Birmingham cuts ties with the CBSO

Birmingham city council, which has declared itself bankrupt, will cut grants to its major arts companies by 50 percent this year and 100 percent in the next financial year.

Victims include City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Birmingham REP Theatre, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Birmingham Opera Company.

The loss represents about five percent of the orchestra’s budget. Emotionally, however, it severs a tie with the local authority that founded and financed the CBSO in 1920.

The announcement comes on a day when an official report predicts that the Midlands will reap £10 billion over ten years from the opening of the HS2 rail link.

Richard Bratby tweets: ‘Most Birmingham classical music orgs have long seen the way the wind was blowing & planned accordingly but the principle involved – the end of a century of cultural patronage from the City Council – is still deeply regrettable.’