CBSO musical director Mirga to step down
MIRGA Gražinyte-Tyla is to step down as music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO).
The conductor will continue until summer 2022 and then move to the role of principal guest conductor.
Gražinyte-Tyla said: “I have decided to give up my position of music director of the CBSO at the end of the 2021/22 season and have happily accepted the orchestra’s invitation to become principal guest conductor in the 2022/23 season.
“This is a deeply personal decision, reflecting my desire to step away from the organisational and administrative responsibilities of being a music director at this particular moment in my life and focus more on my purely musical activities.
“I have such admiration and great fondness for the musicians of the CBSO and I am absolutely delighted that we shall continue to make music together in the coming years.”
Highlights of GražinyteTyla’s CBSO tenure include:
An ambitious Debussy Festival, winner of a South Bank Sky Arts Award;
Nine international tours including visits to the Vienna Musikverein and Lucerne Festival;
A Deutsche Grammophon recording of Weinberg’s Symphony No.21, winner of Gramophone’s Record of the Year;
13 premieres and 17 works by living composers; and
Sold-out performances of Mahler’s Symphony of a Thousand to start the CBSO’s Centenary year.
CBSO chief cxecutive Stephen Maddock said: “We’re delighted to be continuing our relationship with Mirga and are hugely grateful to her for the unending energy, passion and creativity she pours into her work with us.
“We’re thrilled that she has agreed to extend her commitment to the CBSO, and are pleased to be able to support her as she balances her working life.
“We look forward to making music together into the future.”