About the Choir

City of Birmingham Choir – great choral music for 100+ years

It was our Centenary in 2021 and 2022.  Since 1921, the City of Birmingham Choir has entertained audiences with a wide and adventurous repertoire.  Performing in historic Town Hall and in magnificent Symphony Hall, we have enjoyed a warm musical partnership with the city’s outstanding orchestra, the CBSO.  Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the choir continued to rehearse and present performances online.  We have enjoyed rehearsing and performing together again as well as giving live concerts in Symphony Hall, Town Hall, Lichfield Cathedral and Tewkesbury Abbey.

Read about the choir: History and Concert Archive.

Our Conductor and Musical Director is Adrian Lucas.  Adrian brings a wealth of experience as one of the country’s leading choral directors and conductors.

Composer, teacher, conductor and all-round versatile musician, Colin Baines is our Accompanist.

We have sung the major choral works as well as challenging newer compositions and a wide range of smaller scale music.  The standard of our performances draws consistent praise.

As well as the CBSO, we have worked with the Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Swan, BBC Concert Orchestra, Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra and Westminster Chamber Orchestra.  We joined the CBSO Chorus and CBSO for the much-praised centenary performances of Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, The Apostles and The Kingdom.

We have performed some of the more intimate choral repertoire in ‘out of town’ venues such as Tewkesbury Abbey and Lichfield Cathedral.  Easter 2017 saw our second hugely successful and enjoyable overseas tour – singing Handel’s Messiah in the Stephansdom in Vienna – following a tour to Paris in April 2015.

Hughlights include a highly acclaimed performance of James MacMillan’s Seven Last Words from the Cross, our stylish annual Handel’s Messiah performances, collaborations with Birmingham Schools Symphony Orchestra (Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast), Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 and Haydn’s Stabat Mater with period instruments, as well as the ground-breaking Equinox concert bringing together musicians from many cultures.

Exploring both more familiar territory (Handel, Bach, Monteverdi, Brahms, Mozart, Haydn, Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Holst, Britten, Finzi), and less well-known (such as Samuel Wesley, Howells, Rautavaara, Kenneth Leighton, Cecilia McDowall, Jonathan Dove, Michael Hurd, Marcel Dupre), we continue to plan enterprising programmes. In jazz mode, we enjoyed performing the popular Zimbe! and a new composition, The Rain Queen, by local composer, John Barber.

We have also performed for other organisations, including Raymond Gubbay – Spectacular Classics, Christmas Classics, Beethoven’s 9th, Mozart’s Requiem, Carmina Burana and Karl Jenkins conducting his own music to a packed Symphony Hall.

The Choir is committed to supporting choral music making and has participated in Making Music’s Adopt-a-music-creator scheme as well as running workshops for people of all ages.

We are proud to be an independent organisation promoting and financing major choral concerts with professional orchestras and soloists.

Thank you for coming to our concerts. We value your continued support.

The Choir is a member of 

The City of Birmingham Choir

Founded 1921. A company limited by guarantee. Company Registration Number 2081252 England. Registered Charity Number 1049684.

Honorary Patrons

The Lord Mayor of Birmingham

and Dr Christopher Robinson CBE CVO

President    Rosie Boulton

Musical Director Adrian Lucas

Accompanist   Colin Baines

Contact the choir here.

Board of Management 2024-25

President	Rosie Boulton
Chair	Stella Thebridge
Deputy Chair	Tim Low
General Secretary	Teri Siggins
Concerts Secretary	Lucy Mair
Treasurer	David Pannell
Marketing Manager	vacant
Membership Secretary	Jill Taylor

All officers of the choir give their time voluntarily.