Youth Orchestra
Youth Orchestra
Join our dynamic orchestra for incredible young musicians and play Shostakovich 7 alongside members of the CBSO.
Applications for our 2025-26 season are open!
Closing Date: 9am, Monday 12 May
Through CBSO Youth Orchestra, young musicians work in collaboration with CBSO musicians and top conductors to develop their orchestral craft. Youth Orchestra members receive dedicated sectionals with our professional musicians to stretch and develop their skills.
In 2025, we're opening up our Youth Orchestra to musicians in full-time education from across the country aged 13 - 26.
If selected, you'll perform with approximately 25 CBSO musicians in our October/November course.
To become a member of the CBSO Youth Orchestra, applicants need to undertake an audition. This takes place in front of a panel of CBSO musicians, just like a professional orchestral audition. We ask that applicants are working at a minimum of Grade 7 standard for strings and Grade 8 for woodwind, brass and percussion.
Auditions will take place in person. If you would prefer to submit a video audition, this is permitted, and your video will be watched by the audition panel in the audition room on a screen as if you were there in person.
If you are unable to attend your given audition slot, you will also be permitted to submit a video audition. Whether you audition in person or via video will have no bearing on the outcome of your audition. In-person auditions will take place between 20 May and 20 June. The video submission deadline will be the same as the audition closing deadline: 9am on Monday 12 May. Late applications may still be considered depending on availability.
DATES FOR IN PERSON AUDITIONS | |
INSTRUMENT | DATE |
Violin | 3, 5 & 13 June |
Viola | 5 & 13 June |
Cello | 3, 5 & 13 June |
Double Bass | 2 June |
Harp | 16 June |
Flute | 5 & 9 June |
Oboe | 2 June |
Clarinet | 12 June |
Bassoon | 26 May |
Trumpet | 13 June |
Trombone | Date to be confirmed |
French Horn | 22 May |
Timpani/Percussion | 4 June |
*Please note, we are not currently auditioning for tuba. If you would be interesting in hearing about future opportunities for tuba, please email Helen Butcher, Community and Talent Development Producer or keep an eye on the website.
Get to Know Us
WHO
Open to all musician aged 13 – 26 who are undertaking formal education anywhere in the UK, the CBSO Youth Orchestra gives its members an unmatched opportunity to play music in prestigious venues with top professional conductors and soloists. Complementing the region’s existing youth and schools orchestras, the CBSO aims to have a youth orchestra that is dynamic, challenging and filled with dedicated young players who share the CBSO’s own passion for music.
WHEN & WHERE
The CBSO Youth Orchestra meets for a variety of opportunities across a season to rehearse and perform incredible orchestral repertoire. Receiving direction from professional conductors and CBSO musicians, our talented young musicians explore repertoire from Beethoven to Dani Howard, culminating in concerts in some of the best music venues in the West Midlands.
WHAT
As part of the CBSO Youth Orchestra programme over the coming season, we are keen to explore our young musicians' creativity and expand their skills. Members will have the opportunity to take part in our main course in October and workshops and small ensemble opportunities across the season, equipping them as musicians in the modern world.
2025-26 Courses
Autumn Course
(Open to all members)
This course will be run as a side by side project, with approximately 25 CBSO musicians embedded across all sections of the orchestra. A great opportunity to play alongside CBSO musicians and learn from the best!
Dates: Monday 27 October – Sunday 2 November 2025
Repertoire:
Shostakovich, Festive Overture
Shostakovich, Symphony No. 7 (Leningrad)
Conductor, Joshua Weilerstein
Concert at Warwick Arts Centre
Spring & Summer Workshops
(Open to all members)
These may include activities such as:
- Masterclasses
- Open rehearsals
- Specialist workshops on wellbeing, physio and performance coaching
CBSO Youth Orchestra Chamber Ensembles Training
Open to all Youth Orchestra members, participants will be placed in chamber ensembles (e.g. trios, quartets, quintets, etc) as well as performing as a larger collective ensemble. Participants will receive specialist chamber coaching from experienced chamber players within the CBSO. There will be multiple performance opportunities for groups, such as a pre-concert performance at the Jennifer Blackwell Performance Space at Symphony Hall, and participation in the exciting CBSO in the City programme in 2026, which sees groups of CBSO musicians performing in venues all over the city. Participants can register their interest for this during the Autumn Course.
BENEFITS
- Sectional coaching from CBSO musicians
- Performances with leading professional conductors
- The chance to play in Birmingham's Symphony Hall, one of Europe's finest orchestral concert venues
- Performing exciting and adventurous music, including regular world and UK premieres
- The support of the CBSO's management team - exactly like a professional orchestra
- The opportunity to perform in smaller ensembles across the CBSO's Season
COSTS
The cost of membership for the year will be £150.
Bursaries & Scholarships
We aim to make sure that money isn’t a barrier to getting involved. We ask musicians to contribute to the cost of their place in the orchestra, but we understand that for some musicians, any contribution may be out of reach. Thanks to support from the Leverhulme Trust and Gwynn Williams, grants are available to support musicians and to cover their fees and any travel expenses incurred as part of the course. We are also grateful for the support of the James Langley Memorial Trust, who provide financial support for individual members toto support further musical endeavours.
Youth Orchestra FAQ
Where and when does the CBSO Youth Orchestra meet?
The orchestra meets in the Autumn half term for a week long course of rehearsals followed by a concert. Rehearsals are usually between 10am and 5pm, with occasional evening sessions. Rehearsals are usually held in CBSO Centre, Berkley Street, Birmingham. Concerts are usually at Symphony Hall, Birmingham.
The CBSO Youth Orchestra members also meets in smaller numbers throughout the year for activities such as masterclasses, workshops and coaching for the CBSO Youth Orchestra Chamber Ensembles Training.
What standard and age do I need to be to apply?
Open to all musician aged 13 – 26 who are undertaking formal education anywhere in the UK.
You need to be at a minimum of grade 7-plus for strings, grade 8-plus for wind, brass and percussion. The orchestra aims 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 8.
We regret we are unable to accept applications for membership of the CBSO Youth Orchestra on non-standard orchestral instruments (e.g. drum-kit, guitar, saxophone, keyboard etc.)
Do I have to live in Birmingham to join the orchestra?
No, the CBSO Youth Orchestra rehearses in Birmingham but accepts applications from young musicians anywhere in the UK. Applicants are no longer required to have a connection to the Midlands to apply. If you love playing your instrument, play to a high level, and want to come and experience the CBSO, we'd love to receive an application from you!
Are the courses residential?
No – members need to be able to get to and from central Birmingham on each day of the course.
Who's the conductor?
The CBSO Youth Orchestra doesn't have a permanent principal conductor or music director – we work with different conductors for each concert, including former CBSO Music Director Andris Nelsons, CBSO Principal Guest Conductor Edward Gardner, CBSO Associate Conductor Michael Seal, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and Kazuki Yamada.
Who are the soloists?
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. Therefore, our policy is to engage soloists who have already performed with the CBSO itself. These have included Katarina Karneus, Christine Rice and Lore Lixenberg (mezzo) Leon McCawley, Peter Donohoe, Joanna MacGregor and Steven Osborne (piano), Julian Bliss (clarinet), Alison Balsom (trumpet), Tasmin Little and Chloe Hanslip (violin) and Guy Johnston and Andreas Brantelid (cello). We don't usually engage non-professional or first-time soloists.
What do you play?
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 works performed include Strauss’ An Alpine Symphony, Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony, Mahler's Seventh Symphony, Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe, Shostakovich's Eleventh Symphony, Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony, Bruckner's Romantic Symphony, Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra, Walton's First Symphony, Nielsen's Inextinguishable Symphony, Bartók's The Wooden Prince 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 Streamlines, 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 followed this with a third new work, this time commissioned from the young British composer Ben Foskett. Charlotte Bray also wrote us a new piece for the 2013-14 season and, in February 2017, we premiered Breakbeat by Daniel Kidane. In 2023 we premiered Striations by Bergrύn Snæbjörnsdóttir. In July 2025, the CBSO Youth Orchestra will be performing a new commission by the composer and Youth Orchestra alumnus Christopher Churcher.
There will also always be great classics by composers like Stravinsky, Elgar, Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven, all with conductors and soloists who'll show you these works as you've never heard them before.
