Record

CodeDS/UK/22001
NameCity of Birmingham Symphony Youth Chorus; 1994-; English choir
AliasCBSO
Dates1994-
Place of Birth/OriginBirmingham, England (formed)
BiographyThe CBSO Youth Chorus is an auditioned choir for girls in school Years 9 to 13, led by Chorus Conductor Julian Wilkins, which rehearses weekly during term time on Monday evenings from 7pm–9pm at CBSO Centre.

It was formed in 1994 with the aim of providing the CBSO with a chorus for the many pieces of symphonic music that require young people’s voices. It is now established as one of the country's leading youth choruses, performing independently as well as with the CBSO and many other prestigious orchestras and choirs.

Having consolidated its renown at choir festivals and competitions across the country, the CBSO Youth Chorus has appeared alongside the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Claudio Abbado, the BBC Philharmonic under Gianandrea Noseda, and the Philharmonia Orchestra under Charles Dutoit. The CBSO Youth Chorus also forms a central part of the multi-year BBC Proms Youth Choir project, where recent engagements include performances of Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony and Tippett’s A Child of our Time at the BBC Proms.

Among a wealth of other prestigious engagements in the past few years are a tour to Gothenburg to sing Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Anders Eliasson’s Canto Del Vagabondo with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the 50th anniversary concert of Britten’s War Requiem at Coventry Cathedral with the CBSO, and a live recording of James MacMillan’s Quickening at Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. The CBSO Youth Chorus has also appeared on the recording of Karl Jenkins’s The Peacemakers for EMI, and a new recording of Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Edward Gardner and the CBSO for the Chandos label.

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