CBSO Youth Orchestra

The CBSO Youth Orchestra in Birmingham, England is an amateur symphony orchestra for young people managed by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO). The orchestra is based at CBSO Centre but performs at Symphony Hall, Birmingham; membership is drawn from the entire Midlands region.

The orchestra was founded in October 2004 as the successor to the Midland Youth Orchestra, an independent youth orchestra established by the then CBSO general manager Blyth Major and which operated from 1956 until being wound up in response to falling membership in summer 2004. The orchestra recruits young orchestral musicians in the 14-21 age range and performs two concerts annually under the direction of the CBSO’s Music Director or one of the CBSO’s regular guest conductors. These have included Andris Nelsons, Edward Gardner, Sakari Oramo, Andrew Litton, Jac van Steen, Paul Daniel, Martyn Brabbins, Thomas Sondergard, Alan Buribayev, Alexander Vedernikov and Mike Seal. Soloists have included Alison Balsom, Alina Pogostkina, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Christine Rice, Katarina Karnéus, Guy Johnston, Leon McCawley, Chloë Hanslip, Martin Roscoe, Tasmin Little, Peter Donohoe and Lore Lixenberg.

In line with CBSO programming policy, the Youth Orchestra has a policy of performing music that is outside of the standard repertoire, and often more ambitious than that usually associated with youth orchestras. This has included Shostakovich's Eleventh Symphony, John Foulds' Le Cabaret, Mahler's Seventh Symphony, Julian Anderson's Alhambra Fantasy, Ligeti's Concert Romanesc, Korngold's Violin Concerto, Stravinsky's Pulcinella, Alban Berg's Seven Early Songs and Jörg Widmann's Con Brio. In February 2007 it gave the world premiere of Streamlines by Tansy Davies, a work commissioned by the Feeney Trust specifically for the CBSO Youth Orchestra. Subsequent commissions have included Più Mosso by Luke Bedford (premiered October 2009) and Leckey by Ben Foskett (premiered October 2011). New works from Charlotte Bray and Mark Anthony Turnage are scheduled for February and November 2014 respectively.

In September 2007 the CBSO Youth Orchestra launched a subsidiary chamber orchestra, the CBSO Youth Orchestra Academy, which performs annually under Mike Seal at Birmingham Town Hall.

Former members of the CBSO Youth Orchestra include Ben Gernon, Jamie Phillips and Laura Mvula.

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