Kazuki Yamada is the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra’s dynamic new chief conductor and artistic advisor. At the finish of latest month, Yamada officially took to the helm in a launch concert at Symphony Corridor centred around Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, culminating in a series of balloons gloriously descending the ceiling into an audience in rapturous appla. “Of course, the CBSO is a great orchestra – that I already knew,” Yamada told Classic FM after witnessing the hall’s response. “And every orchestra has [its] own way of connecting with the audience. But in Birmingham I’ve never seen love that.

“The balloons fell into the audience, and everybody was ‘waaah!’ screaming, love children. It was amazing,” he continued, adding, “Birmingham’s speciality is that it’s very excellent humoured!” Yamada first led the CBSO as a visitor conductor in two thousand-twelfth. Four years later, they went on tour together in Japan, performing eight concerts across the country. “After that,” Yamada says, “Everything changed… somehow we fell in like with each other.” In two thousand eighteen, he was promoted to the role of principal visitor conductor.

“The relationship was getting so incredible,” he says. “Each concert was so excellent. I recollect all concerts with the CBSO.” The CBSO, who are Classic FM’s Orchestra in the Midlands, has been led by some of classical music’s greatest names, Sir Simon Rattle and Andris Nelsons to most recently, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla. For Yamada, the 44-year-old conductor said it was “almost destiny” that he landed the chief conductor role. “I didn’t expect this work beca CBSO always select [such] youthful conductors,” he said. Rattle was twenty-five years old, Nelsons was twenty-nine, Gražinytė-Tyla was thirty when they were officially hired to the helm. “I thought I was a tiny bit too elderly for them, but they chose me which I didn’t expect.

“But as you know, many conductors have to get up a relationship scratch at the beginning of the job, but I've the advantage beca we've already such a grand relationship.” Alongside his work in Birmingham, Yamada continues to carry out in Japan as permanent conductor of the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra and principal visitor conductor of the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra. He's also principal conductor and artistic director of the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra.