PEACE AND RECONCILIATION

CITY OF BIRMINGHAM SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

In 2020, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra celebrated its 100th anniversary. It was once led by musicians such as Edward Elgar and Adrian Boult, but it was not until the era of Simon Rattle (1980–1998) that it made the leap into the foremost ranks of the classical music world. Rattle not only raised the ensemble’s musical standards but also established a new venue, the Symphony Hall, and worked consistently with contemporary composers. His successors, Sakari Oramo, Andris Nelsons and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, built on these achievements; in 2004, the CBSO Youth Orchestra was founded as a training ground for young talent. Among the orchestra’s many accolades, the German Record Critics’ Award and the Gramophone Award for the best classical recording of the past 30 years are particularly noteworthy.

CBSO CHORUS

The CBSO Chorus brings together 180 singers from all walks of life. For almost 40 years, the choir has been conducted by Simon Halsey CBE and supported by a professional team. The singers devote their spare time to performing the most demanding works in the choral repertoire to the highest international standard. Founded in 1973, the choir’s primary role is to perform alongside the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra – its repertoire ranges from Bach to Henze and also includes operas, Mahler symphonies and the CBSO’s famous annual Christmas concerts. The choir has also toured Europe, Asia, Australia and North America, and has sung with some of the world’s greatest orchestras, including the Vienna Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic. The CBSO Chorus has featured on over 50 recordings and has won four Gramophone Awards.

TRINITY BOYS CHOIR

The Trinity Boys’ Choir is one of the most sought-after and best-known boys’ choirs in the world. It is particularly acclaimed for its participation in opera productions. The choir regularly performs at major international concert halls and opera houses, including La Scala in Milan, the Opera di Roma, the Philharmonie de Paris, the Teatro Carlo Felice, the Royal Opera House, the Palau de les Arts in Valencia, the London Coliseum and the Royal Albert Hall. The Trinity Boys Choir can also be heard regularly in film and television productions, including the soundtracks to *Maleficent* and *Lord of the Flies*. Furthermore, the choir has performed with artists and ensembles as diverse as Bing Crosby, the Monteverdi Choir and Sam Smith. From September 2027, the choir will expand its ensemble to include girls aged ten and eleven.

KAZUKI YAMADA

Kazuki Yamada is Music Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Principal Conductor and Artistic Director of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and Artistic Director of the Music Department at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre. His time studying under Seiji Ozawa underscores the importance of Yamada’s ‘Japanese sensibility’ for music – he continues to work and perform in Japan every season. In the 2026/27 season, Yamada will return to the BBC Proms with the CBSO. He will take up his post with the DSO and make his debut with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. His other engagements include further appearances with, amongst others, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Yamada supports the CBSO’s outreach programme and also performs annually at the Seiji Ozawa International Academy Switzerland.

OLGA PERETYATKO

Olga Peretyatko’s debut album was called “La bellezza del canto”, and the title says it all. With her clear, versatile voice, the St Petersburg-born singer is regarded as one of the most sought-after sopranos in the world. She made her breakthrough in Paris in 2007, winning second prize at Plácido Domingo’s Operalia competition. Following stints in Hamburg, Berlin, Verona and Pesaro, she caught the attention of the New York Met, where she sang the role of Elvira in Bellini’s “I puritani”. Italian operas are particularly close to Peretyatko’s heart, though her CD releases also include Mozart arias and the Russian repertoire. And her new project featuring lullabies places music in an even broader context: “for freedom, for beauty, for love and for peace” – an ethos that earned her the European Culture Prize in 2025.

CHRISTIAN GERHAHER

The German bass-baritone Christian Gerhaher studied medicine and singing simultaneously in Munich before continuing his training with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. He has established himself as one of the most distinguished lieder singers and has formed a close-knit partnership with the pianist Gerold Huber for over thirty years, with whom he performs cycles by Schubert, Schumann and Mahler in particular. He is also a much sought-after opera singer. His performance as Wozzeck in Zurich in 2015 is regarded as a milestone in his opera career, which has flourished on major international stages. In Switzerland, he has appeared at the Lucerne Festival and the Grand Théâtre de Genève, amongst others. Christian Gerhaher teaches lieder singing in Munich.

ANDREW STAPLES

The British tenor Andrew Staples began his musical career as a chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral in London. He went on to study at King’s College, Cambridge, the Royal College of Music and the Benjamin Britten International Opera School, where he gained his first stage experience. His career has continued in both opera and the concert repertoire. He is a guest performer at major opera houses such as Covent Garden in London, the National Theatre in Prague, La Monnaie in Brussels, the Theater an der Wien and the Met in New York. On the concert stage, he regularly performs with renowned conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle and Daniel Harding. Andrew Staples is also involved in opera production, music films and photography.

BENJAMIN BRITTEN: “WAR REQUIEM” FOR SOPRANO, TENOR, BARITONE, CHOIR AND ORCHESTRA

An oratorio, premiered 17 years after the end of the war in the ruined Coventry Cathedral, featuring artists from formerly hostile nations: the idea of reconciliation could scarcely have been realised more powerfully. But Benjamin Britten’s “War Requiem” is more than just a musical memorial: it is a work that brings together musical tradition and modernity, society and the individual in a fascinating way. Britten, a composer at the zenith of his career, writes fugues and chorales in a contemporary style, crafts vivid soundscapes, and pushes instruments and voices to the limits of their expressive power. And whilst the Latin Mass text points to the timeless, the harrowing verses of the poet Wilfred Owen, who died young, bring us back down to earth.