On Sunday 9th February 2020, John Franklin played his final concert as a member of the Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra’s flute section. John’s record with the orchestra is amazing. He has been a member for 52 years and Principal Flute for 44 of those. Hardly missing a rehearsal or concert during …
Tony joined BPO’s second violins in 1967, a section he was appointed principal of in 1979 and to which he dedicated his entire BPO career of over fifty years. He would sometimes joke he became an expert at playing second fiddle! Tony loved all the music the orchestra played, but …
Mike graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in 1961, and then spent a further two years studying composition and orchestration at the University of Wales. In 1963 Mike began teaching at Darlaston Grammar and Technical School (now Grace Academy), with the responsibility of setting up a …
BPO’s concerts in February 2020 celebrate the lives of recently departed members of our orchestra; Mike Syrett (Bassoon), Sue Peters (Bassoon), Richard Elliott (Tuba) and Tony Smith (Violin). Richard grew up with a passion and talent for music. He graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and followed …
BPO’s concerts in February 2020 celebrate the lives of recently departed members of our orchestra; Mike Syrett (Bassoon), Sue Peters (Bassoon), Richard Elliott (Tuba) and Tony Smith (Violin). Performing with us for over forty-five years, Sue will be remembered for her liveliness, sense of humour and enthusiasm, qualities reflected in the …
Das Rheingold is an incredibly innovative opera; characters changing into animals, Rhinemaidens swimming on stage, and dramatic scene changes are just some of the imaginative techniques used by Wagner. The instrumentation used by Wagner for the opera was also ground-breaking. Bass trumpet and contrabass trombone, seven harps and the incredible …
Although the HBO TV series Game of Thrones is partly based on the English Wars of the Roses, there are also many parallels with the Norse mythology that Wagner drew on for The Ring of the Niebelungen. For a start, there’s a lot of sex, especially involving illegitimate children and …
On Sunday 6th October, the BPO invites you to join us at an open rehearsal for our performance of Richard Wagner’s opera, Das Rheingold. The rehearsal is being held in the Elgar Concert Hall which is in the Bramall Music Building at the University of Birmingham and the doors will …
BPO’s performance of Das Rheingold on the 13th October in Symphony Hall will be unique in many ways. Never before has a non-professional orchestra performed this amazing work in one of the first concert halls in the country, Symphony Hall. Our cast has been hand picked by our musical director, …
The first performance of Das Rheingold was on 22nd September 1869 – exactly 150 years ago – at the National Theatre in Munich. All was not well in the run up to the first performance. Wagner’s primary financial supporter, King Ludwig II of Bavaria, was keen for a performance of …
