City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra launches free music festival

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) has announced a free week-long music festival in Birmingham. Between 26 August and 1 September 2024, the orchestra will play over 25 events at CBSO in the City, with pop-up performances at a host of locations.

The whole band will head to the Bullring and New Street Station to serenade shoppers with orchestral favourites including Beethoven and Star Wars. A CBSO brass quintet and clarinet trio will set up camp in the Botanical Gardens to play chamber music in nature, while the Dinosaur Disco at Wednesbury Library and the Library of Birmingham will take families on a Jurassic adventure. Ten CBSO musicians will dive down an Alice in Wonderland rabbit hole for an interactive musical journey at the Wednesbury Museum and Art Gallery, in a sensory concert experience designed for people with special educational needs.

The packed programme also includes string quartets in pubs, a flute and harp duo in an art gallery, and a day of open rehearsals. Plus music director Kazuki Yamada will perform on the West Midlands Metro. The week ends with the launch of the CBSO’s ‘£1 tickets for Brummies’ offer, which will mean that for one afternoon anyone with a Birmingham postcode can buy a ticket for the 2024-25 season for £1.

‘I am truly happy that “CBSO in the City” will be held. Our activities can be limited to the confines of the concert hall, and it has been my long-held dream to not just wait for audiences to come, but to jump out of the concert hall and share music with even more people,’ says Kazuki Yamada, music director of the CBSO. ‘For me, this week will be a series of moments that make that dream come true. Nothing would make me happier than having as many people as possible experience the CBSO. The CBSO is coming to see you!’