CBSO wind quintet plays a dance programme from Hungary to Cuba in an intimate CBSO Centre Stage concert.
Centre Stage: Dances for Woodwind comes to the CBSO Centre on Monday 1 February, with the CBSO wind quintet taking the lead. It's a lunchtime concert, starting at 1:00pm, and it's part of the CBSO's 2026-27 season under Music Director Kazuki Yamada.
The quintet is made up of five orchestra musicians: Helen Benson on flute, Rachael Pankhurst on oboe, Joanna Patton on clarinet, Tony Liu on bassoon, and Elspeth Dutch on French horn. They've put together a programme that's all about dance, and it's a globetrotting one: it travels from the plains of Hungary to the streets and dancehalls of Cuba, with bossa nova making its way to Brum along the way. The whole thing runs for about an hour, with no interval, so it's a single stretch of music from start to finish.
It sits within Centre Stage, a series of intimate live performances at the orchestra's home, designed to bring audiences closer to the music. The series was started by the orchestra's Director of Artistic Planning, Catherine Arlidge, back when she was still playing in the second violins, and it's meant as a showcase of the breadth of talent and knowledge of the orchestra's musicians. They're the ones who personally programme the chamber music they're passionate about and introduce the concert themselves. The series is led by CBSO musicians, among them Section Leader Lowri Porter.
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This particular afternoon is described as a knees-up with an international flavour, with the quintet's programme dancing across those different countries. Tickets are £12, though it's not part of the multi-buy discount, and there are reduced prices for students, under-18s, and benefit recipients. It starts at 1:00pm on Monday 1 February at the CBSO Centre in Birmingham.
