EX CATHEDRA: CHRISTMAS MUSIC BY CANDLELIGHT

What better way to get into the Christmas spirit than by enjoying an evening with one of the country’s finest choral music ensembles?
Under the directorship of its founder, Jeffrey Skidmore, Ex Cathedra this month presents its atmospheric and much-loved Christmas Music By Candlelight evening, an event that features festive favourites from around the globe and across the ages, interspersed with a variety of seasonal readings.

Coventry Cathedral, Tuesday 17 December; St Paul’s Church, Birmingham, Thursday 19 - Saturday 21 December

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CBSO: CHORAL CHRISTMAS WITH JESS GILLAM

Jess Gillam (pictured) has been described as a musical force of nature, and it’s easy to understand why. Routinely blending electrifying performances with eclectic programming, the 26-year-old musician shot to stardom when she became the first saxophonist to reach the finals of the BBC Young Musician contest, and the youngest-ever soloist to perform at the Last Night of the Proms. 
Jess here plays her part in a festive-season concert that also features the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the CBSO Chorus, Youth Chorus, Children’s Chorus (on the Friday) and CBSO SO Vocal (on the Thursday). Simon Halsey conducts.

Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Thursday 19 & Friday 20 December

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HALLE ORCHESTRA: NEW YEAR IN VIENNA

Admired around the world for their extensive orchestral repertoire, the Manchester-based Halle welcome in the new year with a selection of much-loved waltzes and polkas. 

Eduardo Strausser is the conductor for a concert that features works including: Lehar’s Vilja from The Merry Widow and Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiss; Johan Strauss II’s Overture to Die Fledermaus; and Josef Strauss’ Anvil Polka. The soloist for the evening is soprano Alexandra Lowe (pictured). 

Victoria Hall, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, Friday 3 January

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THE NATIONAL YOUTH ORCHESTRA: ILLUMINATE

Kickstart 2025 by enjoying some of the country’s finest young musicians performing an imaginative programme of high-energy music. 

The evening begins with a performance of Ravel’s Bolero, composed in 1928 and made famous in more modern times by Torvill & Dean, when they skated to it at the 1984 Winter Olympics.

The orchestra then tackle Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s Catamorphosis - a sonic journey through nature - before rounding off the evening with a performance of Nielsen’s Fourth Symphony, The Inextinguishable.
Spanish conductor & flautist Jaime Martín is the man at the helm.  

Tickets are Free for Teens.

Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Sunday 5 January

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CBSO: VIENNESE NEW YEAR

Symphony Hall welcomes in the new year with an afternoon concert performed by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. 

Highly rated soprano Francesca Chiejina (pictured) lends her incredible voice to proceedings, as Stephen Bell conducts a selection of playful polkas and wonderful waltzes. 

The programme is approximately two hours in length and includes Johann Strauss II’s On The Beautiful Blue Danube.

Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Sunday 5 January

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SEKINE QUARTET: BEST OF BRIDGERTON ON STRINGS

Four talented former Royal Birmingham Conservatoire students here present an hour of music from hit Netflix series Bridgerton. As is the case with many of the all-female Sekine’s performances, the concert will be taking place by the gentle glow of flickering candlelight.

Birmingham Cathedral, Saturday 11 January

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WORCESTER PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

An amateur community orchestra made up of more than 50 playing members, the Worcester Philharmonic presents a varied classical repertoire as well as film scores and stage music. This concert of new year family favourites - staged in the afternoon -sees them performing the Lone Ranger theme from Rossini’s William Tell Overture, In The Hall Of The Mountain King from Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite and Prokofiev’s Peter And The Wolf. 
The conductor is Dan Watson, who will be inviting the audience to join in with Strauss’ Radetsky March.  

Number 8, Pershore, Saturday 11 January

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CBSO: ROMEO & JULIET

In a programme designed to celebrate the rich heritage of Ukrainian musicians, Reinhold Glière’s Concerto For Coloratura Soprano & Orchestra - here performed by Jennifer France - is sandwiched between two colourful treatments of Romeo And Juliet. The first of these is by Borys Lyatoshinsky, who studied with the aforementioned Glière, who taught the composer of the evening’s second Romeo And Juliet: Sergei Prokofiev. Kyiv-born Kirill Karabits (pictured) conducts.   

Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Wednesday 15 January

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GERMAN NATIONAL ORCHESTRA

A concert showcasing youthful high spirits, vital energy and impeccable playing is very much a guarantee when the German National Orchestra - official partner of the Berlin Philharmonic - appear at Symphony Hall this month. 

The concert is conducted by the multi-talented Wayne Marshall (pictured), who will briefly put aside his baton in favour of the piano, to perform George Gershwin’s Jazz Age masterpiece Rhapsody In Blue. 
Benjamin Britten’s Young Person’s Guide To The Orchestra kickstarts the evening, with a performance of Gustav Holst’s The Planets bringing proceedings to an end. 

Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Thursday 16 January

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MARIAM BATSAHSVILI PIANO RECITAL

International recognition for her profound talent came Mariam Batsashvili’s way in 2014, when she won first prize in the Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Utrecht. 

In the decade which has followed, the Tbilisi-born 31-year-old has established herself as a world-class pianist, spending two years as a BBC New Generation Artist and making important debuts at the Cheltenham Festival and the BBC Proms. 

Her St Chad’s concert this month, marking her first-ever appearance in Shropshire, sees her performing works by Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert and Liszt. 

St Chad’s Church, Shrewsbury, Sunday 19 January

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ARMONICO CONSORT: SUPERSIZE POLYPHONY 2

Founded by organist & conductor Christopher Monks in 2001 and using authentic period instruments, Warwick-based baroque consort Armonico scored a major hit with their Supersize Polyphony programme of large-scale choral music. Now they’re returning with a brand-new programme, ‘even more daring and adventurous staging’, and will once again be singing ‘360-degrees around the audience, totally immersing them in the sound’. The concert also features two world premieres by Hollywood composer David Buckley and Tallis’ Spem in Alium.

Malvern Theatres, Friday 24 January; Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick, Saturday 25 January

   

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COULL QUARTET

Last year celebrating their 50th anniversary, Coull were Warwick University’s quartet-in-residence for more than 40 years and made a name for themselves internationally by performing in places as far flung as the Americas, Australia, India and the Far East.

They’re playing the Pump Rooms this month as part of the Leamington Music season, presenting a two-hour concert that features music by Mozart, Prokofiev and Beethoven. Fans of Mozart should definitely grab themselves a ticket, as this is the only concert in the 2024/25 season’s programme that features his music.

Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa, Friday 24 January

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QUATUOR AGATE: OUTLAWS

Now here’s an interesting way to spend a Sunday morning (the concert starts at 11am)... 
Paris-based rising stars Quatuor Agate sink their teeth into the music of ‘outlaw’ musicians - artists who not only composed outside the musical norms of their time but also acted on the fringes of societal norms. 
Featured composers include 16th-century prince and assassin Carlo Gesualdo, outspoken lesbian and imprisoned suffragette Ethel Smyth, and Stalin-declared ‘enemy of the people’ Dmitri Shostakovich... The concert is introduced by Princess Eleonora d’Este, the second wife of Carlo Gesualdo (he murdered his first!), who narrates the dark legend of her husband. 

Jennifer Blackwell Performance Space, Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Sunday 26 January

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ORCHESTRA OF THE SWAN: A BEAUTIFUL THREAD

Orchestra of the Swan here mark the 150th anniversary of the publication of Far From The Madding Crowd by presenting a celebration of the novel’s author, Thomas Hardy. 

Featuring Midlands-born actor Anton Lesser as narrator - along with Lucia Bonbright - A Beautiful Thread ‘weaves Hardy’s life with his beautiful poetry and great novels’. 
The readings will be accompanied by ‘a musical programme of shimmering beauty’, devised by the orchestra’s artistic director, David Le Page. 

Warwick Hall, Sunday 26 January

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THOMAS TROTTER: SPACED OUT!

One of Britain’s most acclaimed musicians, Thomas Trotter has performed with a host of revered conductors - Simon Rattle, Sir Charles Mackerras and Riccardo Chailly among them. He’s also appeared alongside many of the world’s leading orchestras. A former pupil at Malvern College, Thomas was appointed Birmingham City Organist in 1983, and has been providing sterling service ever since. Spaced Out! is one of his fortnightly lunchtime concerts at the Town Hall.

Birmingham Town Hall, Monday 27 January

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ALEXANDER GAVRYLYUK PIANO RECITAL

Ukrainian-born Australian pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk here makes his first-ever Piano Masters Series appearance, presenting a programme comprising works by Mozart, Chopin, Debussy and Rachmaninov. Performing concerts for more than 30 years, having made his debut at the tender age of nine, Alexander has developed an enviable international reputation for excellence, picking up numerous coveted awards in the process.   

Stoke-on-Trent Repertory Theatre, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, Thursday 30 January