Could you be our new Music Director?

****APPLICATIONS FOR THE MUSIC DIRECTOR POSITION ARE NOW CLOSED******   The Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra is seeking a new Music Director, probably from September 2026. We are amateur musicians who play varied orchestral repertoire to a very high standard and are looking for a conductor with exceptional communication skills who can …

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Keel Watson 1964-2023

The BPO was sorry to learn of the sudden death of bass-baritone Keel Watson, shortly after his commanding performance in the final movement of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with us in Birmingham Town Hall on 22 October 2023. A full obituary appears in The Guardian.

2023 Percussion Bursary

The BPO is delighted to welcome Yufei Zhu as our third annual Royal Birmingham Conservatoire percussion bursary student for the 2023/24 season. Yufei will be in her second year studying percussion at the Conservatoire and has already played with the BPO on several occasions during the past year.

Packed house at Leominster

It was a packed house for Space Odyssey at Leominster Priory on Sunday 4 June.  The audience demanded an encore of Also sprach Zarathustra – and especially enjoyed a surprise extra item in the programme.  But there’s still time to get tickets for the remaining performances of the same concert …

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Matthew Wale

The BPO has recently worked with Royal Birmingham Conservatoire final year student Matthew Wale, performing his composition Fantasia so that it could be recorded for his major project. Matthew has been studying music technology and is also a trombonist, singer, music producer and of course composer. He creates a variety …

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John Ludlow 1931-2022

We are sorry to learn of the death of the violinist John Ludlow. John was the son of David Ludlow who both led and conducted the Birmingham Philharmonic in its formative years. John played violin and also led the orchestra for a while during the late 1940s with his father …

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Our New Home

From September the BPO is moving its home back to the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. Most rehearsals and Birmingham concerts will be in the Conservatoire’s Bradshaw Hall and the BPO is looking forward to developing more links with students and staff.

Andy Perry

BPO members were very sorry to hear of the death of one of our ‘cellists, Andy Perry. Andy had been a member of the BPO since 1997 and will be greatly missed. BPO members’ recollections of Andy go back as far as his days in Sandwell Youth Orchestra. More recently, …

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Anne Hagyard 1958-2021

BPO members were very sorry to hear of the sudden death of Anne Hagyard on 31 December last year. Anne had been a member and principal oboe of the BPO for many years. The photograph shows Anne performing Richard Strauss’ Oboe Concerto during a Sinfonia of Birmingham concert in Germany …

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BPO Wind in Bromsgrove

On Friday 3rd December, Bromsgrove Concerts will be hosting the Birmingham Philharmonic Wind Ensemble in a programme of music from Czechoslovakia, Romania and Austria. Led by Alastair Moseley who is well known to classical music fans in Bromsgrove, the ensemble features 13 musicians who are all members of the Birmingham Philharmonic …

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