The City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra will be joined by special star guests from the Midlands region in a concert of classical, rock, rap and soul music spanning two hundred years. At its heart is the world premiere of the Iron Concerto, inspired by the region’s industrial heritage, whilst other pieces showcase the arts with Shakespeare, Elgar and sports through Olympic and Olympian heroes.
This concert will be streamed live to a 100 Odeon +Culture cinema screens in the UK and Ireland, and various others in Europe. It will also be broadcast on television.
The performance will be staged in the grounds of the Museum of Iron in Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, once part of the old Borough of Wenlock. This location links two historical pillars of Midlands achievement – the World Heritage Site of Ironbridge, birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, and Much Wenlock, birthplace of the Wenlock Olympian Games and their founder, William Penny Brookes
With its spectacular architectural backdrop – the Old Furnace and the sweeping viaduct – it is an appropriate place for the Iron Concerto to tell the story of the birth of the industrial revolution.
The concert will also pay homage to Midlanders, Edward Elgar and William Shakespeare, two of Britain’s artistic giants both of course, born and lived in the region. Music will include Nimrod from Enigma Variations, and a suite by Patrick Doyle from Kenneth Branagh’s film of Henry V, with an introduced by a star of the Royal Shakespeare Company, alongside local drama students.
On the very eve of the 126th Wenlock Olympian Games, sporting achievements will celebrated with Olympic Games anthems, including Wenlock’s Bringing Home The Dream, as well as stirring compositions from great sports films to herald the London Olympics.
The guest stars will perform with the CBSO original arrangements of their best known songs, and the names of these popular talents will be announced to the public in March.
This concert is a tribute to the inspiring sporting, cultural and industrial talents that have made the traditional area known as the Midlands, such a formidable bedrock of Britain and of such global appeal.
For more information about Ironbridge Gorge Museums visit www.ironbridge.org.uk
For more information about the Wenlock Olympian Society visit www.wenlock-olympian-society.org.uk
