City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra is the first British orchestra to be funded by a city council. Its opening concert was conducted by composer Edward Elgar. Since then, the orchestra has thrived as a bastion of musical culture in the Midlands. It has also gained a reputation for adventurous programming, underlined by the long, fruitful appointment of Simon Rattle as music director. The City of Birmingham Orchestra was founded in 1920 by, among others, Neville Chamberlain, a prominent citizen who later became prime minister of the U.K. The orchestra's first conductor w...