Birmingham Contemporary Music Group

Birmingham Contemporary Music Group is a chamber ensemble from Birmingham, UK, specialising in contemporary music. The group has actively commissioned original music and has spearheaded several innovative programs aimed at the promotion of contemporary music. BCMG has cultivated Sound Investment, a program which allows members of the public to support commissions of new music, to date BCMG has commissioned more than 175 new works, not only from established composers such as Thea Musgrave and Kevin Volans but also from composers early in their careers who went on to achieve renown. BCMG also created NEXT; Music Study Programme in Contemporary Performance, the only training program in Britain with contemporary music performance as a specific focus. The ensemble performs regularly in Birmingham (at CBSO Centre, Town Hall, and Symphony Hall) and in London (at Wigmore Hall, the BBC Proms, and the Aldeburgh Festival). It also has a substantial international presence that has included performances in the U.S. (at the Library of Congress), across Europe, and as far away as India. Birmingham Contemporary Music Group has released various recordings, most on the NMC label; several have won major awards. BCMG’s founding patron was Simon Rattle and was founded in 1987 by Simon Clugston and Ulrich Heinen, members of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.