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14 September 2021
Kazuki Yamada announced as new
chief conductor of City of Birmingham
Symphony Orchestra
The Japanese conductor will take over from Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla when she moves
into a principal guest conductor role
By Freya Parr
The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra has announced that its principal guest
conductor Japanese conductor Kazuki Yamada will succeed Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla as
chief conductor and artistic advisor. The pair will swap roles, as Gražinytė-Tyla
moves into a principal guest conductor position.
Yamada’s appointment will come into effect in April 2023 for an initial four and a half-
year period. He will be the first non-European conductor to lead the CBSO. Having
first worked with the orchestra in 2012, Yamada joined the musicians on their tour of
Japan in 2016, which he describes as ‘one of the highlights of my career’. He then
