After an incredible 45 years playing in the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, David Powell is putting down his bow and sharing his highlights with the orchestra from over the years.

Having just finished a week of playing in the Key Stage 2 and 3 Schools’ Concerts, we sat down with cellist David Powell to reflect on his time with the CBSO over the years. As ever, the schedule of an orchestral musician is incredibly busy but as we say farewell to David this month, he talks to us about some of the moments that will stay with him forever.

How did your journey with the CBSO begin?

I grew up in Nottingham and attended a music school on a Saturday, which was run by the local county. My county orchestra friend's mother was a member of the CBSO at the time so I knew of the orchestra from a young age, especially as the CBSO would occasionally play in the Nottingham Royal Concert Hall.

When I was in my late teens, I joined the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. At the time, Sir Simon Rattle came along and conducted the rehearsals in preparation for the arrival of Pierre Boulez. Boulez was conducting the upcoming concerts in London and Paris, in which we played Bartók's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, Berg’s Violin Concerto, and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.

When I joined the CBSO in 1981, Simon Rattle was four months into his residency as Principal Conductor. He later welcomed Boulez to work with the orchestra, so it felt like a fantastic full circle moment to be able to work with both these conductors and revisit the pieces that I learnt with them both so early on in my career.

What have been your standout moments with the orchestra over the years?

One of the early tours I went on that has left the biggest impact on me was in Italy in 1984. We were on the coach touring around Northern Italy with Yo-Yo Ma - he was right at the start of his career and joined us on the coach. He played the Dvořák Cello Concerto and Don Quixote with violist Nobuko Imai – I will always remember that human aspect, being able to get to know them so well. Later, Lynn Harrell, an American cellist who intrigued me greatly, came to play in Birmingham. I was always fascinated by how these two soloists produced such a big sound with seemingly little effort. It prompted me to take a sabbatical during the early years of my time in the orchestra to go and study in America, where both cellists were students of Leonard Rose.

Other highlights include working with Kurt Sanderling on my first Brahms Symphony No.3 and under Simon Rattle, performing Mahler with Jesse Norman at the BBC Proms, touring with Alfred Brendel, playing all of Beethoven’s symphonies at the Salzburg Festival and going on the first tour to Japan.

There have been five Music Directors during my time in the orchestra, each offering so many happy memories. I will always remember the Elgar Trilogy we did with Sakari Oramo playing The Dream of Gerontius, The Apostles and The Kingdom. Andris Nelsons introduced me to Wagner and harnessed my appreciation for him as a composer, notably with Parsifal. With Gražinytė-Tyla, I will always remember playing Elgar's Violin Concerto and with Kazuki, our very first tour in Japan in 2016 and Mendelssohn's Elijah in Birmingham were particularly special.

When you’re younger, you look at all the mountains: we’re going here on tour or playing with this soloist – but really, all it comes down to is the honed skill of the orchestra and the power of making live music in the moment. The magic created is also thanks to our relationship with the audience, especially when we played in the Town Hall; it was very intimate – there was a natural symbiosis between the audience and orchestra.

I can't forget to mention Symphony Hall - it is the most amazing gift to Birmingham. I think it’s by far the finest hall in this country and up there with some of the finest concert halls in the world. I pinch myself that I come to work here; we are very lucky.

What’s your favourite thing about Birmingham?

I remember Birmingham before the CBSO Centre and Symphony Hall had been built. We did lots of recordings at Warwick Arts Centre and I clearly remember rehearsing at the Adrian Boult Concert Hall at the Birmingham Conservatoire.

The city has changed a lot but we’ve always served the large community of Birmingham and beyond - it’s been a special place to work all these years.

If there was one piece of music you could play for the final time with the CBSO, what would it be?

Bruckner 7 – it has a marvellous cello part to start with. Bruckner writes in a time and space where the cello can wholly present its timbre and colour. I’m a big Bruckner fan and it was a wonderful experience to have played it under the direction of Andris Nelsons and toured with it. He made the music make utter sense when we performed it.

What will you miss most about the CBSO?

I will definitely miss the music-making. You can’t do this job on your own or even in a small ensemble. When everyone is working together with the same intentions and goals, it’s irreplaceable. There are 80 of us and none of us could do our job without one another – we work as a team and one big family: we must support and encourage one another.

Playing in the orchestra for 45 years is an incredible dedication and we’re sure it has been an interesting journey. What advice would you give to those beginning their musical careers?

My one piece of advice would be to retain your sense of discovery and inquisitiveness with what you are doing. You never fully master your skill so you must always keep the willingness to explore and improve. No matter how many times you play a piece, you always discover something new and I still am challenged by the cello on a daily basis. Maintaining that intellectual curiosity helps you find magic in the day to day.