This July, B:Music celebrates two years since the completion of our Making an Entrance campaign and the transformation of Birmingham’s Symphony Hall.

The £13 million redevelopment introduced B:Eats, Symphony Hall’s new eatery and the Jennifer Blackwell Performance Space with the aim of breaking down barriers and presenting local and emerging talent.

"The Making an Entrance project started out in 2016 as a few sketches and a big idea that Symphony Hall could evolve to welcome new audiences to new spaces, introducing even more people to the joy of live music. Having been with the project from the beginning, it has been a joy to see it through to completion and to finally see these new informal settings come alive. Our reopening weekend in July 2021 took place as the country finally emerged from lockdown and hearing our associate artistes Black Voices light up the Jennifer Blackwell Performance Space on the closing Sunday of that weekend was very special," says Nick Reed, Chief Executive Officer of B:Music.

"Since then I have been delighted with how both audiences and performers have warmed to our new spaces, and the connection that Symphony Hall now makes with Centenary Square. The project has introduced a new vibrancy to the building, with casual audiences dropping in for free gigs, young people engaging with our talent development programmes and audiences for evening concerts enjoying comfortable, contemporary new foyer spaces." He adds: "Away from the music, it’s our Big Brummie Breakfast in B:Eats café that is the winner for me: a generous full English crowned with our Chef Lee’s Brummie Bacon Cake. It’s well worth the hard training miles I need to put in to earn it."

Just last year, 25 000 people attended 200 FREE events and workshops in our new spaces. We look forward to many more people and artists “making an entrance” at Symphony Hall for years to come.

To read more on the redevelopment and B:Music’s mission, please visit our Support Us page.