking both of their centenaries. Hollywood and Broadway luminary John Mauceri joined forces with a sparkling ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Concert Orchestra, Grammy Award-winning singer Dianne Reeves and multi-instrumentalist James Morrison to re-conceive some of the greatest jazz numbers of the 20th century: ‘Round Midnight’, ‘Embraceable You’, ‘Fascinating Rhythm’ and ‘Lullaby of Birdland’ all featured on the bill, expertly realised by Reeves – once stood in for her idol Fitzgerald, after the legend was unable to appear at the club in Denver, Colorado, where Reeves was working as a singer.

Staring out at an empty Royal Albert Hall, with just her guitar and the London-based 12 Ensemble for company, singer-songwriter Laura Marling found herself in unprecedented circumstances. Part of the 2020 all-digital season, her second Proms appearance couldn’t have been more different to her debut at 2013’s 6 Music Prom. How to give a concert with nothing but cameras for an audience? But the BRIT Award-winner and four-time Mercury Prize nominee showed no hint of fluster in this one-off acoustic retrospective, featuring specially composed string arrangements by producer Rob Moose. Songs from her latest album, Song for Our Daughter, sat alongside a selection from earlier albums such as Alas, I Cannot Swim – released when Marling was just 18. A stunning performance from a breath-taking performer.

Cynthia Erivo is a creative phenomenon: a London-born, Tony, Grammy and Emmy Award-winning actress, singer, songwriter and producer, whose career has taken her from her childhood in South London to the West End and Broadway. Just this Proms season she teamed up with the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Concert Orchestra in a musical salute to legendary female artists such as Nina Simone, Shirley Bassey, Billie Holiday and Gladys Knight: ‘I wanted to pay homage to them,’ she said of the occasion. ‘Women who have influenced my sound, the music I’ve listened to and the way I tell my story.’

Cynthia Erivo: Legendary Voices is broadcast by ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Two on Saturday 27 August, and will be available on iPlayer until 10 October.

After her Proms debut in 2013’s Urban Classic Prom, BRIT Award- and Mercury Prize-nominated singer-songwriter Laura Mvula returned the following year for a late-night orchestral remix of her album Sing to the Moon. Her ‘outrageous talent’ (The Guardian) was on full display that evening, as she breezed through songs including ‘Diamonds’, ‘Sing’ and the album’s title-track, imploring, rebuking and seducing as the moment demanded. As well as conductor Jules Buckley and the Metropole Orkest (in its Proms debut), Mvula was joined onstage by the equally mesmerising singer and bassist Esperanza Spalding: together they performed the latter’s ‘Cinnamon Tree’ to a stunned audience.