City Of Birmingham Orchestra

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra is the first British orchestra to be funded by a city council. Its opening concert was conducted by composer Edward Elgar. Since then, the orchestra has thrived as a bastion of musical culture in the Midlands. It has also gained a reputation for adventurous programming, underlined by the long, fruitful appointment of Simon Rattle as music director. The CBSO was founded in 1920. Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla was named music director in 2016, becoming the orchestra's first female director. In 2019, Gražinytė-Tyla, in her debut recording, led the CBSO on the album Weinberg: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 21. After serving as principal guest conductor since 2018, the CBSO announced that Kazuki Yamada would be its next chief conductor and artistic advisor beginning in 2023.