University of Birmingham Voices were pleased to perform this month with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and conductor, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, at Symphony Hall, Birmingham in a performance of Gustav Mahler’s seminal eighth symphony, “Symphony of a Thousand”.
The performance, celebrating the centenary year of the orchestra, featured a number of international soloists alongside Gražinytė-Tyla – including Karen Cargill, Alice Coote, and Morris Robinson. The choral forces, directed by Professor Simon Halsey CBE, spanned five choirs and more than 400 singers, with performers from CBSO Chorus, CBSO Youth Chorus, CBSO Children’s Chorus, and the Baltimore Choral Arts Society.
Prepared by Chorus Master, Julian Wilkins, University of Birmingham Voices accepted the invitation to perform following a number of critically acclaimed recent programmes with the Orchestra, including a concert production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Yeomen of the Guard in 2017, as well as a celebrated joint performance with CBSO Chorus of William Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast in 2019. Rehearsed in advance of the Spring term, the performance engaged students across a range of colleges and schools from the University campus.
Choirs are an important part of University Music in Birmingham, and offer unrivalled opportunities for young singers at any university in the UK. For more information, or if you would like to find out more about choirs at University of Birmingham, please contact Gavin Allsop (g.m.allsop@bham.ac.uk).