about the tour.

Under the direction of Kazuki Yamada and accompanied by the winner of the Frédéric Chopin International Piano Competition 2021, Bruce Liu, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra embarks tour through Europe im March 2026.

William T. Walton: Portsmouth Point

oder:

William T. Walton: Orb and Sceptre

Frédéric Chopin: Klavierkonzert Nr. 2 f-Moll op. 21 (1830)

oder:

Peter I. Tschaikowsky: Klavierkonzert Nr. 1 b-Moll op. 23

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William T. Walton: Symphony No. 1 in B flat minor

oder:

Modest Mussorgsky: Bilder einer Ausstellung (Orchestration von Maurice Ravel)

Your contact persons:

Louise Engel

Project Manager

+49 163 36607-06

louise.engel@kdschmid.de

Joric Brandon Pretzel

Director

+49 163 36607-17

joric.pretzel@kdschmid.de

An Orchestra full of experience.

Biography – about the orchestra.

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is an internationally celebrated symphony orchestra, at home in Birmingham. A family of 90 incredible musicians, led by Music Director Kazuki Yamada, proud to make exciting musical experiences that matter to the people of Birmingham, the West Midlands and beyond.

Resident at Symphony Hall, the orchestra’s musicians perform over 150 concerts each year in Birmingham, the UK and around the world, with music that ranges from classics to contemporary, soundtracks to symphonies, and everything in between. With a far-reaching community and education programme, a ground-breaking partnership with Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust, and a family of choruses and youth ensembles, it is involved in every aspect of music-making in the Midlands – and has been for more than 100 years.

This longstanding tradition started with the orchestra’s very ﬁrst symphonic concert in 1920 – conducted by Sir Edward Elgar. Ever since then, through war, recessions, social change and civic renewal, the CBSO has been proudly ‘Birmingham’s orchestra’. Under principal conductors including Adrian Boult, George Weldon, Andrzej Panufnik and Louis Frémaux, the CBSO won an artistic reputation that spread far beyond the Midlands. But it was when it discovered the young British conductor Simon Rattle in 1980 that the CBSO became internationally famous – and showed how the arts can help give a new sense of direction to a whole city.

Rattle’s successors, Sakari Oramo, Andris Nelsons and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, helped cement that global reputation and continued to build on the CBSO’s tradition of ﬂying the ﬂag for Birmingham.

In April 2023, Emma Stenning was appointed Chief Executive and Kazuki Yamada took up the post of Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor, and in May 2024 became Music Director. Under their dynamic leadership, the orchestra continues to celebrate the joy of music and of Birmingham through creating unmissable and unforgettable musical experiences for all.

The CBSO is supported by its principal funders Arts Council England, Birmingham City Council and SCC.

SEASON 2024/2025

Solist/-in

Bruce Liu, Piano

Bruce Liu © Christoph Koestlin

First prize winner of the 18th International Chopin Piano Competition 2021 in Warsaw, Bruce Liu’s “playing of breathtaking beauty” (BBC Music Magazine) has secured his reputation as one of the most exciting talents of the new generation.

As Focus Artist of the 2024 Rheingau Musik Festival, Liu features in five performances ranging from a solo recital to chamber music and concerto performances with hr-Sinfonieorchester, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, and Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. Highlights of the 2024/25 season include international tours with Orchestre philharmonique du Luxembourg and Gustavo Gimeno, London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Antonio Pappano, hr-Sinfonieorchester and Alain Altinoglu, Wiener Symphoniker and Marie Jacquot, Orchestre National de France and Cristian Măcelaru, as well as Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and Lahav Shani. He also tours extensively in play-direct programmes with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and Amsterdam Sinfonietta.

In 2024/25, Bruce Liu makes highly anticipated debuts with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood Music Festival, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Cincinnati Symphony, Houston Symphony and Minnesota Orchestra. He also appears with the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London. He has performed with major orchestras including Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Philharmonia Orchestra London, and NHK Symphony Orchestra. Liu’s collaborations with distinguished conductors include Ryan Bancroft, Myung-Whun Chung, Paavo Järvi, Fabio Luisi, Joana Mallwitz, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Gianandrea Noseda, Rafael Payare, Vasily Petrenko, and Dalia Stasevska.

As an active recitalist, Liu has performed at major concert halls such as the BOZAR Brussels, Wigmore Hall, Philharmonie de Paris, and Tokyo Opera City. In 2024/25, he returns to the Carnegie Hall, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and Concertgebouw Amsterdam as well as major venues in Asia and gives his recital debut at Wiener Musikverein and Prinzregententheater Munich. Liu appears at various international festivals, including Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Festival de Pâques d'Aix-en-Provence, Aspen and Tanglewood Music Festivals, Verbier, La Roque-d'Anthéron, Edinburgh International Festival, and Gstaad Menuhin Festival.

An exclusive recording artist with Deutsche Grammophon, Liu was awarded Opus Klassik’s ‘Young Talent Of the Year’ prize 2024 for his debut studio album ‘Waves’. His first album featuring the winning performances from the International Chopin Piano Competition received international acclaim including the “Best Classical Albums of 2021” from Gramophone Magazine.

Bruce Liu studied with Richard Raymond and Dang Thai Son. Born in Paris to Chinese parents and raised in Montréal, Liu’s phenomenal artistry has been shaped by his multi-cultural heritage: European refinement, North American dynamism, and the long tradition of Chinese culture.

SEASON 2024/2025