One of Birmingham's most exciting chamber orchestras.

I'm very excited to present our season of music for 2022/23. The music of Beethoven is very familiar to us and is an important part of the Eroica repertoire. It has also been a source of inspiration for many subsequent composers. Carl Nielsen is perhaps not someone we immediately think of when we consider the influence of Beethoven but, for me, the Dane's early symphonies have the kind of punchy and taut symphonic structure that Beethoven was a master of. This season, we will perform Nielsen's first two symphonies alongside two of Beethoven's early symphonies - the second and the fourth. The 'bonkers' I refer to in the season theme is very much evident in Nielsen's symphonies, more obviously in the later ones, which feature unusual effects like wordless singers, sparring timpani and militant side drums. But there are definite zany quirks to be found in his early symphonies that will hopefully give you a chuckle or two as well as some distinctive harmonic twists that are characteristic of the composer.

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Elsewhere in the season we present another lesser known symphony by a more familiar composer - Antonin Dvořák. We will perform his fifth symphony. In this work we begin to feel the influence of Brahms but the work is distintively Dvořák, delightfully lyrical, exciting and the scherzo third movement is just glorious. Alongside this symphony we will hear Beethoven's aria, Ah! Perfido, sung by soprano, Miriam Ridgway, who is returning to sing with us after previously joining us for Berlioz's song cycle Les nuits d'été. 

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Join us for this, our first season since the Covid pandemic and our first season bringing you our new philosophy, which includes 'pay what you feel'. There are no tickets to buy but you can choose to donate to our fund if you are able and wish to. We hope you enjoy the music!

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Peter Marks
Music Director