CBSO Performs Dolly Parton Tribute at Birmingham New Street Station

Thousands of workers in Birmingham finished the working week by experiencing a touching tribute to beloved country artist Dolly Parton at a packed New Street station on Friday. The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) adjusted the programme of their free public performance on the station concourse to include an orchestral performance of Dolly’s ‘9 to 5’ hit.

Emma Stenning, CBSO Chief Executive, commented: “Our New Street performance was one of 20 free pop-up concerts the CBSO is performing in public spaces around Birmingham this Bank Holiday weekend. The CBSO team and players decided to change the programme to pay tribute to the music of Dolly Parton. The news of her passing this week was so very sad, but the legacy of her music will live on, and the audience at New Street today really enjoyed the addition to today’s set.”

The New Street performance was part of CBSO in the City, which sees the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s (CBSO) musicians performing for free to tens of thousands of residents across Birmingham.

Over the weekend, the CBSO will fill the city with music, popping up in unexpected spaces and for anyone attending the performances at Birmingham’s iconic Bullring Shopping Centre, some will even get the chance to conduct the orchestra. Across the rest of the city, musicians appear in the spaces where Birmingham already gathers – including in libraries, gardens, museums, cafés and New Street station.

The week is a real world demonstration of the findings from the CBSO’s Birmingham Listening Project (published today), which found that music is an integral part pf people’s daily lives and that it lives beyond the concert hall – with Birmingham residents enjoying music when relaxing (68%), commuting to or from work (40%), at a social gathering with friends (37%), at work (27%) and when gaming (20%). And so, CBSO in the City sees Birmingham’s orchestra take the joy, drama and fun of orchestral music to people where they are and on their terms.

Saturday, August 29

• 11:30am – Flute and harp duo at Birmingham Library
• 11:30am – Music Director Kazuki Yamada makes his much-anticipated return to the CBSO’s branded West Midlands Metro Tram
• 2pm – CBSO in the City makes its Solihull debut, with CBSO Brass performing at Touchwood’s Summer Sessions at the Beach in Theatre Square
• 2:30pm – A string quartet plays in The Exchange’s Banking Hall café alongside the University of Birmingham’s Helios installation by British artist Luke Jerram
• 2:45pm & 4pm – Saxophonist and CBSO Collaborative Artist Jess Gillam leads Saxophones in the City, a mass ‘come and play’ clarinet and saxophone event at Brindley Place, with over 60 participants ranging from age 12 to 89.

Sunday, August 30

• 11am & 2pm – String trio (11am) and string quartet (2pm) performances at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, with an opportunity to view EVERY THING MUST GO, a new exhibition by Joe Lycett
• 2pm & 6pm -Infinite Opera, Grand Union & the CBSO present Open for Business, an ambitious community operatic performance unfolding across nine venues in Digbeth
• 2pm – CBSO Woodwind Ensemble at Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Monday, August 31

• 1pm & 3pm – Full Orchestra performs in the Bullring
• 2pm -Solo Harp at Birmingham Botanical Gardens