To mark the start of our 75th year, we created the BPO Digital Archives where you will find information about the Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra’s history from its inception in 1941.
The History of the Orchestra
The story of the BPO from 1941 to the present day, adapted and updated from A History of the Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra 1941 – 1999 by Margaret Worsley (1999)
Performances
Full details of all concert performances in the following decades – the titles are from Margaret Worsley’s book (above)
The Fund-raising 1940s
The Fluctuating 1950s
The Symphonic 1960s
The Sensational 1970s
The Equivocal 1980s
The Notable 1990s
BPO Concert Performances in the 2000s
BPO Concert Performances in the 2010s
BPO Concert Performances in the 2020s
The concert dates in the lists of performances link directly to a copy of the programme, where one exists. These pages also contain a selection of photographs, posters and newspaper reviews.
Composers
A list of composers with links to their works that we have played.
Works Played by Composers A-C
Works Played by Composers D-F
Works Played by Composers G-L
Works Played by Composers M-Q
Works Played by Composers R-S
Works Played by Composers T-Z
The listings of works contain links to the year of first and last (most recent) performance, and also show the number of times we’ve played the work.
Concert Season Brochures
Since 1979, the orchestra has produced a brochure in September each year, outlining the forthcoming season. These can be accessed on the Previous Concert Seasons page.
Concert venues map
A map has been set up which indicates the locations, numbers of concerts, dates of first concert and dates of most recent concert of our performances since 1941 to the present day. The map can be accessed by following the link below:
Link to BPO concert venues map
We would like to expand the archive to record as much information about the orchestra’s history as possible. There are a number of photographs for which we have no date – any information about when and where they were taken would be very welcome.
And if you have additional archive material relating to the orchestra that you would be willing to share, please contact us.