City of Sounds: Mozart, Ravel and a selection of BBC Ten Pieces - Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra and Di Xiao (piano)
City of Sounds Festival
£12 (£10) (£3, BCU students)
Conductor (BPO) Michael Lloyd
Conductor (LEAP Ensemble) Dan Watson
Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra with pianist Di Xiao and talented young musicians of the West Midlands
Bizet Habenera & Toreador from Carmen
Mozart Horn Concerto - Orchestral Arrangement
Jeremy Clay Endah Veneera – LEAP Ensemble
Bach Toccata and Fugue in D minor - Orchestral Arrangement
Chris Cresswell Just Imagine
Bernstein Mambo from West Side Story
Mozart Piano Concerto No.20 in D minor K 466
Ravel Piano Concerto in G
Birmingham Conservatoire and Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra hold a longstanding relationship. Each year the organisations work together to produce the BPO Concerto Prize, a collaboration thought to be unique amongst UK Conservatoires. The Adrian Boult Hall has also been used by the BPO throughout its history for both concerts and rehearsals.
In this celebratory concert, the orchestra take to the Adrian Boult Hall stage one last time with pianist Di Xiao. Di Xiao is a former European Concert Halls Organisation Rising Star and Birmingham Conservatoire graduate and tutor who has built a reputation as an international ambassador for the piano and was awarded the Mulan Foundation prize for Contribution to Arts and Culture in 2014. Described as a 'pianist of awesome gifts' Di Xiao will join the orchestra for Mozart's D Minor Concerto. Complementing this is Ravel's lively Piano Concerto in G, said by the composer to have been written in the spirit of Mozart and Saint-Saens.
In true collaborative style, they will also be joined by talented young musicians from the Conservatoire's Aspire programme for the first half of the concert. A new initiative of the Conservatoire's Learning and Participation Department, the programme will nurture the most talented young musicians from the region, who show potential for careers within the music industry. As the official launch to the programme and as the culmination of a series of workshops that they have participated in with the Conservatoire Learning and Participation Ensemble, Aspire musicians from Sandwell, Northampton and Worcester will present a selection of BBC 10 Pieces Repertoire. The musicians will also join forces with the BPO in Bernstein's Mambo and what promises to be a impressive finale.
This event is supported by BCU Graduate+
Learning and Participation activities supported by:
City of Sounds Festival
In a city recognised for its architectural transformations, the City of Sounds festival is an invitation to remember, to celebrate and to look to the future of Birmingham’s rich music scene.
In conjunction with:
