CBSO in the City: removing all barriers, bringing people together & reminding us music should be about having fun, CBSO presents 20 free performances across the city

CBSO in the City 2025 - New Street Station (Photo: Jonathan Ferro)

This weekend (27-31 August) the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) goes beyond its home at Symphony Hall for five days to deliver 20 free performances in public spaces in and around the city. CBSO in the City sees members of the orchestra presenting music in unexpected places.

There are family friendly performances of The Wind in the Willows at Birmingham Library, solo harp at Birmingham Children's Hospital, harp and flute duo at Birmingham Library, a string quartet plays in The Exchange’s Banking Hall café alongside the University of Birmingham’s breathtaking Helios installation by British artist Luke Jerram, and there will be string trio and string quartet performances at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery alongside Joe Lycett's exhibition, Everything Must Go. CBSO Music Director, Kazuki Yamada, will also be performing piano on a CBSO- branded tram

CBSO Brass perform at Touchwood’s Summer Sessions at the Beach in Theatre Square in Solihull playing a selection of popular works arranged for brass ensemble, including Disco Inferno, Sweet Home Alabama, Total Eclipse of the Heart. CBSO Woodwind Ensemble will be in Birmingham Botanical Gardens and saxophonist Jess Gillam (CBSO Collaborative Artist) will lead Saxophones in the City, a mass ‘come and play’ clarinet and saxophone event at Brindleyplace with over 60 participants ranging from age 12 to 89.

Infinite Opera, Grand Union and the CBSO present Open for Business, an ambitious community operatic performance unfolding across nine venues in Digbeth. Open for Business is a walking opera that features four fictional characters built from real conversations with local workers and residents. The opera follows these characters through snapshots from a year in their lives, whilst their connection to Digbeth shifts and develops through past, present and future simulations.

The CBSO and CBSO Chorus will take over the concourse at New Street Station under conductor Jack Lovell-Huckle performing everything from Gershwin and Copland to Rossini and Beethoven to The Phantom Menace and Pirates of the Caribbean, and the weekend ends with further performances of this programme in the Bullring.

CBSO in the City 2025 - Birmingham Library (Photo: Jonathan Ferro)

Emma Stenning, CBSO Chief Executive, commented: “CBSO in the City is about us doing something special to celebrate our home city and sharing the gift of free music to people of all ages and from all walks of life. Thousands of people will experience live orchestral music for the first time, and the range of music programming and exciting locations will both play a part in making the performances exciting, fun and accessible. We also appreciate that the cost-of-living crisis has been a worry for so many people, and our £1 golden tickets will give many people that see us this coming weekend the bonus of a great night out to look forward to in the autumn. Music is for everyone and there should never be barriers to this. CBSO in the City fully opens up the world of orchestral music – removing all barriers, bringing people together and reminding us that music should ultimately be about having fun.”

All public performances are free (except for admission fees for some host venues) and residents that
experience a CBSO performance will have to chance to pick up a golden ticket – which means that for
just £1, they will be able to book a CBSO concert of their choice in the 2026-27 Season at Symphony Hall which starts in September.

Full details from the CBSO website.