Birmingham's most exciting chamber orchestra

Our very first public concert took place in September 2006 in the Recital Hall of what was then the Birmingham Conservatoire - that not-so-pretty building having now been demolished - featuring a programme of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven. Those composers and the size of orchestra that they had in mind when writing their music have very much been the mainstay of our concerts over the years. My own inspiration at the time I formed the orchestra was very much the period instrument ensembles and modern instrument chamber orchestras that had brought so many of those composers' works to life for me.​

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Since then I have come to better appreciate performances of those works by all manner of ensembles, from small chamber orchestras all the way up to large symphony-sized orchestras. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I am less dogmatic about the way I like my Beethoven performed these days! And so my approach to performance practice with Eroica has evolved over time. I would like to think that expressing what I feel in the music is the number one priority, whatever style that may require.

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The same approach has applied as I have programmed Romantic composers more and more in the last ten years, such as Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Nielsen. The size of the orchestra has grown, to some degree, to do these works justice, though we don't need huge numbers of string players to fill our local performance 'home' - St Nicolas Church in Kings Norton, where we have performed since 2011. 

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And so, how are we planning to celebrate 20 years of Eroica? Another performance of Beethoven's 'Eroica' symphony, perhaps? Our old favourite, The Voříšek Symphony in D? Actually, no - much as I love those pieces. Instead, we look to a composer I never thought 20 years ago we would be tackling: Gustav Mahler. There's no way we're going to fit the kind of orchestra needed for most of his works in St Nicolas, but I reckon we can make a decent job of his Symphony No 4, featuring a relatively small orchestra (for Mahler!) and a soprano. Incorporating as it does music from his Das Knaben Wunderhorn song cycle, I thought it would be nice to do some of those songs too and give our soprano some more to do in the concert!

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Earlier in 2026 we will be paring down a little for Mozart's Symphony No 38 'Prague' and the Cello Concerto No 1 by Camille Saint-Saens, featuring a suitably Classical-sized orchestra and the indefatigable Sally Alexander MBE, founder of the local groundbreaking Kimichi music schools.

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We hope you enjoy the music! Head to our concerts page for more details about the season ahead.

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Peter Marks

Music Director

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