CrossCurrents festival returns to University of Birmingham

The University of Birmingham has announced that its CrossCurrents new music festival will return in spring 2024 following a break due to the pandemic. Running from 24 February to 17 March, the 2024 festival is set to feature 10 concerts with 20 world premieres.

Crosscurrents is set to kick off with a performance by Her Ensemble, the string orchestra for musicians of marginalised genders, on 24 February, with a programme centred around Errollyn Wallen’s Concerto Grosso which also features world premieres of two new works by Sasha Scott and Joanna Borrett.

Birmingham’s head of university music and concerts Jo Sweet said: ‘We couldn’t be more excited for this spring’s series of concerts. The CrossCurrents new music festival returns after a covid-enforced break and includes a mind-blowing 20 world premieres, electronic improvisation, jazz, and folk, alongside big choral and orchestral performances. As ever, we look forward to welcoming you to our performances!’

The festival will also feature pianist Siwan Rhys’s interpretation of Luigi Nono’s ...sofferte onde serene.... and the University’s New Music Ensemble’s performance of a suite of new works inspired by Dante’s Inferno, performed by live and electronic instruments. Then composer and sound artist Annie Mahtani and bass player, composer and improvisor Chris Mapp take the audience on a journey through natural and electronic sound worlds before pianist and composer Fergus McCreadie joins forces with Manchester Collective on 14 March.

CrossCurrents will close on 17 March with a performance by the University of Birmingham’s Philharmonic Orchestra marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of American modernist composer Charles Ives. The festival will run alongside the University’s programme of regular free Friday concerts, Barber Lunchtime and Evening Concerts and BBC Radio 3 New Generation concerts. You can find more information about the University’s music events here.