Association of British Orchestras

Classical Programme Consultant

B:Music Ltd By negotiation Closing date 25 October 2021
B:Music is the music charity responsible for Symphony Hall and Town Hall, Birmingham’s iconic concert halls. Our mission to inspire a love of live music, through performance, participation and learning. We believe that music is essential to everyone and has the power to transform and change lives, to entertain and uplift, to create shared experiences and to educate.

Both Symphony Hall and Town Hall have illustrious histories as venues for classical music. Town Hall opened in 1834 and has hosted world premieres such as Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius. Symphony Hall opened in 1991, creating a new home for the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in a concert hall which is widely regarded as one of the finest in the world.

We are now looking for a genre specialist to lead our work as one of the UK’s leading promoters of classical music.

Scope
This role will support the Head of Programme by leading, programming and supporting all aspects of the in-house classical music programme. Historically this has been a season of 20-30 events, however impact and distinctiveness are now more important than quantity, and we expect this number to reduce. The role will involve programming this season and developing all of the associated opportunities around learning, marketing, development and fund-raising.

The CBSO programmes it’s own season of concerts but we work closely on repertoire and audience development to maximise the benefits for the CBSO and other classical music promoters working in our halls.

Brief
B:Music aspires to present a programme of classical music that both celebrates the established canon but also actively innovates by supporting emerging artists, composers, and presentation formats, and we expect some exploration of what classical music means in the 21st century. With two first class halls and our new informal performance space at Symphony Hall, the canvas on which to realise this ambition is broad. As an organisation committed to better reflecting the diversity of our city, we expect to see that diversity in the composers and artists that we programme, and the audiences we attract.

B:Music is an organisation which earns virtually all of it’s own income and we have limited capacity to invest. Our season must therefore operate on a realistic commercial basis, and deftly realise the maximum benefit of each engagement that we make. We do not have the capacity or desire to invest in unexceptional concerts that attract mediocre audiences.

Although B:Music has well-developed marketing and production functions, the scope of this role does not end at simply booking concerts. The successful candidate will need to work with our marketing team on sales strategies, and with other B:Music colleagues on creating additional opportunities for learning, development and fund-raising.

Working Model
The increasing adoption of remote working allows us to open this opportunity to a wider pool of potential candidates and working on site at Symphony Hall is not an automatic pre-requisite. We do however expect that a successful candidate would need to be on-site at several key dates throughout the season and for regular meetings with colleagues at other times.

Please visit our website for more information and to apply.

Contact details

recruitment@bmusic.co.uk
07801 163067
8 Centenary Square, Birmingham, B1 2EA

Annual Conference

The next ABO conference will take place in Gateshead,
hosted by The Glasshouse ICM, from 5-7 February 2025.