Live Brum: Classical Events

Spaghetti Western Orchestra, 23 May 2012

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 21:36:50 +0000

23 May 2012 at Town Hall

The magnificent five are riding into town! Armed with over 100 instruments, these brilliant musicians perform a fistful of Ennio Morricone classics from the movies that made Clint Eastwood a star. The stunning soundtracks include The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, For A Few Dollars More and Once Upon a Time in The West.

This ingenious gang of comic maestros underscore these iconic compositions with hilarious sound effects: blowing on bottles, crushing cornflakes, ‘playing’ coathangers, apples, squeaky toys, rubber gloves, bicycle pumps, nail clippers and many more – recreating every punch up, gunshot, and jangling spur that define the gun slinging west.

Centre Stage - Brahms, Prokofiev and Copland, 24 May 2012

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 20:38:33 +0000

24 May 2012 at CBSO Centre

Prokofiev Overture on Hebrew Themes

Brahms Clarinet Trio

Copland Sextet

CBSO The Year 1912: Ives and Prokofiev, 24 May 2012

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 20:18:42 +0000

24 May 2012 at Symphony Hall

1912: and as Charles Ives imagined what it would sound like if two marching bands collided, the student Prokofiev threw his feisty First Piano Concerto straight in the faces of his outraged professors. Andrew Litton turns up the voltage for this high-octane programme, and then goes even further, with the symphony that threw a stick of dynamite under British music. Walton’s volcanic First Symphony is always a gripping ride – hold on to your hats!

6.15pm Pre-concert talk: Andrew Litton: In conversation with Simon Webb.

Tony Levin Drum Prize , 24 May 2012

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 21:17:52 +0000

24 May 2012 at Birmingham Conservatoire

Music for Lunch Recital, 25 May 2012

Sun, 06 May 2012 22:12:26 +0000

25 May 2012 at Birmingham Cathedral

The popular Music for Lunch series continues with a recital Ya-Ting Lo (piano).

BCMG - Oliver Knussen's 60th Birthday Concert , 25 May 2012

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 21:05:29 +0000

25 May 2012 at CBSO Centre

Birmingham Chamber Orchestra, 26 May 2012

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 10:51:30 +0000

26 May 2012 at Artrix

In 2010, Martin Roscoe and the Birmingham Chamber Orchestra performed Beethoven's third and fourth piano concertos. The Orchestra returns to Artrix with the epic 'Emperor', performed by Simon Callaghan. Two transcendent works by Mozart complete the programme.

Splendours from the Doge's Chapel, 26 May 2012

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 20:17:07 +0000

26 May 2012 at Town Hall

Giovanni Gabrieli was the greatest composer of the Venetian high Renaissance. The singers, cornettists and trombonists he had at his disposal were among the best to be found anywhere, and their virtuosity is clearly reflected in the music he composed for them. Ex Cathedra are delighted to welcome back His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts to help them mark the 400th anniversary of Gabrieli’s death with a programme of stunning music from St Mark’s, Venice.

Junior Conservatoire Youth Strings Project Summer Project , 27 May 2012

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 21:18:39 +0000

27 May 2012 at Birmingham Conservatoire

Lucy Akehurst (director)

Louis Clarks Hooked on Classics, 27 May 2012

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 23:06:32 +0000

27 May 2012 at New Alexandra Theatre

Lunchtime Organ Concert: Thomas Trotter, 28 May 2012

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 11:31:17 +0000

28 May 2012 at Town Hall

Summer Request Concert

Organ Concert by David Saint , 28 May 2012

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 20:45:06 +0000

28 May 2012 at St. Chad's Cathedral

Composer's Platform , 28 May 2012

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 21:19:26 +0000

28 May 2012 at Birmingham Conservatoire

Dracula: The Music and Film, 29 May 2012

Sat, 11 Jun 2011 09:06:36 +0000

29 May 2012 at Symphony Hall

Cinema’s most beguiling bloodsucker appears in a new light as Philip Glass’s revelatory score blows the cobwebs off the iconic 1930s movie Dracula. It’s a unique opportunity to witness one of the world’s most famous composers in action: Glass himself shares the stage with the internationally renowned Kronos Quartet, and his hypnotic music provides an eerie counterpart to the strange suspense of this creepy classic.

Past Lives, 30 May 2012

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 10:01:32 +0000

30 May 2012 at Solihull Arts Complex

A collaborative film & live music performance.

Capturing moving images is now commonplace with mobile phones and pocket cameras, but before the digital age it wasn't so easy. Small format movie cameras were the liberating technology of the mid-20th Century, giving ordinary people the chance to record everyday events on their 8mm and 16mm cameras.

Cipher have collaborated with visual artist Anthony Hatton to produce a thought-provoking and engaging visual and live musical experience – using footage from the Media Archive of Central England, including local images of the West Midlands and with music composed by renowned musicians Theo Travis (flute, sax, keys - David Sylvian, Steven Wilson, Robert Fripp) and Dave Sturt (fretless bass, loops, soundscapes - Gong, Steve Hillage, Bill Nelson), performed live, alongside musicians from Sinfonia

Music for Lunch Recital, 1 Jun 2012

Sun, 06 May 2012 22:14:01 +0000

1 Jun 2012 at Birmingham Cathedral

The popular Music for Lunch series continues with a recital by Tim Harper (Birmingham Cathedral Assistant Director of Music, organ).

CBSO Friday Night Classics: Diamond Jubilations , 1 Jun 2012

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 20:19:37 +0000

1 Jun 2012 at Symphony Hall

Get the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee weekend off to a rousing start, as we mark the occasion with an evening of music written for and about the Royal Family, past and present. With favourite Coronation music by Walton and Elgar, and extracts from Desplat’s score for The King’s Speech, it’s the ideal prelude to a weekend of nationwide celebrations.

Peter Noke & Julian Hellaby, 1 Jun 2012

Sun, 20 May 2012 09:57:28 +0000

1 Jun 2012 at CBSO Centre

Mario Lanza Opera Prize , 2 Jun 2012

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 21:20:07 +0000

2 Jun 2012 at Birmingham Conservatoire

Generously sponsored by the Mario Lanza Society, our undergraduate and postgraduate singers rise to the challenge of presenting two contrasting operatic arias in this afternoon’s competition. Prepare to be enthralled by the skill and virtuosity our students display as they compete to win this esteemed prize.

Maesteg Gleemen Male Voice Choir, 2 Jun 2012

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:53:30 +0000

2 Jun 2012 at St. Martin in the Bull Ring

Diamond Jubilee Concert – Maesteg Gleemen Male Voice Choir with soloist Rhiannon Owen.

Celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of HM The Queen, the choir and soloist will perform a concert of musical favourites, both old and new.

Tickets £10 or £5 for under 16’s for unreserved seating from St. Martin’s Church, 0121-600 6020

Handel's Royal Music: Celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty The Queen, 2 Jun 2012

Sat, 11 Jun 2011 09:07:43 +0000

2 Jun 2012 at Symphony Hall

From the thrilling Zadok the Priest to the monumental Hallelujah Chorus, Symphony Hall is the place to be on Diamond Jubilee weekend. Join the national celebrations with a night of musical fireworks; a festive evening of Handel’s most glorious music featuring all four of the rousing anthems he composed for the coronation of King George II and Queen Caroline.

Concert by Richard Silk and Sue Hill, 3 Jun 2012

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 21:43:02 +0000

3 Jun 2012 at Carrs Lane Church Centre

FREE

Extended Peal to Celebrate the Diamond Jubilee, 4 Jun 2012

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 10:09:39 +0000

4 Jun 2012 at Birmingham Cathedral

FREE

The bell ringers will be attempting an extended peal for the Queen's Jubilee from 10.00am on Monday 4 June 2012 and will ring for approximately nine hours, hoping to finish by 7.00pm. The method chosen is called Avon. It was first rung in 1980 and is a particularly challenging 12-bell method.

Grieg's Piano Concerto , 6 Jun 2012

Fri, 27 May 2011 20:15:10 +0000

6 Jun 2012 at Town Hall

The opening of Grieg’s Piano Concerto is one of the best-known extracts in all classical music on a par with the opening bars of Beethoven’s Fifth or Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachmusik. Join Orchestra of the Swan for the final concert of its 2011-12 season which will include this magnificent work along with Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite No 1 and Delius’s Norwegian Suite.

Cape Town Opera - Porgy and Bess, 6 Jun 2012 - 9 Jun 2012

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 08:48:02 +0000

6 Jun 2012 - 9 Jun 2012 at Birmingham Hippodrome

Following its critically acclaimed UK debut in 2009, the globally renowned Cape Town Opera brings the rarely performed George Gershwin masterpiece Porgy and Bess to Birmingham for the very first time.

Porgy and Bess has emerged as one of the great icons of American music theatre, known around the world as ‘the peoples’ opera’.

Written in 1935 and originally portraying the 1920s life of America’s Deep South, this compelling work contains some of the most stirring and ever-lasting songs including Summertime, I Got Plenty Of Nuttin’, It Ain’t Necessarily So and I Loves You Porgy.

Transplanted to the townships of South Africa, this production provides a contemporary view of an enduring classic which has received critical acclaim the world over.

An Evening with Icarus , 6 Jun 2012

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 21:21:19 +0000

6 Jun 2012 at Birmingham Conservatoire

Student works plus pieces by Richard Causton, Joe Cutler, Alberto Grau, Liz Johnson and many more

An exciting evening of premieres and new music for small vocal ensembles.

Centre Stage - Five CBSO Cellos , 7 Jun 2012

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 20:37:31 +0000

7 Jun 2012 at CBSO Centre

Five members of the CBSO Cello section perform music by Handel, Vivaldi, Bach, Couperin, Dowland and more.

Thursday Live Organ Recital , 7 Jun 2012

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 22:37:00 +0000

7 Jun 2012 at St. Paul's Church

FREE

With Jon Payne

CBSO The Spirit of Defiance , 7 Jun 2012

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 20:21:03 +0000

7 Jun 2012 at Symphony Hall

The Soviet censors called it an ‘optimistic tragedy’. Shostakovich simply called it his Tenth Symphony. Dark, impassioned, packed with secret messages and featuring a terrifying musical portrait of Stalin himself, Shostakovich’s Tenth is one of the most powerful of all twentieth-century symphonies. Andris Nelsons’s first Birmingham performance of this modern masterpiece will be keenly awaited – and the young Latvian violinist Baiba Skride is fast becoming a Birmingham favourite too. Sofia Gubaidulina’s Bach-inspired Concerto, written in defiance of Soviet oppression, makes a wonderfully apt prelude to Shostakovich’s epic drama.

6.15pm Pre-concert talk: Gubaidulina and Shostakovich: Russian music aficionado David Nice introduces tonight’s concert.

9.45pm Post-concert chat: Stay late for a post-concert conversation with Andris Nelsons and Stephen Maddock.

Guitar Department Chamber Concert , 7 Jun 2012

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 21:22:00 +0000

7 Jun 2012 at Birmingham Conservatoire

The programme given by members of the Birmingham Conservatoires Guitar Department will feature an eclectic mix of solo’s, duo’s and larger ensemble pieces from the Baroque period to the present day.