The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra is the resident orchestra of Symphony Hall, Birmingham, and is one of the world’s leading symphonic ensembles, having worked with many leading international conductors since its inaugural concert in 1920, conducted by Sir Edward Elgar.  The Orchestra established itself as a major force during its 18-year association with Sir Simon Rattle, and has continued to prosper under the Finnish conductor Sakari Oramo, who was appointed Principal Conductor in 1998 and Music Director in 1999.  Recent programming initiatives – including rush hour, matinee and family concerts – ensure that the broadest range of people can experience the CBSO’s performances of music, from Beethoven to Bollywood and Bach to Bond themes, and reflect our mission to share our passion for music.

The CBSO is in constant demand to perform all over the world.  Recent tours have seen concerts in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, and Taiwan, in addition to regular appearances at the BBC Proms and the prestigious Aldeburgh Festival.  The Orchestra is proud to act as an Ambassador for the City of Birmingham and the wider Midlands region, and recently won a special award from the Regional Development Agency Advantage West Midlands for Raising the Profile of the Region Internationally.

Under Oramo the Orchestra has made a number of award-winning recordings, including the 2002 Gramophone Record of the Year disc of Saint-Saens Piano Concertos with soloist Stephen Hough.  The CBSO plays to over 300,000 people each year, in the UK and overseas, and reaches many millions more through its regular radio and TV appearances, and its large discography.

Future artistic plans include a major retrospective of the music of Igor Stravinsky, which will see the CBSO collaborating with other Birmingham arts organisations including Birmingham Royal Ballet and the Ikon Gallery, to present all of Stravinsky’s works in Birmingham between 2005 and 2008.

In addition to its regular season of concerts at Symphony Hall, the CBSO runs a chamber music series at CBSO Centre, a medium-scale performance venue in the centre of Birmingham which doubles as the Orchestras rehearsal and administrative home.  Centre Stage lunchtime concerts are devised and performed by the musicians, and are designed to provide intimate chamber concerts to complement the music being performed at Symphony Hall.

In 1990 the CBSO established the post of Composer-in-Association; holders have included Mark-Anthony Turnage and Judith Weir, and the incumbent is Julian Anderson.  The CBSO also has a busy education department which co-ordinates an extensive programme of work with schools and in the local community, working directly with over 25,000 per annum.

The CBSO plays a leading role in amateur music-making in the Midlands: it runs four ‘unpaid professional’ choruses – one for adults, two for children, and an unauditioned youth choir – which are regularly in demand to perform with the CBSO and other leading orchestras and musical groups.  Our adult Chorus sang at the opening of the Sydney Olympics arts festival, recorded Beethoven’s Choral Symphony with the Vienna Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle, and recently joined Sakari Oramo in his native Helsinki for only the second performance in Finland of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius.  Our youth choruses have sung with a wide range of musicians, from the Berlin Philharmonic to Jools Holland and  - through video technology – even acted as a backing band to Elvis!

The CBSO recently founded a youth orchestra, which has recruited the best young musicians aged 14-21 from the East and West Midlands regions.  The CBSO Youth Orchestra will meet twice a year for a weeklong intensive course, culminating performances with highest quality conductors, including CBSO Music Director Sakari Oramo.

top