The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra has announced that Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla will take up the role of Associate Artist from December 2023.

Gražinytė-Tyla is currently the Principal Guest Conductor and was the Music Director of the CBSO from 2016 to 2022.

In a statement, Gražinytė-Tyla quoted Daniel Barenboim who said some years ago: “Music can lift our feelings and imagination to undreamed spheres.” She adds “I am incredibly grateful to have experienced so many times together with CBSO how true this is – and I am so happy that we are going to discover and share many more of those undreamed spheres.”

The conductor’s Associate Artist role sits alongside Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor Kazuki Yamada, Associate Conductor Michael Seal, and Assistant Conductors Rita Castro Blanco and Charlotte Corderoy.

In a statement, Emma Stenning, Chief Executive of the CBSO, added, “I am thrilled to formalise our continuing relationship with Mirga through this exciting new role, ever strengthening her incredible bond with the musicians of the CBSO. As Associate Artist, we look forward to her regular return to the orchestra, bringing her intense musicality and creative flair to performances for our audiences both here in Birmingham, and further afield.”