Proms 2013: First female conductor Marin Alsop is just the ticket To put yourself in a position where you are neither orchestra nor audience, that is to say, a unique figure, elevated on your own little platform, essentially telling everyone in the room what to do (you listen; you play) requires a rather particular set of personal characteristics that we probably traditionally associate with men, slightly crazy, arrogant, wild-eyed men. Alsop was born in New York City to a pair of music professionals, and went on to Yale and then Juilliard. A former violinist herself, she will have seen and experienced the music business from all sides and an education such as hers does not usually give rise to feelings of self-doubt. Proms 2012: A patriotic sight But what of our precious Last Night of the Proms, with its compulsory Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory and Union Jacks draped around every shoulder? The role of the conductor is always key to the atmosphere of this event, it is as much about personality as actual skill. The conductor needs to play the audience as much as the music, and so can an American really bring the necessary passion for all-things-British to the podium? And would they want to? Luckily, Alsop has spent a great deal of time in the UK, conducting the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (perhaps not so keen on imperialism, but nevermind), and the City of London Sinfonia and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. She has also recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic. Not many British conductors can say the same. So, perhaps this peculiarly British evening of sing-a-long-a-Empire will benefit from the fresh eyes and ears of an American Anglophile. And perhaps the fact of her gender, which shouldn't really matter but does, given the paucity of other female conductors at this time, will help bring the Last Night of the Proms into a more modern era - all the usual favourites will be there, but with a slightly new twist. Some will complain, but their reasons will be easily exposed on even the most superficial examination. It's a clever move on the part of the Proms director Roger Wright who told the BBC that conducting was still a "man's world" but that "there are some of us who are moving that on - not least the women artists themselves." Good - the world is moving on full stop, and that should include the Last Night of the Proms, otherwise it will start to look like a sloaney Last Days of the Raj fancy dress party held in an Indian restaurant. The BBC Proms runs from July 12 to September 7.