Did you know Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk was our 50th production? We'll travel back in time and share pictures and stories from our archive. It's a work in progress - join us on the journey. This is how it all began.
Who can save us from ourselves? Read more
"Whenever we hear sounds we are no longer the same, and this is even more the case when we hear organized sound - music. New means change the method - new methods change the experience - new experiences change man." -Karlheinz Stockhausen Read more
Birmingham Opera Company's 2009 'Othello' featured Ronald Samm, the first black tenor to sing the title role in the UK. Read more
In the past 10 years alone, Birmingham Opera Company has performed in over 200 spaces: in youth centres, homeless shelters, disused factories and now the iconic Tower Ballroom in Edgbaston. Read more
In 2007 we collaborated with The Arena di Verona to stage a production of a scale rarely seen in the UK: La Traviata in the National Indoor Arena (NIA) in front of 10,000 people. Read more
Actions will be weighed and counted... When the time comes, pay the price. And he did... Read more
"The show was the most exquisite, challenging and enjoyable experience I have ever had." Read more
"What our work is trying to do is not only involve and excite audiences, it's trying to take forward and experiment and push the boundaries of the art form itself - of how we might perform it, explore it, be excited by it." - Graham Vick Read more
"The future health of opera depends on it embracing the whole of contemporary society and that means being a part of it and being prepared to change as rapidly as society itself." - Graham Vick, 2003 Read more
"Only madmen or geniuses would dream of putting on an unknown 18th-century opera in a burnt-out ballroom in the middle of the Birmingham Bullring. Which brings us to the City of Birmingham Touring Opera..." Read more
Graham Vick and Jonathan Dove's version captures the mighty essence of Wagner's masterpiece in 10 hours of music that can be performed across two evenings with just 12 singers and 18 orchestral players. The pocket-sized miracle opened at Stockland Green Leisure Centre, Birmingham on 12 November 1990 and toured halls and sports centres up and down the country. Read more
"The suspicion that this was to be no ordinary night out in Erdington was confirmed by the sight of former Beatle and Shankar student George Harrison sitting a few rows behind me in conversation with Birmingham rock guitarist Jeff Lynne." - Terry Grimley, Opera Now 10 Years of CBTO Read more