Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (BCMG) is a British chamber ensemble based 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 specialising in the performance of new and contemporary music. BCMG performs regularly at the

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 ...

and Symphony Hall in Birmingham, tours nationally and worldwide and has appeared several times at the

Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

in London. Musicians from 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 ...

formed the ensemble in 1987, with Simon Rattle as its founding patron. Since then BCMG has premiered over 150 new works and won numerous awards, including the 2004 Royal Philharmonic Society Audience Development Award, the 1995 Gramophone Award for Best Orchestral Recording, the 1993 Royal Philharmonic Society Chamber Ensemble Award, the 1993 Prudential Award for Music, and The Arts Ball 2002 Outstanding Achievement Award.

Thomas Adès Thomas Joseph Edmund Adès (born 1 March 1971) is a British composer, pianist and conductor. Five compositions by Adès received votes in the 2017 Classic Voice poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000: '' The Tempest'' (2004), '' ...

was the first music director of BCMG, from 1998 to 2000. The current artistic director of BCMG is Stephan Meier, who succeeded Stephen Newbould (artistic director 2001-2016). John Woolrich and

Oliver Knussen Stuart Oliver Knussen (12 June 1952 – 8 July 2018) was a British composer and conductor. Early life Oliver Knussen was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His father, Stuart Knussen, was principal double bass of the London Symphony Orchestra, and a ...

were artists-in-association with BCMG. Past chairs of BCMG have included Stephen Saltaire, who served in the post from 2000 to 2015. In December 2015, BCMG announced the appointment of Christoph Trestler as its new chair.

Sound Investment

The Sound Investment scheme is a partnership between BCMG, the composers whom it commissions to write new pieces and BCMG's audience. Members of the public are invited to "invest" in a new commission by paying a sum of money, currently £150, to purchase Sound Investment Units in the new work and so contribute to the costs involved in commissioning new pieces. For each commissioned piece, a certain number of Units are available, typically 30-50. Sound Investors are kept informed about "their" work's progress and are invited to attend rehearsals, as well as the first public performance. They are also able to purchase either a signed copy of the score or receive a signed copy of the score's title page. Composer

Colin Matthews Colin Matthews, OBE (born 13 February 1946) is an English composer of contemporary classical music. Noted for his large-scale orchestral compositions, Matthews is also a prolific arranger of other composer's music, including works by Berlioz, ...

, who has had four works commissioned by BCMG, has called the Sound Investors "a remarkable group...although the only return on their investment is a signed copy of the score.

Composers and works commissioned

(The year shown is the year of first performance) 1990:

Simon Holt Simon Holt (born 21 February 1958) is an English composer. Biography Simon Holt was born in Bolton, Lancashire on 21 February 1958. Educated at Bolton School, Holt immersed himself in organ, piano and visual art during his sixth form years. ...

: "Lilith" 1992:

Geoffrey Poole Geoffrey Richard Poole (born 9 February 1949 in Ipswich, Suffolk) is a contemporary classical composer and educator. His scores range from Western orchestral, choral, vocal, chamber, theatre and contemporary dance genres, to intercultural concep ...

: ''The Magnification of the Virgin'' 1992: David Lang: ''My Evil Twin'' 1993:

Elena Firsova Elena Olegovna Firsova (russian: link=no, Еле́на Оле́говна Фи́рсова; also ''Yelena'' or ''Jelena Firssowa''; born 21 March 1950) is a Russian composer. Life Firsova was born in Leningrad into the family of physicists Ol ...

: ''Distance'' 1993:

David Sawer David Sawer (born 14 September 1961), is a British composer of opera and choral, orchestral and chamber music. Biography Sawer was born in Stockport, England. After attending Ipswich School, he studied music at the University of York where he b ...

: ''The Memory of Water'' 1994: Detlev Muller-Siemens: ''Phoenix'' 1994:

Errollyn Wallen Errollyn Wallen (born April 10, 1958) is a Belize-born British composer. Life Errollyn Wallen moved to London with her family when she was two. While her parents moved to New York, she and her three siblings (one of whom is the trumpeter By ...

: ''Are you worried...?'' 1994:

: ''...through the glass'' 1995:

Philip Cashian Philip Cashian (born 1963) is an English composer. He is the head of composition at the Royal Academy of Music. Biography Philip Cashian was born in Manchester in 1963 and studied at Cardiff University and the Guildhall School of Music and Dr ...

: ''Chamber Concerto'' 1995:

Aaron Jay Kernis Aaron Jay Kernis (born January 15, 1960) is a Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy Award-winning American composer serving as a member of the Yale School of Music faculty. Kernis spent 15 years as the music advisor to the Minnesota Orchestra and as Dir ...

: ''Goblin Market'' 1995:

Judith Weir Judith Weir (born 11 May 1954) is a British composer serving as Master of the King's Music. Appointed in 2014 by Queen Elizabeth II, Weir is the first woman to hold this office. Biography Weir was born in Cambridge, England, to Scottish paren ...

: ''Musicians Wrestle Everywhere'' 1996:

Sally Beamish Sarah Frances Beamish (born 26 August 1956) is a British composer and violist. Her works include chamber, vocal, choral and orchestral music. She has also worked in the field of music, theatre, film and television, as well as composing for chi ...

: ''A Book of Seasons'' 1996:

Osvaldo Golijov Osvaldo Noé Golijov (; born December 5, 1960) is an Argentine composer of classical music and music professor, known for his vocal and orchestral work. Biography Osvaldo Golijov was born in and grew up in La Plata, Argentina, in a Jewish family ...

: ''Last Round'' 1996: Howard Skempton: ''Delicate'' 1997:

: ''Concerto Conciso'' 1997: Peter-Paul Nash: ''Symphony No. 2'' 1997: Gerard McBurney: ''Desire'' 1998:

Simon Bainbridge Simon Bainbridge (30 August 1952 – 2 April 2021) was a British composer. He was also a professor and head of composition at the Royal Academy of Music, London, and visiting professor at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, in the United ...

: ''Guitar Concerto'' 1998: David Lang: ''The Passing Measures'' 1999: Alastair Greig: ''Play'' 1999: Bent Sørensen: ''Sinful Songs'' 1999: Stuart MacRae: ''Portrait'' 1999:

Kenneth Hesketh Kenneth Hesketh (born 20 July 1968) is a British composer of contemporary classical music in numerous genres including dance, orchestral, chamber, vocal and solo. He has also composed music for wind and brass bands as well as seasonal music for ...

: ''The Circling Canopy of Night'' 2000: Gerald Barry: ''Wiener Blut'' 2000:

: ''Continuum'' 2000:

Thea Musgrave Thea Musgrave CBE (born 27 May 1928) is a Scottish composer of opera and classical music. She has lived in the United States since 1972. Biography Born in Barnton, Edinburgh, Musgrave was educated at Moreton Hall School, a boarding independ ...

: ''Lamenting with Ariadne'' 2000: John Woolrich: ''Bitter Fruit'' 2001:

Poul Ruders Poul Ruders (born 27 March 1949) is a Danish composer. Life Born in Ringsted, Ruders trained as an organist, and studied orchestration with Karl Aage Rasmussen. Ruders's first compositions date from the mid-1960s. Ruders regards his own compositi ...

: ''ABYSM'' 2001: Edward Rushton: ''Palace'' 2002: Gerald Barry: ''Dead March'' 2002:

Marc-André Dalbavie Marc-André Dalbavie (born 10 February 1961 at Neuilly-sur-Seine, France) is a French composer.Anne Sédès, "Marc-André Dalbavie", ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' He had his first music lessons at age 6.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 ...

: ''The Torn Fields'' 2002:

: ''Boots of Lead'' 2003: Param Vir: ''The Theatre of Magical Beings'' 2004:

: ''Three Pieces'' 2004: Michael Wolters: ''Neighbours for a Night'' 2005:

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 ...

: ''Book of Hours'' 2005: Huw Watkins: ''Rondo'' 2005:

: ''Psyche and Manimekelai'' 2005: Howard Skempton: ''Ben Somewhen'' 2006:

: ''Skein'' 2006: Morgan Hayes: ''Violin Concerto'' 2006: Dave Douglas: ''Blue Latitudes'' 2007: John Woolrich: ''Going a Journey'' 2007:

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 ...

: ''Falling Angel'' 2007: Elvind Buene: ''Garland (for Matthew Locke)'' 2007:

Brett Dean Brett Dean (born 23 October 1961) is an Australian composer, violist and conductor. Biography Brett Dean was born, raised and educated in Brisbane. He started learning violin at the age of eight, and later studied viola with Elizabeth Morgan ...

: ''Wolf-Lieder'' 2007:

Johannes Maria Staud Johannes Maria Staud (born 17 August 1974) is an Austrian composer. Biography Staud was born in Innsbruck and studied with, among others, Brian Ferneyhough and Michael Jarrell (at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna). In 1999/ ...

: ''One Movement and Five Miniatures'' 2007: Nicholas Sackman: ''Concerto in Black'' 2008: Gerald Barry: ''Beethoven'' 2008: Luke Bedford: ''Good Dream She Has'' 2008:

Kevin Volans Kevin Volans (born 26 July 1949) is a South African born Irish composer and pianist. He studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen and Mauricio Kagel in Cologne in the 1970s and later became associated with the ''Neue Einfacheit'' (New Simplicity) mov ...

: ''The Partenheimer Project'' 2009: Francesco Antonioni: ''Ballata'' 2009:

Helen Grime Helen Grime (born 1981) is a Scottish composer whose work, ''Virga'', was selected as one of the best ten new classical works of the 2000s by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Though she was born in York, England, Grime's parents returned ...

: ''A Cold Spring'' 2009:

: ''Capriccio Spettrale'' 2009: Richard Causton: ''Chamber Symphony'' 2009: Vic Hoyland: ''Hey Presto!... moon - flower - bat'' 2009:

: ''Rumpelstiltskin'' 2010: Charlie Usher: ''Slow Pan'' 2010: Michael Wolters: ''I see with my eyes closed'' 2011: Jo Kondo: ''Three Songs Tennyson Sung'' 2011:

Dominic Muldowney Dominic Muldowney (born 19 July 1952 in Southampton) is a British composer. Biography Dominic Muldowney studied at the University of Southampton with Jonathan Harvey, at the University of York (with Bernard Rands and David Blake), and privat ...

: ''Six Cabaret Songs'' 2011:

Silvina Milstein Silvina Milstein (born 12 February 1956, in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine composer and scholar of twentieth-century music, living in the United Kingdom and teaching at King's College London. Her music has been described as "turbulent and hesitantl ...

: ''de oro y sombra ...'' BCMG Silvina Milstein page
2012:

: ''Nature'' 2012: Alexander Goehr: ''To These Dark Steps / The Fathers are Watching'' 2012: John Woolrich: ''The Mustering Drum'' 2013: Richard Baker: ''The Tyranny of Fun'' 2013:

: ''Rumpelstiltskin Suite'' 2013:

: ''The Lighthouse Keepers'' 2014: David Lang: ''Crowd Out'' 2014: Param Vir: ''Raga Fields'' 2015: Ivo Nilsson: ''Rapidità'' 2015: Gerald Barry: ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' 2015:

Melinda Maxwell Melinda Maxwell (born 1953 in London) is an English oboist and composer. She is principal oboist of the ensemble Endymion (ensemble), Endymion and the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, and a regularly principal of the London Sinfonietta. She h ...

: ''FRACTURES: Monk Unpacked'' 2016:

Edmund Finnis Edmund Finnis (born 1984) is a British composer of classical and electronic music. His works have been commissioned and performed by orchestras and ensembles including the Britten Sinfonia, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, London Sinfoniet ...

: ''Parallel Colour'' 2016:

Michael Zev Gordon Michael Zev Gordon (born 1963, London) is a British composer of Jewish descent. A past oboe player, Gordon studied composition at King's College, Cambridge with Robin Holloway, and subsequently with Oliver Knussen and John Woolrich, and in I ...

: ''Seize the Day'' 2016:

Benedict Mason Benedict Mason, born on 23 February 1954, is a British composer. Mason was educated at King's College, Cambridge (1971–75) and took a degree in film-making at the Royal College of Art (1975–78). He did not turn to composition until his early ...

: ''Horns Strings and Harmony'' 2016: Richard Baker: ''Hwyl fawr ffrindiau'' 2016: John Woolrich: ''Swansong'' 2016: Luke Bedford: ''In Black Bright Ink'' 2016: Zoë Martlew: ''Broad St. Burlesque''

References

External links

Birmingham Contemporary Music Group official websiteBCMG Past Commissions
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1987 English orchestras Classical music in the United Kingdom Culture in Birmingham, West Midlands