Today we announce our 2026-27 Season: more incredible music, mesmerising soloists and conductors, and truly inspiring collaborations under Music Director Kazuki Yamada.

CBSO Director of Artistic Planning, Catherine Arlidge, shares a unique insight into what's involved in curating a concert season, from engaging artists, both returning and debuting with the CBSO, to honouring significant milestones in music history, and previewing some exciting celebrations and collaborations that the new season brings.

I'm Catherine Arlidge, Director of Artistic Planning at the CBSO. I was a violinist in the orchestra for over 30 years and during that time, I got to know the organisation very well. I feel very privileged to now be supporting the organisation's creative vision and growth, overseeing and curating concerts throughout the year.

My role involves planning what we play, where we play it, who we play with and where we tour to, as well as having a clear understanding of who it is all for. In the process of planning the season as a whole, I have to consider:

• What helps the orchestra and choirs grow and flourish
• The programming wishes of our Music Director, Kazuki Yamada, plus the other visiting conductors and Collaborative Artists
• How the artists and music will connect as broadly as possible to our city, audiences and supporters
• Touring internationally and everything that makes that work possible, including the repertoire we play
• Any anchoring themes and ideas that are useful to create connections between concerts

In addition, there are very practical considerations around venue availability, working hours of the musicians and staff, the priorities of our funders, and of course, the budgets. Just when all those pieces start to fall into place, along comes unforeseen challenges, often requiring a total reorganisation. It is a nail-biting race to the launch of the season in May!

This season focuses on the creative people that make up our artistic community - our musicians and singers, our Music Director Kazuki Yamada, Principal Guest Conductor Ilan Volkov, Associate Artist Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, our Composer in Residence Anna Clyne, and our three collaborative artists: Alice Sara Ott, Rushil Ranjan, and Jess Gillam. We are incredibly lucky to have such a vibrant collective of musicians working with us, supporting audiences to connect with the people behind the music.

There are so many highlights I'm excited about this year. We open and close the season with the continuation of Kazuki’s Mahler Cycle, performing Symphony No.2 and Symphony No.3. 2027 also marks 200 years since the death of Beethoven and to celebrate his life and music, Kazuki will conduct all of Beethoven's symphonies. Hearing the symphonies chronologically is a brilliant way to hear how Beethoven developed as a composer, allowing you to witness the making of a genius.

There are other pieces I'm looking forward to; Gwylim Simcock’s brand new Triple Concerto in September's Enigma Variations concert will be particularly special as Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Ben Goldscheider, and Jess Gillam were all finalists in the BBC Young Musician Competition in 2016. Teaming them up with the jazz-influenced composer Gwyilm Simcock will produce something I can only describe as truly unique - I think it will be something of a creative collision.

Bruckner’s 7th Symphony is one of the core classics, featuring four French horns and four Wagner Tubas to create a very unique organ-like sound. It has some of the best build-ups in any music and conducted by our Principal Guest Conductor, Ilan Volkov, it is sure to be a highlight in November.

We will also perform Britten's War Requiem at Coventry Cathedral. The CBSO premiered the piece at Coventry Cathedral in 1962, so to play it on Remembrance Day, 100 years after the birth of the composer, will have a very special poignancy. We will then take the piece on tour in Europe, performing in Brussels, Luxembourg and Lucerne, taking the message of this hugely powerful work far and wide.

A personal favourite of mine is Messiaen’s Turangalila Symphony, which we will perform in May with Ilan Volkov. It's very rarely performed as it uses a huge orchestra to create a truly unique sound world, featuring the Ondes Martenot - one of the earliest electronic synthesisers. The piece focuses on themes of love, joy and the cosmos, giving an ethereal and ecstatic experience.

The Orchestral Qawwali Project and a celebration of 75 Years of Bollywood are both back this season, along with a work that is something of a rare treasure: Weinberg’s opera The Passenger, which Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla will conduct with us in Birmingham and on two European tours. The opera was banned in Russia for many years due to its theming around the Holocaust, and having been written in 1968, the opera was banned by Soviet authorities for lacking a communist agenda. It did not get its first performance until 2010; however, Mirga has been championing something of a revival of Weinberg's work and a timely one at that.

There should be something for everyone in our season, I hope, from ABBA to Adams, Quincy Jones to Qawwali, Bollywood to Bruckner and Williams to Walton. We look forward to welcoming you to our 2026-27 season, in Birmingham and beyond.