Orchestra that allowed youths to movie performances on their telephones lets grime rappers Lady Leshurr and Big Dog Yogo into its ranks to spice up classical music audiences

A British orchestra is teaming up with two UK grime artists in a bid to encourage more young listeners to get interested in classical music.

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) has been taking radical steps to try to appeal to a younger audience and earlier this year caused a stir over their policy to allow people to film during their shows. 

Tenor Ian Bostridge stopped a performance at Birmingham Symphony Hall last month criticising audience members using their phones during the show, although he later said he was unaware about the relaxation of the rules.

Emma Stenning, the chief executive of the CBSO, told The Times that it was launching a ‘listening project’ in 2025 that would relax rules and allow widespread use of phones in the concert hall, to see if there was a desire for audience members to do so.

She said: ‘How do we make the symphony hall more welcoming and a place where people feel comfortable and themselves and how do we protect that space so that it is right for artists and so that people engage in the music in the best possible way?’

The concert is being produced in collaboration with Punch Records, which will see some of its artists including Big Dog Yogo and Lady Leshurr perform live with the orchestra. 

The Legacy gig, which will take place on Saturday, April 12, 2025 at Birmingham Symphony Hall, has stemmed from a book and documentary of the same name by the Punch Records agency, about the untold stories of Birmingham’s grime, hip-hop, and rap scene 

Ms Stenning said the CBSO and other orchestras need to experiment to keep classical music alive for future generations.

The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra are experimenting with new ways to attract a younger audience

British singer and grime artist Lady Leshurr is set to perform with the CBSO in the special concert

Grime artist Big Dog Yogo is also set to join the orchestra for the performance in April

She told The Times: ‘All the research that we do into new audiences says that people are really wanting a more immersive experience, something that speaks more directly to the music they might listen to at home and feels more relevant in their day-to-day lives,’ Stenning said, adding that the grime concert was one of the projects trying to ‘bring new people into the concert hall’. 

Tom Spurgin, the creative director of the CBSO, said that orchestral music and grime acts were not as far apart as they first seemed.

He said: ‘A huge amount of grime music is based on orchestral samples, so many of the bass lines those artists work with are tubas, trombones, bass trombones and double basses.’

Mr Spurgin said the orchestra’s musicians were supportive of the project and were transfixed when conductor Phil Meadows took them through the arrangements for the show.

In May, Mr Bostridge urged the orchestra to reverse the policy on allowing phones in the concerts, after halting his performance.

He clarified that he ‘wasn’t making a protest’ but was simply unable to concentrate due to the distraction from at least two individuals filming.

He said: ‘You’re looking at the audience and it’s very interrupting and distracting to have phones being held up. It breaks the spell’.

‘I didn’t know about this policy and I wasn’t making a protest of any sort to begin with, I simply couldn’t carry on because I couldn’t concentrate.’

The concert is being produced in collaboration with Punch Records, which will see some of its artists including Big Dog Yogo performing

Emma Stenning said the CBSO and other orchestras need to experiment to keep classical music alive for future generations

The Classical Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in action (stock photo)

He added that ‘almost all’ of the audience applauded after he halted the concert.

Despite Bostridge’s criticisms, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra vowed to continue challenging concert hall conventions by permitting mobile phone filming, sparking backlash from traditionalists.

However, Emma Stenning, the orchestra’s chief executive, defended the decision, telling The Times that the orchestra cannot expect young listeners ‘to come on the old rules’.

Ms Stenning, who is due to meet Mr Bostridge this month, told the paper that some of the audience members were actually reading the translation of the French on their digital program – not recording.

To prevent future distraction she said the orchestra was creating a ‘dark more’ setting on its website to prevent too much light from appearing.

And the chief executive said there were also discussions being had about introducing ‘quiet carriages’ in the concert hall, like those on trains, where phones were not allowed.

The CBSO Centre, the home and rehearsal centre of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

High-profile tenor Ian Bostridge (pictured) stopped an ongoing performance at the city’s Symphony Hall to lambast audience members who were using their phones

 To this, Bostridge said: ‘We do have an issue attracting new audiences but I don’t think this is the way to go. 

‘And in general I don’t think that radically changing the way that concerts happen is a good idea either because the special thing about this sort of concert, classical concerts is it’s a space where people come and they concentrate on what’s happening onstage.

‘I certainly haven’t met or spoken to a single musician or singer in the past few days who doesn’t think I’m right about this.’

‘I hope [Birmingham’s orchestra] will’ change their minds.