Sound City Showcase

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The Deputy Lady Mayoress and I opened a superb event at the CBSO Centre recently. Soundcity 10 is a wonderful showcase of the gifted and talented young people in the world of music from Birmingham schools from throughout the city.

We very much enjoyed seeing and hearing the outstanding musicians, singers and performers from 23 schools who lined up to entertain. There were some stunning performances across a huge range and which were a tribute to the performers, our fine Music Service and the CBSO.

So I would like to thank everyone involved including the City Council’s Arts Education and Music Service, The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Blue Whale Studios and all of the gifted and talented co-ordinators in Birmingham Schools.

And we must certainly not forget to mention and thank all of the equally committed young people who worked as apprentice lighting, sound and stage crew, at front of house and as very professional comperes. We are proud of them all.

Neither professional nor amateur performances are possible without their most valuable contribution - it takes a whole team of dedicated and capable people to make any performance work well.

We had a wonderful evening of music that inspired, impressed and moved us and we wish everyone involved all the best for the future. Do get along next year if you can.

When will the new £50 note be issued?

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Readers of this blog may recall a mention of the new £50 note that was announced by the Governor of the Bank of England at the time of the opening of the Matthew Boulton exhibition in the summer of 2009 when I was Lord Mayor. The question naturally arises as to when the note will be launched. The current position is that the redesigned note is undergoing production trials and the Bank of England will provide an update on the timelines once these trials are complete.

The new £50 note will be the second in the Series F family which began with the introduction of the Adam Smith £20 note in 2007 so its overall appearance will be similar. But, of particular interest to us here in Birmingham, for the first time two portraits will appear together on the reverse of the note, those of Boulton and Watt, along with the image of a steam engine and the historic Soho (Birmingham) Manufactory – a great tribute to our city.

As with the Adam Smith £20 banknote however, continuity will be provided with the current portrait of Her Majesty The Queen, which was first used in 1990 and which will be retained on the front of the note. Further details of the design and the range of security features to be included on the new note will be revealed when the new note is launched, within a full promotion and awareness campaign. Let’s hope it’s not too long delayed.

Birmingham Choral Union

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I recently had the pleasure of being a guest at a splendid concert at the Town Hall given by the Birmingham Choral Union and including well over 50 Blue Coat School choir members. The programme comprised two pieces touching upon a common theme; that of peace.

In the first half of the concert was Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem and in the second half was the Birmingham premiere of Paul MacCartney’s Ecce Cor Meum. The performances were outstanding and very moving with excellent solo performances too. The choirs were, as ever, very well supported by the impressive Birmingham Choral Union Orchestra.

We are indeed fortunate in the city of Birmingham to have such a rich and deep cultural life - so very well exemplified by this concert. Our thanks to the Birmingham Choral Union for all that they do.

Birmingham Royal Ballet

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The Deputy Lady Mayoress and I recently had the opportunity to attend the Birmingham Royal Ballet’s performance of ‘La Fille mal Gardee’. The BRB performance of this light-hearted piece was outstanding and the full house enjoyed it immensely.
The principals on the night, Nao Sakuma as Lise, Iain Mackay as Colas and Robert Gravenor as Alain were excellent - as was our friend Valentin Olovyannikov in the role of Thomas – who we recognised immediately, outrageous costume or no!

In Birmingham we are extremely fortunate to have our own resident world-class ballet company, one that has international renown. They are recently returned from Hong Kong, and will be off to perform in Japan in May. And of course there was the memorable Virginia Arts Festival highlight performance of Swan Lake last summer at which we joined them for a few days.

The BRB introduce new works such as the recent success Cinderella with its refreshing take on the tale, striking scenery and all new choreography by David Bintley. And do go to see their classic production of Swan Lake as soon as you get the chance. BRB have been in Birmingham for over twenty years now and in that time they have contributed enormously to the cultural life and international standing of the city.

Young People Speak Out!

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This weekend I have had the opportunity to take part in two inspiring events involving young students. The first was at Joseph Chamberlain College who had organised a Model United Nations Conference. This major initiative involved over 300 sixth form students from all over the country and was the first such event of its kind in the UK. There was a formal opening session, students having been allocated to countries. They would take up issues related to those countries, frame resolutions and gather support from other 'countries' both in committees and as a General Assembly. The picture shows some of the flags of the 'participating' nations.

The model United Nations programme provides an inspiring opportunity for young people - and other age groups! - to understand the complexities of global politics in a non-threatening way. The United Nations is an organisation of ideals - although admittedly at times it is not an ideal organisation - but then, what is? And it is assuredly a vitally important one in a world facing so many major challenges. And, as its basis, to quote from the charter: "...to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small..."

The second event was the regional final of the English Speaking Union's public speaking competition which was held at the Council House where teams from schools all over the Midlands compete - in a very demanding format involving speaking to a topic, questioning other speakers and chairing sessions. The standard was extremely high - up to national standard in fact - and the winners now go on to the national finals.

The event was won by Cheltenham Ladies College but the teams were so very closely matched that any one of them would have been a worthy winner. The judges, including Professor David Roberts, Head of English at Birmingham City University, had a real headache and kept us all in suspense for quite a while.

Vivienne and I were Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress on the occasion of the re-launch of the branch when we donated the Birmingham Cup to be presented to the winners of the English Speaking Union's Birmingham Branch final. So we were delighted to welcome to this event King Edward's School as the inaugural winners of the Birmingham Cup - and the school came very close in this regional contest.

Two events then that pay tribute both to young people and to the initiative and commitment of the organisations - Joseph Chamberlain Sixth Form College and the English Speaking Union. Very well done to both and to all who took part.

Let the Bells Ring Out!

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On Saturday evening I attended one of the most interesting dinners during my time as Lord Mayor or Deputy Lord Mayor. This was the annual Henry Johnson Commemoration Dinner of the St Martin's Guild of Church Bell Ringers.

The Guild is a voluntary association of bell-ringers in the Birmingham diocese with the objectives of maintaining ringing for church services; practising, encouraging and advancing the art of change-ringing; and providing a fund to support belfry restoration and improvement projects within its area. Henry Johnson was a renowned bell ringer born in the early 19th century.

Church bell ringing is a quintessentially English tradition and it was good to see that this historic heritage is being actively carried forward by such committed and energetic a body as Birmingham's own Guild. It is no wonder that Birmingham is so widely regarded as a centre of excellence.

During the evening there was a beautiful performance of hand bell ringing and a good opportunity for me to learn more about the practice (which is known as 'The Exercise' - no-one using the term campanology).

Some of those present had rung a fantastic number of changes - one person at my table had rung over 1700 sets of 5,040 changes (all possible orderings of 7 bells) and this was by no means a record! Others were well known 'Tower Grabbers' trying to ring at as many bell towers as possible. Some had travelled widely and had rung at Christchurch Cathedral to tower of which was destroyed in the recent earthquake. St Martin's was the first set of church bells to be rung live on the radio.

If you are young(ish) co-ordinated and a bit musical you would be very welcome to be trained up. For more information you can email Simon Linford at simonhippo@hotmail.com Bell ringing has something of a family tradition and there is also a children's section. The St Martin's Guild website can be found at
 http://smgcbr.heralded.org.uk

Formula Student!

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Recently Vivienne and I had a most absorbing and inspiring evening with engineering students at Aston University. These very bright and enthusiastic young people were involved in two projects, Formula Student and the Shell Eco Challenge.
During my year as Lord Mayor I'd promoted engineering as a course of study and had provided some modest funding to our three universities to this end including sponsorship of Formula Student where the students design and build their own racing car. It is a superb exercise not only in hands-on mechanical engineering but also in teamwork, organisation and industrial and other sponsorship. The Formula Student races take place during the summer at both national and European levels. In the Eco Challenge the task is to construct a car that does maximum mileage from one litre of fuel.
I wanted to play my part in emphasizing the immense value of these projects and of mechanical and automotive engineering in general. These are fields the study and practice of which are so important to the future of the city - and indeed the country.
Our local and national prosperity was founded on engineering and manufacture and I believe that we must return to a position where a full and proper role is played by engineering in our economy to ensure our future economic wellbeing.
You cannot have an economy of our size just based on services and shopping - and of course there is no such thing as a post industrial society. Thus there is a major role to be played by proper universities - those which include a study of the discipline of engineering - as all three in Birmingham do.

Prior to an excellent presentation by the students there was a chance to look at, discuss and, if you are trim enough, sit in the cars. This ruled me out of course but Vivienne fitted snugly into the Aston Formula Student car. An exhilarating experience as you can see!