For immediate release: 22 June 2015

City of Symphony Orchestra Assistant Conductor Alpesh Chauhan renews contract following critically acclaimed concerts

 25 year old conductor to continue role as Assistant Conductor  Chauhan steps in for CBSO Music Director, Andris Nelsons, to critical acclaim  Next concert is a CBSO matinee on Thursday 25 June  CBSO continues to support and nurture talented young talented conductors  Assistant Conductor position made possible thanks to private donors

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) has confirmed Alpesh Chauhan will continue as Assistant Conductor for the 2015-16 Season following the success of two recent concerts that saw the young conductor step in for CBSO Music Director and mentor, Andris Nelsons, at very short notice. The concerts which featured Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony and Strauss’s challenging second horn concerto were performed to a near capacity audience and received enthusiastic critical acclaim.

“Alpesh is a rare talent,” said CBSO Chief Executive Stephen Maddock, “his musical passion and dedication to music is an inspiration. Having been mentored by Andris Nelsons for the past two years through the CBSO’s Conducting Fellowship Scheme and then subsequently as Assistant Conductor, his natural flair and talent meant that when Andris was unable to conduct two recent concerts, he was able to step in. These concerts were superb and we did not hesitate in extending Alpesh’s contract, which is made possible thanks to the kind support of Tony Davis and Darin Qualls”.

“The CBSO continues to support and nurture young talented artists. We are very proud of our Youth Orchestra, which is where Alpesh began his career as a cellist, our youth and children’s choruses, and we also encourage and support hugely talented conductors such as Simon Rattle, Sakari Oramo and Andris Nelsons right at the start of their careers - and we know what became of them!”

Alpesh was announced as the CBSO’s first Conducting Fellow in December 2013. The fellowship was designed to enable aspiring young conductors to bridge the gap between full- time study and the classical music profession as well as offering unprecedented access to some of the best conductors, artists and musicians in the world. Following his success in this role, Alpesh was announced as Assistant Conductor for the 2014-15 Season. Since then, he has accompanied the CBSO on numerous tours including the CBSO’s most recent and biggest-ever European tour and has worked with visiting conductors including Edward Gardner and Jac van Steen.

Alpesh said: “We’d recently returned from a three-week-tour, involving 15 concerts across seven countries when, less than 24 hours before the one and only rehearsal for the performance was to take place, I got a call from Stephen Maddock asking me to stand in for Andris who was unwell. I’d supported him through his gruelling schedule of rehearsals and performances on tour and the Dvořák was one of the symphonies I knew relatively well from this. As a result, I made my CBSO conducting debut with two concerts, one at Symphony Hall and one at Oxford’s Sheldonian. The Orchestra were incredibly supportive and played impeccably; I couldn’t have done it without the whole-hearted support of the musicians.

“I am looking forward to working with the Orchestra, its choruses and its incredible conducting team, including Edward Gardner, Michael Seal and Simon Halsey, as well as experiencing more of the amazing Birmingham audiences.

“To be continuing in the role of Assistant Conductor is a tremendous honour for me. Birmingham is my home and to be given the opportunity to work with and conduct its orchestra, which is undoubtedly one of the world’s greatest, now that’s something really special.”

Forthcoming CBSO Concerts conducted by Alpesh Chauhan: Summer Showcase, Thursday 25 June 2015 and Shostakovich’s Fifteenth Wednesday 9 March 2016. Tickets are available from Symphony Hall or Town Hall box offices in person, by phone: 0121 345 0499, or online: www.cbso.co.uk (Please note a £3 transaction fee plus £1 (optional) postage is charged by THSH Box Office on all bookings except those made in person).

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Note to Editors

About Alpesh Chauhan Alpesh Chauhan is Assistant Conductor at the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, mentored by Music Director Andris Nelsons, Principal Guest Conductor Edward Gardner and visiting guests. In addition to assisting Maestro Nelsons with performances in Birmingham and on tour, Alpesh has conducted the orchestra at Symphony Hall on numerous occasions and will be at its helm for an evening concert centred around Shostakovich’s final Symphony, No. 15, in March 2016.

Highlights of Alpesh’s career include engagements with the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Kymi Sinfonietta, Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini Parma, Ulster Orchestra, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Birmingham Conservatoire and a project with students from the Royal Northern College of Music performing Steve Reich’s Double Sextet at the Southbank Centre. He gave his début with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in a Radio 3 live broadcast of Vasks’ Violin Concerto Distant Light (soloist: Anthony Marwood) and Brahms’ Symphony No. 3 and was re-invited to conduct the orchestra for the Ten Pieces Secondary film, to be released later in 2015. In May 2015 he stepped in last-minute for two performances with BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and pianist Garrick Ohlsson, which were received with greatest acclaim.

The 2015/16 season sees Alpesh return to Kymi Sinfonietta, Manchester Camerata, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini Parma as well as conduct the

orchestras of Teatro Carlo Felice Genoa and Maggio Musicale Fiorentino for the first time. He will also make his French début with the orchestra of Opéra National Lorraine in Nancy.

Born and raised in Birmingham, Alpesh joined the CBSO Youth Orchestra in 2005 and became their principal cellist. In 2007 he began taking conducting masterclasses as part of the Youth Orchestra Academy. He joined the RNCM in 2008 to study the cello with Eduardo Vassallo before deciding to pursue the prestigious Masters Conducting Course, mentored by Clark Rundell and Mark Heron. Alpesh has participated in masterclasses with Juanjo Mena, Vasily Petrenko, Jac van Steen, and has studied with conductors of renown including Stanislaw Skrowaczewski.

About the CBSO

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1920 by the civic leaders of the city of Birmingham. The CBSO has a worldwide reputation for delivering an extraordinary range of outstanding orchestral music concerts. The quality, scope and magnitude of the programme delivered by the CBSO’s family of orchestral musicians, conductors and choruses are unrivalled anywhere in the world. As it nears its centenary in 2020, the CBSO will continue to push the boundaries to secure a great future for music, not only in Birmingham but also across the Midlands, nationally and internationally.

In residence at Symphony Hall, Birmingham, and at home in CBSO Centre, the Orchestra performs around 130 concerts each year. It continues to delight audiences across the UK and on international tours. Critically acclaimed, it is famed for presenting audiences with star-studded operas, fresh sounding symphonies, and ground-breaking premieres, alongside silent movies, Broadway classics, box office hits and family shows. Whilst inviting some of the world’s greatest musicians to the city to perform, the CBSO is also focused on developing future talent. Whether it is investing in up-and-coming artists, supporting six exceptional Choruses and a Youth Orchestra, or providing 72,000 engagement opportunities for young people each year in an extensive learning and engagement programme, the CBSO is a proud ambassador and cultural icon for Birmingham.