Frequently Asked Questions
If you can't find the answer you're looking for here, contact Richard Bratby on 0121 616 6522 or rbratby@cbso.co.uk to find out more.
- What is the CBSO Youth Orchestra?
- Where and when does the CBSO Youth Orchestra meet?
- What standard do I need to be to apply?
- What age must I be to apply?
- How much does it cost?
- I'm already in my county youth orchestra - does this mean I can't apply?
- Are the courses residential?
- Who's the conductor?
- Who are the soloists?
- What do you play?
- I write music - can I have my works performed by the CBSO Youth Orchestra?
The CBSO Youth Orchestra is an amateur symphony orchestra for young people, run by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. It was set up in 2004 in response to the winding-up of the Midland Youth Orchestra (MYO) - to complement the region's existing youth orchestras and to offer young orchestral musicians in the Midlands the opportunity to work with top professional orchestral musicians, conductors and soloists in challenging and exciting repertoire.
The orchestra meets for only one week at a time in school half-term holidays (Autumn and Spring), for a five-day course of rehearsals followed by a concert. Rehearsals are usually between 10am and 5pm, with occasional evening sessions and are generally held in CBSO Centre, Berkley Street, Birmingham. Concerts are usually at Symphony Hall or Warwick Arts Centre.
The CBSO Youth Orchestra Academy also meets for a week each summer, allowing a selected chamber orchestra drawn from the CBSO Youth Orchestra to perform smaller-scale repertoire, and take part in other musical activities.
Basically, Grade 7-plus for strings, Grade 8-plus for wind, brass and percussion. The orchestra does aim to play challenging music to a very high standard, so it's not suitable for beginners. But how you perform in audition is far more important to us than your official 'grade' - so if you're keen to give it a try, and feel ready for the challenge, please do apply, even if you haven't yet taken (or aren't planning to take) your Grade 7 or 8.
Usually, you should be no younger than 14 and no older than 21 at the starting date of the first course in any given season. But we will make occasional exceptions, particularly in the case of 'rare' instruments such as bassoons, double basses, violas and harps - so if in doubt, it's certainly worth applying.
£35.00 per course - making the CBSO Youth Orchestra one of the most inexpensive youth orchestras of its type in the country. There are no additional costs. We're keen to attract the very best young players, irrespective of their financial ability - so if even this low fee is too high for you, we may be able to help you through our bursary scheme.
Do I have to live in Birmingham to join the orchestra?
No - though Birmingham residents are extremely welcome! The CBSO Youth Orchestra rehearses in Birmingham, and if you can make it to the rehearsals and concerts - no matter where from - we'll consider you for membership. The orchestra recruits actively in the former West Midlands County, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire, though we've also taken members from Cornwall, Derbyshire, Dorset, Hampshire, Lincolnshire, London, Manchester, Oxfordshire, Rutland, and Powys.
Quite the contrary. The CBSO Youth Orchestra was set up specifically to offer a more advanced level of orchestral experience to members of other youth and schools orchestras. It's meant to be something you can join in addition to your regular orchestra. Because the CBSO Youth Orchestra only meets during half-term holidays, it shouldn't clash with your regular orchestral commitments.
No - members need to be able to get to and from central Birmingham on each day of the course.
The CBSO Youth Orchestra doesn't have a permanent principal conductor or music director - we work with different conductors for each concert, including CBSO Music Director Andris Nelsons, CBSO Principal Guest Conductor Sakari Oramo, CBSO Assistant Conductor Michael Seal, and the most exciting of the CBSO's roster of guest conductors. These have included Garry Walker, Paul Daniel, Jac van Steen and Martyn Brabbins. Each conductor chooses their own concert programme.
An important aim of the CBSO Youth Orchestra is to give its members a taste of what it means to be a member of the CBSO - including having the opportunity to perform with world-class guest artists. So our policy is to engage only soloists who've already performed with the CBSO itself. These have included Peter Donohoe, Joanna MacGregor (piano), Alison Balsom (trumpet), Tasmin Little (violin) and Guy Johnston (cello). We don't usually engage non-professional or first-time soloists.
The CBSO has a worldwide reputation for adventurous and innovative programming, with particular emphasis on contemporary music. The repertoire of the CBSO Youth Orchestra reflects this - we aim to programme works that you would not normally expect to play in a Youth Orchestra. Recent and future works performed include Mahler's Seventh Symphony, Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe, Shostakovich's Eleventh Symphony, Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony, Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra, Walton's First Symphony, Nielsen's Inextinguishable Symphony and Korngold's Violin Concerto - music that we hope you'll find challenging and exciting, and probably won't get the chance to play anywhere else! We also commission new music, and in February 2007 the Orchestra premiered a brand-new work, written specially for it by Tansy Davies. In 2009, we premiered another commission, Piu mosso by Luke Bedford, and in 2011 we'll be following these with a third new work, this time commissioned from the young British composer Ben Foskett.
But there will also be great classics like Sibelius and Tchaikovsky symphonies, Pictures at an Exhibition, Elgar's Enigma Variations and Stravinsky's The Firebird, all with conductors and soloists who'll show you these works as you've never heard them before.
The CBSO Youth Orchestra only plays two or three concerts a year, and the programmes for these are chosen by the individual conductors and CBSO staff after very careful consideration. So we regret that we are unable to consider or return any unsolicited orchestral scores.