The CBSO Youth Orchestra in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, England is an amateur symphony orchestra for young people managed by the

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. It is the resident orchestra at Symphony Hall: a B:Music Venue in Birmingham, which has been its principal performance venue since 1991. Its a ...

(CBSO). The orchestra is based at

CBSO Centre The CBSO Centre is the administrative home and rehearsal centre of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Choruses ( City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus, City of Birmingham Symphony Youth Chorus and City of Bi ...

but performs at

Symphony Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall is a 2,262 seat concert venue in Birmingham, England. It was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 12 June 1991, although it had been in use since 15 April 1991. It is home to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and hos ...

; membership is drawn from the entire Midlands region.

History

The orchestra was founded in October 2004 as the successor to the Midland Youth Orchestra, an independent youth orchestra established by the then

CBSO The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. It is the resident orchestra at Symphony Hall: a B:Music Venue in Birmingham, which has been its principal performance venue since 1991. Its a ...

general manager Blyth Major and which operated from 1956 until being wound up in response to falling membership in summer 2004. The orchestra recruits young orchestral musicians in the 14-21 age range and performs two concerts annually under the direction of the CBSO's Music Director or one of the CBSO's regular guest conductors. These have included

Andris Nelsons Andris Nelsons (born 18 November 1978) is a Latvian conductor who is currently the music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the ''Gewandhauskapellmeister'' of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. He has previously served as music directo ...

, Edward Gardner,

Sakari Oramo Sakari is a given name, and may refer to: * Sakari Kukko (born 1953), Finnish saxophonist and flutist * Sakari Kuosmanen (born 1956), Finnish singer and actor * Sakari Oramo (born 1965), Finnish conductor * Sakari Pinomäki, Finnish mechanical and ...

Andrew Litton Andrew Litton (born May 16, 1959, New York City) is an American orchestral conductor. Litton is a graduate of The Fieldston School. He studied piano with Nadia Reisenberg and conducting with Sixten Ehrling at the Juilliard School of Music in New Y ...

Jac van Steen Jac van Steen (born 1956 in Eindhoven) is a Dutch conductor. He studied music theory, as well as orchestral and choral conducting, at the . In the Netherlands, van Steen was conductor and music director of the Nijmegen Bach Choir from 1986 to 1 ...

Paul Daniel Paul Daniel (born 5 July 1958) is an English conductor. Biography Early life Daniel was born in Birmingham. As a boy, he sang in the choir of Coventry Cathedral, where he received musical training; then studied music at King's College, Cambr ...

Martyn Brabbins Martyn Charles Brabbins (born 13 August 1959) is a British conductor. The fourth of five children in his family, he learned to play the euphonium, and then the trombone during his youth at Towcester Studio Brass Band. He later studied compositi ...

, Thomas Sondergard, Alan Buribayev,

Alexander Vedernikov Alexander Alexandrovich Vedernikov (; 11 January 1964 – 29 October 2020) was a Russian conductor. He held major posts with the Bolshoi Theatre the Odense Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Danish Opera, and the Mikhailovsky Theatre. Biography Born ...

and Mike Seal. Soloists have included

Alison Balsom Alison Louise Balsom, Lady Mendes, (born 7 October 1978) is an English trumpet soloist, arranger, producer, and music educator. Balsom was awarded Artist of the Year at the 2013 Gramophone Awards and has won three Classic BRIT Awards and thre ...

, Alina Pogostkina,

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (born 17 October 1962) is a French classical pianist. Education Bavouzet was born in Lannion, France and grew up in Metz. He started his music studies there, encountering successful composers including Iannis Xenakis, Oliv ...

Christine Rice Christine Imogen Rice is an English operatic mezzo-soprano. She has performed across Europe at venues including the Royal Opera House, the Bavarian State Opera, the Frankurt Opera, the Teatro Real and the English National Opera. From 2004 to 20 ...

Katarina Karnéus Katarina Esmé Marie Karnéus (born 26 November 1965) is a Swedish mezzo-soprano opera singer, winner of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, active on many of the opera world's major stages such as the Metropolitan Opera and the Pa ...

, Guy Johnston, Leon McCawley,

Chloë Hanslip Chloë Elise Hanslip (born 28 September 1987) is a British classical violinist. Biography Hanslip was born in Guildford, Surrey, and has been playing the violin since she was two. At the age of four she performed solo at the Purcell Room. When s ...

Martin Roscoe Martin Roscoe (born 3 August 1952) is an English classical pianist. He performs as a concerto soloist, as a recitalist and as a chamber musician. Early life Martin Roscoe was born in Halton, Runcorn, Cheshire. He first became serious about mus ...

Tasmin Little Tasmin Little (born 13 May 1965) is an English classical violinist. She is a concerto soloist and also performs as a recitalist and chamber musician. She has released numerous albums, winning the Critics Award at the Classic Brit Awards in 2011 ...

, Peter Donohoe and Lore Lixenberg. In line with CBSO programming policy, the Youth Orchestra has a policy of performing music that is outside of the standard repertoire, and often more ambitious than that usually associated with youth orchestras. This has included

Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throughout his life as a major compo ...

's Eleventh Symphony,

John Foulds John Herbert Foulds (; 2 November 188025 April 1939) was an English cellist and composer of classical music. He was largely self-taught as a composer, and belongs among the figures of the English Musical Renaissance. A successful composer of li ...

' ''Le Cabaret'',

Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

's Seventh Symphony,

Julian Anderson Julian Anderson (born 6 April 1967) is a British composer and teacher of composition. Biography Anderson was born in London. He studied at Westminster School, then with John Lambert at the Royal College of Music, with Alexander Goehr at Cambri ...

's Alhambra Fantasy, Ligeti's ''Concert Romanesc'', Korngold's Violin Concerto, Stravinsky's ''Pulcinella'', Alban Berg's Seven Early Songs and

Jörg Widmann Jörg Widmann (born 19 June 1973) is a German composer, conductor and clarinetist. In 2018, Widmann was the third most performed contemporary composer in the world. Formerly a clarinet and composition professor at the University of Music Freibu ...

's ''Con brio''. In February 2007 it gave the world premiere of ''Streamlines'' by

Tansy Davies Tansy Davies (born 29 May 1973, Bristol) is an English composer of contemporary classical music. She won the BBC Young Composers' Competition in 1996 and has written works for ensembles such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Or ...

, a work commissioned by the Feeney Trust specifically for the CBSO Youth Orchestra. Subsequent commissions have included ''Più Mosso'' by Luke Bedford (premiered October 2009) and ''Leckey'' by Ben Foskett (premiered October 2011). New works from

Charlotte Bray Charlotte Bray (born 1982) is a British composer. She was championed by the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, London Sinfonietta and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, BBC Symphony Orchestra. Her music has been performed by many notable condu ...

and

Mark Anthony Turnage Mark-Anthony Turnage CBE (born 10 June 1960) is a British composer of classical music. Biography Turnage was born in Corringham, Essex. He began composing at age nine and at fourteen began studying at the junior section of the Royal College of ...

are scheduled for February and November 2014 respectively. In September 2007 the CBSO Youth Orchestra launched a subsidiary chamber orchestra, the CBSO Youth Orchestra Academy, which performs annually under Mike Seal at Birmingham Town Hall. Former members of the CBSO Youth Orchestra include David Taylor, Ben Gernon, Jamie Phillips and Laura Mvula.

CBSO Youth Chorus

The CBSO Youth Chorus, based in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

is a youth choir which performs alone, or in association with the

. The CBSO Youth Chorus was formed in 1994 with the aim of providing the CBSO with a chorus for the many pieces of symphonic music that require young people's voices. Open to girls in school years 9 to 13, it is now established as one of the country's leading youth choruses, performing independently as well as with the CBSO and many other prestigious orchestras and choirs.CBSO Youth Chorus - City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
The choir is based at the

. The choir toured Sweden in May 2007, performing in two concerts in the Gothenburg Concert Hall. The Chorus Director is

Simon Halsey Simon Halsey, CBE (born 8 March 1958) is an English choral conductor. He is the chorus director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus (CBSO Chorus), a position he has held since 1983, and has been chorus director of the London Symphony Chor ...

and the conductor is Julian Wilkins. The accompanist is James Keefe.

CBSO Young Voices

The CBSO Young Voices was a choir for young people, based in

. It was one of the members of the family of CBSO Choruses. Formed in 1999 as a partnership between the CBSO and Birmingham Music Service, Young Voices was based at the

, just off Broad Street. The chorus performed in many venues, including

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...

, Symphony Hall, The

Wales Millennium Centre Wales Millennium Centre ( cy, Canolfan Mileniwm Cymru) is an arts centre located in the Cardiff Bay area of Cardiff, Wales. The site covers a total area of . Phase 1 of the building was opened during the weekend of the 26–28 November 2004 an ...

, and Buckingham Palace. The choir was disbanded in the mid-2010s.

References

External links

Official siteThe website of the former Midland Youth OrchestraBBC Radio 3 ''Performance on 3'' broadcast of the CBSO Youth Orchestra, 2010
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cbso Youth Orchestra Musical groups established in 2004 English youth orchestras Culture in Birmingham, West Midlands 2004 establishments in England

History

CBSO Youth Chorus

CBSO Young Voices

See also

References

External links