Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (BCMG) is a chamber orchestra

Orchestra

An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

 based in Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. BCMG specialises in the performance of new and contemporary music

Contemporary classical music

Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...

. BCMG performs regularly at the CBSO Centre

CBSO Centre

The CBSO Centre is the administrative home and rehearsal centre of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Choruses , and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group on the corner of Berkley Street and Holliday Street, in Birmingham, England.It...

 and Symphony Hall

Symphony Hall, Birmingham

Symphony Hall is a 2,262 seat concert venue located inside the International Convention Centre in Birmingham, England. It was officially opened by the Queen in June 1991, although had been opened on April 15, 1991. It is home to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and hosts around 270 events...

 in Birmingham. BCMG also tours nationally and worldwide and has appeared several times at the Proms in London.

Musicians from the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra is a British orchestra based in Birmingham, England. The Orchestra's current chief executive, appointed in 1999, is Stephen Maddock...

 formed the ensemble in 1987, with Simon Rattle

Simon Rattle

Sir Simon Denis Rattle, CBE is an English conductor. He rose to international prominence as conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and since 2002 has been principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic ....

 as its founding patron, with the first performances at the Birmingham Conservatoire's Adrian Boult Hall. BCMG has since given world premieres to more than 100 works by such composers as Pierre Boulez

Pierre Boulez

Pierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...

, John Adams

John Adams

John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...

, Mark-Anthony Turnage

Mark-Anthony Turnage

Mark-Anthony Turnage is a prolific English composer of classical music. His initial musical studies were with Oliver Knussen, John Lambert, and later with Gunther Schuller...

 and Judith Weir

Judith Weir

Judith Weir CBE, is a British composer.-Biography:Her music has been appreciated by audiences and critics alike. She trained with John Tavener while still at school and subsequently with Robin Holloway at King's College, Cambridge, graduating in 1976...

  BCMG has won numerous awards, including the 2004 Royal Philharmonic Society Audience Development Award, the 1995 Gramophone Award for Best Orchestral Recording, the 1993 Royal Philharmonic Society Chamber Ensemble Award, the 1993 Prudential Award for Music, and The Arts Ball 2002 Outstanding Achievement Award.

Thomas Adès

Thomas Adès

Thomas Adès is a British composer, pianist and conductor.-Biography:Adès studied piano with Paul Berkowitz and later composition with Robert Saxton at Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London...

 was the first music director of BCMG, from 1998 to 2000. The current artistic director of BCMG is Stephen Newbould. Peter Wiegold, John Woolrich

John Woolrich

John Woolrich is a British composer. He was BBC Radio 3 'Composer of the Week' in March 2008, involving the broadcast of over 4 hours of his music in one week.-External links:**...

 and Oliver Knussen

Oliver Knussen

Oliver Knussen CBE is a British composer and conductor.-Biography:Oliver Knussen was born in Glasgow, Scotland. His father, Stuart Knussen, was principal double bass of the London Symphony Orchestra. Oliver Knussen studied composition with John Lambert, between 1963 and 1969 and also received...

 are the current artists-in-association with BCMG, with Knussen having begun his 3-year contract in 2006.

Sound Investment

This is a partnership between BCMG, the composers whom it commissions to write new pieces and BCMG's audience. Members of the public are invited to "invest" in a new commission by paying a sum of money, currently £150, to purchase Sound Investment Units in the new work and so contribute to the costs involved in commissioning new pieces. For each commissioned piece, a certain number of Units are available, typically 30-50.. Sound Investors are kept informed about "their" work's progress and are invited to attend rehearsals, as well as the first public performance. They are also able to purchase either a signed copy of the score or receive a signed copy of the score's title page. Composer Colin Matthews

Colin Matthews

Colin Matthews OBE is an English composer of classical music.-Early life and education:Matthews was born in London in 1946; his older brother is the composer David Matthews. He read classics at the University of Nottingham, and then studied composition there with Arnold Whittall, and with Nicholas...

, who has had four works commissioned by BCMG, has called the Sound Investors "a remarkable group...although the only return on their investment is a signed copy of the score.

Composers and works commissioned through Sound Investment

(The year shown is the year of first performance)

1995: Philip Cashian: Chamber Concerto

1996: Sally Beamish: A Book of Seasons

1997: Thomas Adès: Concerto Conciso

1998: Simon Bainbridge: Guitar Concerto

2000: Gerald Barry: Wiener Blut

2002: Gerald Barry: Dead March

2004: Philip Cashian: Three Pieces

2005: Julian Anderson: Book of Hours

2006: Philip Cashian: Skein

2007: Elvind Buene: Garland (for Matthew Locke)

2008: Gerald Barry: Beethoven

2008: Luke Bedford: Good Dream She Has

2011: Silvina Milstein: de oro y sombra ... (world premiere scheduled for 25 September 2011)