Birtwistle in Birmingham: Pre-Concert Talk - Sir Harrison Birtwistle in Conversation with Howard Skempton

Birtwistle in Birmingham is a mini-festival celebrating the music of arguably Britain’s greatest living composer, while also celebrating his 80th birthday. The festival builds on the Conservatoire’s retrospectives of Pierre Boulez, Louis Andriessen, Heiner Goebbels and Robert Ashley in recent years.

Over three days, Sir Harrison Birtwistle will be in attendance at Birmingham Conservatoire, working with our composers and instrumentalists. In addition to public talks, the culmination on his visit will be a final concert with the Conservatoire’s celebrated Thallein Ensemble, which will include a performance of his acclaimed work Panic which caused a minor scandal at the Last Night of the Proms a few years ago.

Birtwistle in Birmingham is produced in partnership with the Park Lane Group and supported by the Hinrichsen Foundation, Holst Foundation and the RVW Trust.

Photo: Hanya Chlala