City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra announces 2021-2022 season

Wednesday, August 4, 2021

The new season will see the full orchestra playing together again at Symphony Hall, Birmingham

Mirga Gražinytė Tyla with the CBSO
Mirga Gražinytė Tyla with the CBSO

(c) Benjamin Ealovega

The CBSO has announced its new season, running from September 2021 to January 2022.

Highlights include:

  • Premieres of three CBSO Centenary Commissions: Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Go For It, Debbie Wiseman’s Carnival of the Endangered Animals and Jonathan Dove’s In Exile

  • A new series of informal gig nights featuring contemporary classical music performed by CBSO musicians and local DJs at Hockley Social Club 

  • CBSO debuts from Jess Gillam, Anna Lapwood and Finnegan Downie Dear alongside return visits for Dame Sarah Connolly, James Ehnes, Benjamin Grosvenor, Steven Osborne and John Wilson

  • Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla begins her last season as music director leading concert performances of Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen alongside soloists Elena Tsallagova, Angela Brower and Roland Wood

  • A Covid-19 memorial concert in memory of the victims of the pandemic includes a performance of Fauré’s Requiem

  • CBSO Junior Children’s Chorus for young singers aged 6-10 years old launches as the CBSO Chorus, CBSO Youth Chorus, CBSO Children’s Chorus & CBSO Youth Orchestra all return after 18 months

  • A new partnership with charity Audiovisibility and percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie challenges perceptions around hearing impairment and musical experience

The season will also include family- and dementia-friendly performances, and discounted concert tickets from just £5 for students and under 17s, £10 for those aged 18-30, the return of £13 mystery seats for all main Season concerts, and free tickets for NHS workers.

Performances will be broadcast on Classic FM, BBC Radio 3 and Marquee TV.

Stephen Maddock, chief executive of the CBSO, said: 'After the stop/start nature of the CBSO’s concerts – and indeed all our lives – in 2020-21, it’s fantastic to be looking ahead to a full autumn season rich in variety and musical excitement. 

'From symphonic blockbusters by Saint-Saëns, Beethoven, Dvořák, Tchaikovsky and Brahms, to new works by some of today’s most exciting composers, by way of Elton John and the Classic FM Hall of Fame, I really do hope that once again audiences will let the CBSO uplift them and be reminded of the power of live music.'

The orchestra will be offering a mixture of standard and socially-distanced seating for sale in Symphony Hall during its autumn season. For further details on the Covid-19 policy for audience members attending performances at Symphony Hall visit: https://bmusic.co.uk/your-visit/covid-safe  

For full listings click here.