What's On and Online Booking

7.30pmThursday 16 September

THE BIRMINGHAM MAHLER CYCLE: ANDRIS NELSONS CONDUCTS SYMPHONY NO. 8

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Nelsons, Shaguch, Wall, Sampson, Kernéus, Fujimura, Semishkur, Maltman, Best, CBSO Chorus & Youth Chorus, CBSO Children's Chorus, Hallé Choir

Mahler

"Try to imagine the whole universe beginning to ring and resound. These are no longer human voices, but planets and suns revolving." With its vast orchestra, and even huger chorus,...

8.00pmSaturday 18 September

THE BIRMINGHAM MAHLER CYCLE: ANDRIS NELSONS CONDUCTS SYMPHONY NO. 8

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Nelsons, Shaguch, Wall, Sampson, Karnéus , Fujimura, Semishkur, Maltman, Best, CBSO Chorus and Youth Chorus, CBSO Children's Chorus, Hallé Choir

Mahler

"Try to imagine the whole universe beginning to ring and resound. These are no longer human voices, but planets and suns revolving." With its vast orchestra, and even huger chorus,...

7.30pmWednesday 22 September

NELSONS CONDUCTS SHOSTAKOVICH

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Nelsons, Tetzlaff

Brahms, Shostakovich

In Soviet Russia, listening to Shostakovich's Eighth Symphony could have got you arrested. Huge in scale, and overwhelmingly powerful, this epic symphonic portrayal of a nation broken by war and tyranny is...

2.15pmFriday 24 September

NELSONS CONDUCTS SHOSTAKOVICH

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Nelsons, Tetzlaff

Brahms, Shostakovich

In Soviet Russia, listening to Shostakovich's Eighth Symphony could have got you arrested. Huge in scale, and overwhelmingly powerful, this epic symphonic portrayal of a nation broken by war and tyranny is...

7.30pmTuesday 28 September

PAGANINI RHAPSODY

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Gardner, Douglas

Rachmaninov, Lutoslawski

What's in a tune? Rachmaninov took a devilish little theme by Paganini and turned it into one of the all-time favourite romantic piano showpieces. A few years later, in occupied Warsaw, the...

7.30pmFriday 01 October

VIENNESE MASTERS

Town Hall, Birmingham. 0121 780 3333

Watkins, Koh

Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven

Expect the unexpected. Beethoven symphonies are supposed to be thunderous blockbusters, but the Fourth is a sparkling, sunlit delight - with a wicked sense of humour thrown in! Mozart's violin concertos are usually...

7.30pmWednesday 13 October

THE BIRMINGHAM MAHLER CYCLE: VASSILY SINAISKY CONDUCTS SYMPHONY NO. 3

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Sinaisky, Bickley, Ladies of the CBSO Chorus, CBSO Youth Chorus

Mahler

"The Symphony is like the world," declared Gustav Mahler "- it must embrace everything!" His huge Third Symphony doesn't quite manage that - but it has a pretty good try. Beginning with...

7.30pmFriday 15 October

CBSO BENEVOLENT FUND CONCERT

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Sinaisky, Pogostkina

Rossini, Bruch, Dvorák

It might be the world's favourite violin concerto, but even if you already know and love it (and who doesn't?), there's always something appealingly fresh about Max Bruch's First. And never more...

7.00pmSaturday 16 October

THE BIRMINGHAM MAHLER CYCLE: VASSILY SINAISKY CONDUCTS SYMPHONY NO. 3

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Sinaisky, Bickley, Ladies of the CBSO Chorus, CBSO Youth Chorus

Mahler

"The Symphony is like the world," declared Gustav Mahler "- it must embrace everything!" His huge Third Symphony doesn't quite manage that - but it has a pretty good try. Beginning with...

7.30pmFriday 29 October

FRIDAY NIGHT CLASSICS: NIGHTMARE ON BROAD STREET

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Seal, Pearson, CBSO Chorus

Halloween season: featuring music from horror films

Featuring music from: Psycho • Poltergeist • Frankenstein • The Witches of Eastwick • Hannibal • The Omen • Bride of Frankenstein • Halloween H2O • Edward Scissorhands • Jurassic Park • The...

7.00pmSunday 31 October

THE BIRMINGHAM MAHLER CYCLE: CBSO YOUTH ORCHESTRA

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Sinaisky, CBSO Youth Orchestra

Mahler; Wagner; Shostakovich

History lessons were never meant to be this exciting. Shostakovich's 11th Symphony isn't just a musical re-telling of the failed Revolution of 1905; it's an epic drama - a vast, teeming panorama...

7.30pmThursday 04 November

MOZART'S CLARINET

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Storgĺrds; Kriikku

Mozart, Beethoven, Sibelius

"A mighty hero / in his veins the blood of ages / head erect and form commanding...but, alas! he had his failings." In all Finnish legend, there's no-one to match the hero...

7.30pmFriday 05 November

FRIDAY NIGHT CLASSICS: REMEMBER, REMEMBER

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Bell, Pochin

Including: Walton: Spitfire Prelude and Fugue • A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square • As Time Goes By • 633 Squadron • Addinsell: Warsaw Concerto • Handel: Music for the Royal Fireworks •...

3.00pmSunday 07 November

FAMILY CONCERT: TO INFINITY - AND BEYOND!

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Seal; Collie; CBSO Boys' Choir; CBSO Young Voices

Space-themed concert

Take a journey into outer space as the CBSO flies you to the moon and beyond, and look back on our world in the company of some favourite composers. There'll be plenty...

7.30pmWednesday 10 November

CBSO 90TH BIRTHDAY CONCERT

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Nelsons, Ehnes

Strauss, Haydn, Elgar

On 10 November 1920 in Birmingham Town Hall, Sir Edward Elgar mounted the podium to conduct the first official concert by the brand-new City of Birmingham Orchestra - the future CBSO. And...

2.15pmThursday 11 November

CBSO 90TH BIRTHDAY CONCERT

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Nelsons, Ehnes

Strauss, Haydn, Elgar

On 10 November 1920 in Birmingham Town Hall, Sir Edward Elgar mounted the podium to conduct the first official concert by the brand-new City of Birmingham Orchestra - the future CBSO. And...

7.30pmThursday 18 November

MOZART'S REQUIEM

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Nelsons, Zupancic, Brandon, Thompson, Kennedy, Nelson, CBSO Chorus

Mozart

The mysterious commission from a masked stranger, Mozart's deathbed struggle to complete the score, the rumours of murder... if you've seen Amadeus, you'll know the legends behind Mozart's Requiem. But the reality is...

7.00pmSaturday 20 November

MOZART'S REQUIEM

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Nelsons, Zupancic, Brandon, Thompson, Kennedy, Nelson, CBSO Chorus

Mozart

The mysterious commission from a masked stranger, Mozart's deathbed struggle to complete the score, the rumours of murder... if you've seen Amadeus, you'll know the legends behind Mozart's Requiem. But the reality is...

7.30pmTuesday 23 November

THE BIRMINGHAM MAHLER CYCLE: ANDRIS NELSONS CONDUCTS SYMPHONY NO. 5

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Nelsons, Halsey, CBSO Choruses

Mahler, Weir, Bach

Every Mahler symphony tells a life-or-death story - but none does it with more romance, more melody or more epic sweep than the Fifth. Opening with a desolate trumpet call and ending...

2.15pmWednesday 24 November

THE BIRMINGHAM MAHLER CYCLE: ANDRIS NELSONS CONDUCTS SYMPHONY NO. 5

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Nelsons, Jackson, Beyers

Mahler, Bach

Every Mahler symphony tells a life-or-death story - but none does it with more romance, more melody or more epic sweep than the Fifth. Opening with a desolate trumpet call and ending...

2.15pmWednesday 01 December

ELGAR'S CELLO CONCERTO

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Manze, Thedéen

Elgar, Grieg, Stenhammer

Tune after tune after tune. There's a good reason why Elgar's Cello Concerto routinely tops polls to find Britain's favourite piece of classical music; its haunting melodies and suppressed passion make it...

7.30pmFriday 03 December

FRIDAY NIGHT CLASSICS: SILENT HEROES

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Davis

Douglas Fairbanks stars in The Iron Mask (1929 version)

This season's silent movie is a swashbuckling adventure starring Douglas Fairbanks, one of the all-action stars of the pre-talkie era. Revel in this take on an 18th-century legend as we turn Symphony...

7.30pmWednesday 08 December

BEETHOVEN AND RACHMANINOV

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Dausgaard, Lortie

Beethoven, Rachmaninov

One concert: two epic dramas. "C'est l'empereur!" cried a French soldier, at the first performance of Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto, and the name has stuck. And fair enough: with its majestic proportions...

7.00pmSaturday 11 December

BEETHOVEN AND RACHMANINOV

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Dausgaard, Lortie

Beethoven , Rachmaninov

One concert: two epic dramas. "C'est l'empereur!" cried a French soldier, at the first performance of Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto, and the name has stuck. And fair enough: with its majestic proportions...

7.30pmThursday 16 December

MENDELSSOHN ABROAD

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Heras-Casado, Bavouzet

Mendelssohn, Schumann, Busoni

It's midwinter in Birmingham - so treat yourself to a blast of musical sunshine, in the form of Mendelssohn's exuberant Italian symphony. From the moment it bursts into life to the dizzying...

3.00pmSaturday 18 December

FESTIVE FAVOURITES WITH PRESENTER BEN FOGLE

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Halsey, Fogle, CBSO Choruses

Traditional Christmas Favourites

Get your Christmas celebrations off to a suitably joyful start in the company of the CBSO and our family of choruses. Enjoy seasonal music from traditional favourites to some more unusual gems...

7.30pmSaturday 18 December

FESTIVE FAVOURITES WITH PRESENTER BEN FOGLE

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Halsey, Fogle, CBSO Choruses

Traditional Christmas favourites

Get your Christmas celebrations off to a suitably joyful start in the company of the CBSO and our family of choruses. Enjoy seasonal music from traditional favourites to some more unusual gems...

11.00amSunday 19 December

NOTELETS: NOEL NOTELETS

CBSO Centre, Birmingham. +44 (0)121 767 4050

CBSO Players

A mini-concert of festive favourites for 3-5 year olds and their families.

...

2.00pmSunday 19 December

NOTELETS: NOEL NOTELETS

CBSO Centre, Birmingham. +44 (0)121 767 4050

CBSO Players

A mini-concert of festive favourites for 3-5 year olds and their families.

...

7.30pmTuesday 21 December

FESTIVE FAVOURITES WITH PRESENTER BEN FOGLE

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Halsey, Fogle, CBSO Choruses

Traditional Christmas Favourites

Get your Christmas celebrations off to a suitably joyful start in the company of the CBSO and our family of choruses. Enjoy seasonal music from traditional favourites to some more unusual gems...

3.00pmWednesday 22 December

FESTIVE FAVOURITES WITH PRESENTER BEN FOGLE

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Halsey, Fogle, CBSO Choruses

Traditional Christmas Favourites

Get your Christmas celebrations off to a suitably joyful start in the company of the CBSO and our family of choruses. Enjoy seasonal music from traditional favourites to some more unusual gems...

7.30pmWednesday 22 December

FESTIVE FAVOURITES WITH PRESENTER BEN FOGLE

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Halsey, Fogle, CBSO Choruses

Traditional Christmas Favourites

Get your Christmas celebrations off to a suitably joyful start in the company of the CBSO and our family of choruses. Enjoy seasonal music from traditional favourites to some more unusual gems...

2.15pmFriday 07 January

VIENNESE NEW YEAR

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Minczuk, Hanslip

Strauss, Léhar, Kreisler

Including: Strauss: On the Beautiful Blue Danube • Tales from the Vienna Woods • Champagne Polka • Long Live the Magyar! • By the Danube's Shores • Wiener Bonbons • Wiener Blut •...

7.30pmFriday 07 January

VIENNESE NEW YEAR

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Minczuk, Hanslip

Music by Strauss, Léhar, Kreisler

Including: Strauss: On the Beautiful Blue Danube • Tales from the Vienna Woods • Champagne Polka • Long Live the Magyar! • By the Danube's Shores • Wiener Bonbons • Wiener Blut •...

7.30pmThursday 13 January

NELSONS CONDUCTS STRAUSS

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Nelsons, Capuçon

Beethoven, Shostakovich, Strauss

Richard Strauss liked to blow his own trumpets... and his horns, trombones and tubas! So when he used a massive orchestra to tell the story of an imaginary hero, complete with enemies...

2.15pmThursday 27 January

SPRING SYMPHONY

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Elts, Dutch

Beethoven, Strauss, Schuman

It's darkest January. But for one afternoon only at Symphony Hall, it's spring! Schumann was head-over-heels in love when he wrote his Spring symphony, and it burst through in the ringing fanfares...

7.30pmFriday 28 January

FRIDAY NIGHT CLASSICS: DEFINITIVE DIVAS

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Hudson, Carewe, Renihan, McParland

Memorable songs from divas through the decades

Including: River Deep, Mountain High • Don't Rain on my Parade • Cabaret Memory • Trolley Song • My Heart Will Go On • Diamonds are Forever • Every Time We Say Goodbye...

7.30pmWednesday 02 February

THE BIRMINGHAM MAHLER CYCLE: ANDRIS NELSONS CONDUCTS SYMPHONY NO. 9

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Nelsons, BCMG, Heinen

Mahler, Turnage

Gustav Mahler knew that no great composer wrote more than nine symphonies. And, struggling with heart disease, stricken by the loss of a child and tormented by love for his fickle young...

7.30pmThursday 03 February

TUNED IN: MAHLER SYMPHONY NO. 9

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Nelsons, Johnson

Mahler

Few symphonies tell a story as rich as that of Mahler's Ninth. So join presenter Stephen Johnson, conductor Andris Nelsons, and the full CBSO, for the latest in the CBSO's acclaimed Tuned...

7.30pmThursday 10 February

THE BIRMINGHAM MAHLER CYCLE: KINDERTOTENLIEDER

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Stotijn

Mahler, Schubert, Dvorák

The CBSO is sad to learn of the death of Sir Charles Mackerras, who was to have conducted this concert. A replacement will be announced in due course. ...

2.15pmWednesday 16 February

NELSONS CONDUCTS BEETHOVEN

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Nelsons, Pike

Beethoven, Vaughan Williams

Spring awakening: with the very first notes of his Eroica Symphony, Beethoven blew the world of music wide open. It was supposed to be about Napoleon - but there's no doubt about...

7.00pmSaturday 19 February

HEROES

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Nelsons, Serdiuk, CBSO Chorus

Prokofiev, Beethoven

Welcome the heroes. Beethoven lived through the age of Revolution; Prokofiev worked in Stalin's Russia. But they both knew how to tell a thrilling story. Alexander Nevsky may have begun as an...

7.30pmWednesday 23 February

THE BIRMINGHAM MAHLER CYCLE: SAKARI ORAMO CONDUCTS SYMPHONY NO. 10

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Oramo

Mahler

When Gustav Mahler died in May 1911, he left his final symphony tantalisingly unfinished. So Deryck Cooke's completion of this mighty score was one of the twentieth century's great feats of artistic...

7.00pmSunday 27 February

CBSO YOUTH ORCHESTRA

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Wilson, McCawley

Debussy, Gershwin, Vaughan Williams

Those twentieth-century blues…the sensuous harmonies and shot-silk colours of Debussy's impressionist masterpiece launched a new era for classical music. Five decades and two world wars later, Ralph Vaughan Williams stood back and surveyed...

7.30pmTuesday 01 March

DANCING IN THE STREETS

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Kalmar, Osborne

Adams, Bernstein, Falla, Gershwin

From Gershwin tapping through the streets of jazz-age Paris, to John Adams imagining Mao Zedong and Madame Mao in a show-stopping foxtrot - there's no denying that American composers have got rhythm! South...

7.30pmFriday 04 March

FRIDAY NIGHT CLASSICS: THE JOHN LENNON SONGBOOK

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Wilson, Martin, Stigers, McGann

CBSO-style tribute to John Lennon

Including: In My Life • Julia • I Should Have Known Better • You've Got To Hide Your Love Away • Girl • Ticket To Ride • Norwegian Wood • Yes It Is...

7.30pmThursday 10 March

NORDIC ODYSSEY

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Volkov, Jackson

Sibelius, Nielsen, Sřrensen

A glowing sunrise, a flight of swans, the endless stillness of the great northern forests…different listeners have heard many things in Sibelius's Fifth. But you don't have to see any images at...

12.00pmSaturday 12 March

NOTELETS: NUMBERJACK NOTELETS

CBSO Centre, Birmingham. +44 (0)121 767 4050

CBSO Players

An exciting new collaboration with CBeebies' Numberjacks, in a live mini-concert for 3-5 year olds and their families.

...

3.00pmSaturday 12 March

NOTELETS: NUMBERJACK NOTELETS

CBSO Centre, Birmingham. +44 (0)121 767 4050

CBSO Players

An exciting new collaboration with CBeebies' Numberjacks, in a live mini-concert for 3-5 year olds and their families.

...

7.00pmSaturday 12 March

TUNED IN: SIBELIUS SYMPHONY NO. 5

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Volkov, Johnson

Tuned In: Sibelius Symphony No. 5

Sibelius's Fifth Symphony has inspired musicians from John Coltrane to the Beach Boys - and its stirring final "Swan Hymn" has become one of the iconic melodies of the 20th century. But...

2.15pmWednesday 16 March

NEW WORLD SYMPHONY

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Lintu, Hewitt

Liszt, Beethoven, Dvorák

Angela Hewitt is one of the great musical communicators of modern times: her recordings of Bach's keyboard music have been described as "one of the glories of our age". And she brings...

3.00pmSunday 20 March

FAMILY CONCERT: THE WORLD AT YOUR FEET

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Coorey, Malloy, CBSO Youth Chorus

The World at Your Feet

Get ready for a whistle-stop world tour guaranteed to leave your toes tapping, as the CBSO treats you to an afternoon of dance music from around the globe. We'll be hopping across...

11.30amWednesday 23 March

SCHOOLS CONCERT: MERRY PRANKS

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Seal, Pearson

Schools Concert

Who'd have thought that composers would be inspired to write music about cheeky boys and the scrapes they get into? Based on a German folk story, Richard Strauss's action-packed tone poem Till...

1.30pmWednesday 23 March

SCHOOLS CONCERT: MERRY PRANKS

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Seal, Pearson

Schools Concert

Who'd have thought that composers would be inspired to write music about cheeky boys and the scrapes they get into? Based on a German folk story, Richard Strauss's action-packed tone poem Till...

7.30pmThursday 24 March

TELLING TALES

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Seal, Donohoe

Strauss, Liszt, Dvorák, Janácek

Once upon a time... four composers set out to tell a story. Richard Strauss told the tale of a famous prankster, in some of his cheekiest and most playful music. Antonín Dvorák...

7.00pmSunday 27 March

SINGALONG WITH THE CBSO: FAURE'S REQUIEM

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Halsey, CBSO Chorus

Handel, Fauré

Don't miss the chance to join the CBSO and its world-renowned chorus director Simon Halsey for a spectacular day in the company of over 1000 other singers, in Birmingham's wonderful Symphony Hall....

7.30pmTuesday 29 March

THE BIRMINGHAM MAHLER CYCLE: JAC VAN STEEN CONDUCTS SYMPHONY NO. 6

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

van Steen

Mahler

Art imitates life - it isn't meant to happen the other way round. Mahler imagined his mighty Sixth Symphony as an epic musical tragedy, in which a hero is destroyed by three...

7.30pmFriday 01 April

FRIDAY NIGHT CLASSICS: THE MUSIC OF ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Davies, West End Vocalists

Lloyd Webber

Including hits from: Love Never Dies • The Phantom of the Opera • Cats • Evita • Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat • The Woman in White • Starlight Express •...

2.15pmWednesday 06 April

BRITISH CLASSICS

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Wilson, Haveron, Power

Walton, Delius, Benjamin, Haydn Wood, Sullivan, Hartley, Elgar, Farnon, Warner, Toye, Coates

Springtime in England; and what better way to celebrate it than with this delightfully tuneful afternoon of pure Light Programme indulgence? Some of these pieces are light-music classics, others are the kind...

7.00pmSaturday 09 April

QUEEN HAIM

Town Hall, Birmingham. 0121 780 3333

Haďm, Crowe, Lyon

Lully, Purcell, Rameau

Forget about Avatar. For a world truly beyond the imagination, follow Emmanuelle Haďm into the astonishing realm of the French Baroque. It's a world of sun kings and thunder gods, of lovers...

7.30pmThursday 14 April

BALLETS RUSSES

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Nelsons, CBSO Chorus

Stravinsky, Ravel

Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes launched twentieth-century art in a blaze of energy. As part of the CBSO's ten-year 2020 project, we celebrate that astonishing moment with two of the revolutionary scores that Diaghilev...

6.30pmThursday 21 April

STRAVINSKY'S RITE OF SPRING - 3D PERFORMANCE

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Mach

Stravinsky

Any live performance of Stravinsky's infamous Rite of Spring is a mind-blowing experience - the music alone is brim-full of raw emotion and ritualistic frenzy. Tonight, experience an astonishing interplay between reality and...

8.30pmThursday 21 April

STRAVINSKY'S RITE OF SPRING - 3D PERFORMANCE

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Mach

Stravinsky

Any live performance of Stravinsky's infamous Rite of Spring is a mind-blowing experience - the music alone is brim-full of raw emotion and ritualistic frenzy. Tonight, experience an astonishing interplay between reality and...

7.30pmFriday 29 April

FRIDAY NIGHT CLASSICS: A NIGHT AT THE OPERA

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Stratford, Pierard, Kim, Grice

Favourite operatic arias, ensembles and overtures

Including favourite arias, ensembles and overtures from: Verdi: La Traviata • Bizet: The Pearl Fishers • Puccini: La Bohčme • Rossini: The Barber of Seville • Mozart: Don Giovanni •...

2.15pmWednesday 04 May

THE ORGAN SYMPHONY

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Märkl, Tiempo, Trotter

Debussy, Ravel, Saint-Saëns

You might have heard it in the film Babe, but trust us - when the mighty Symphony Hall organ crashes in at the end of Saint-Saëns's Organ Symphony, and the CBSO's trumpets...

7.30pmThursday 05 May

THE ORGAN SYMPHONY

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Märkl, Tiempo, Trotter

Debussy, Ravel, Saint-Saëns

You might have heard it in the film Babe, but trust us - when the mighty Symphony Hall organ crashes in at the end of Saint-Saëns's Organ Symphony, and the CBSO's trumpets...

2.15pmThursday 12 May

RUSSIAN CLASSICS

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Litton, Trpceski

Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Shostakovich

The Soviet censors called it an "optimistic tragedy". Shostakovich simply called it his Tenth Symphony. Dark, deeply emotional, packed with secret messages and featuring at its heart a terrifying musical portrait of...

11.00amSaturday 14 May

NOTELETS: I'VE GOT RHYTHM!

CBSO Centre, Birmingham. +44 (0)121 767 4050

CBSO Players

Plenty of toe-tapping beats and music to move to, in a mini-concert for 3-5 year olds and their families.

...

2.00pmSaturday 14 May

NOTELETS: I'VE GOT RHYTHM!

CBSO Centre, Birmingham. +44 (0)121 767 4050

CBSO Players

Plenty of toe-tapping beats and music to move to, in a mini-concert for 3-5 year olds and their families.

...

7.00pmSaturday 14 May

RUSSIAN CLASSICS

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Litton, Trpceski

Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Shostakovich

The Soviet censors called it an "optimistic tragedy". Shostakovich simply called it his Tenth Symphony. Dark, deeply emotional, packed with secret messages and featuring at its heart a terrifying musical portrait of...

3.00pmSunday 15 May

FAMILY CONCERT: LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Seal, Sharp, CBSO Boys' Choir, CBSO Young Voices

Little Red Riding Hood

Are you sitting comfortably? Then we'll begin. Let the CBSO and master story-teller Matthew Sharp take you to the forest and into a magical world of fairy-tale and adventure. Follow our intrepid...

7.30pmWednesday 18 May

THE BIRMINGHAM MAHLER CYCLE: SAKARI ORAMO CONDUCTS SYMPHONY NO. 2

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Oramo, Irwin, Pokupic, CBSO chorus

Mahler

Gustav Mahler may have believed that a symphony "should be like the world", but his Second Symphony goes further - and takes you to the end of the world itself! It's more...

7.30pmTuesday 24 May

THE GREAT C MAJOR

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Weller, Lazic

Brahms, Schubert

The greatest symphony Brahms never wrote - and the Great symphony Schubert nearly didn't! Both composers step beyond the stereotype in this blockbuster programme. Forget about Brahms the grumpy old man; his First...

2.15pmWednesday 25 May

THE GREAT C MAJOR

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Weller, Lazic

Brahms, Schubert

The greatest symphony Brahms never wrote - and the Great symphony Schubert nearly didn't! Both composers step beyond the stereotype in this blockbuster programme. Forget about Brahms the grumpy old man; his First...

7.30pmFriday 27 May

FRIDAY NIGHT CLASSICS: A NIGHT AT THE OSCARS

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Davis, Ellington

A Night at the Oscars

No great film is complete without a memorable soundtrack. So, roll out the red carpet for an evening of music from Oscar-winning films through the decades with conductor and all-American showman Carl...

7.30pmWednesday 01 June

TRAGEDY AND TRIUMPH

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Nelsons, Ursuleasa

Tchaikovsky, Bartók

The horns blast out a savage fanfare; the trumpets scream in reply... and you know this isn't going to be any ordinary symphony. It's Tchaikovsky's Fourth, the no-holds-barred emotional autobiography in which one...

11.00amSaturday 04 June

NOTELETS: SPLISH, SPLASH, SPLOSH!

CBSO Centre, Birmingham. +44 (0)121 767 4050

CBSO Players

Fun-filled summertime music to get you in a holiday mood, in a mini-concert for 3-5 year olds and their families.

...

2.00pmSaturday 04 June

NOTELETS: SPLISH, SPLASH, SPLOSH!

CBSO Centre, Birmingham. +44 (0)121 767 4050

CBSO Players

Fun-filled summertime music to get you in a holiday mood, in a mini-concert for 3-5 year olds and their families.

...

7.00pmSaturday 04 June

TRAGEDY AND TRIUMPH

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Nelsons, Ursuleasa

Tchaikovsky, Bartók

The horns blast out a savage fanfare; the trumpets scream in reply... and you know this isn't going to be any ordinary symphony. It's Tchaikovsky's Fourth, the no-holds-barred emotional autobiography in which one...

7.30pmTuesday 07 June

RAVEL IN SPAIN

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Nelsons, Stephany, Bottone, Beuron, Shore

Ravel

The mule-driver, the clockmaker, his wife and her lover. Give them an hour, throw them together in a roomful of clocks, and... well, over to Maurice Ravel! L'heure espagnole is the result;...

7.00pmSunday 12 June

THE BIRMINGHAM MAHLER CYCLE: SIR SIMON RATTLE CONDUCTS DAS LIED VON DER ERDE

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Rattle, Kožená, Schade

Messiaen, Mahler

Twenty years to the day since Sir Simon Rattle and the CBSO inaugurated Birmingham's brand new Symphony Hall, the legend returns. Sir Simon, mezzo Magdalena Kožená and tenor Michael Schade bring down the...

7.30pmWednesday 15 June

RAVEL'S BOLÉRO

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Nelsons, Minenko

Fauré, Dalbavie, Ravel

Ravel might seem like the last word in Gallic chic, but he was born in the Basque country, and Spanish blood pulses beneath the surface of even his most elegant music. So...

7.00pmSaturday 18 June

THERE WAS A CHILD

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Halsey, Tynan,, Spence, CBSO Chorus, CBSO Youth Chorus, CBSO Children's Chorus

Britten, Whitacre, Butterworth, Dove

The land of lost content... For over a century, English literature has revelled in nostalgia for childhood; and where words lead, music follows. Jonathan Dove wrote There Was a Child as a...

11.30amWednesday 22 June

SCHOOLS CONCERT: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Meister

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Music has an incredible power to tell stories, and lots of composers have been inspired by Shakespeare's plays. In today's Schools Concert, specially devised for Key Stage 2 (Years 3 & 4),...

1.30pmWednesday 22 June

SCHOOLS CONCERT: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Meister

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Music has an incredible power to tell stories, and lots of composers have been inspired by Shakespeare's plays. In today's Schools Concert, specially devised for Key Stage 2 (Years 3 & 4),...

7.30pmThursday 23 June

MIDSUMMER MENDELSSOHN

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Meister, Steinbacher

Mendelssohn, Beethoven

It takes some doing to improve on Shakespeare - but not even the Bard himself could top the magic that the young Felix Mendelssohn sprinkled all over his ravishing music for A...

7.30pmFriday 01 July

FRIDAY NIGHT CLASSICS: PUTIIN' ON THE RITZ

Symphony Hall, Birmingham. +44 (0)121-780 3333

Wilson, Criswell, Williams

Puttin' on the Ritz

Including: Cheek to Cheek • Pick Yourself Up • The Way You Look Tonight • Let's Call the Whole Thing Off • They Can't Take That Away From Me • Top Hat •...