The Garden of Love
Love and nature are in full bloom in this programme of evocative imagery and shimmering harmony.
Selections from Claude Le Jeune’s innovative 16th-century Le printemps set spring as the season of love, while the transient beauty of nature and youth is explored in Eric Whitacre’s Three Flower Songs. Love and longing is the timeless subject for Palestrina - a giant of the Italian Renaissance - and for Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur, who brings impressionistic colour and intimacy to his choral masterpiece.
We are thrilled that our 2025-26 cohort of talented Scholars will perform this concert as part of the new Live at the Centre series and that they will give the world premiere of a new commission from Bobbie-Jane Gardner.
Programme includes:
Daniel-Lesur Le Cantique des cantiques
Gardner Title TBC (world premiere)
Le Jeune Le printemps
Palestrina Surge, propera, amica mea
Whitacre Three Flower Songs
Running time approx. 2 hours, including interval.
With grateful thanks to the Hinrichsen Foundation for supporting the new work from Bobbie-Jane Gardner.
EX CATHEDRA Scholars Ensemble
Jeffrey Skidmore conductor
How to book
£12
£5 for full-time students and children (aged 17 or under)
Book online via the link on this page. If you are interested in making a booking for more than 8 people for this event, please call 0121 616 6500 and ask for the CBSO’s marketing department, or email marketing@cbso.co.uk.
Please note seating is unreserved for this event.
Getting there
CBSO Centre is accessible by road, rail and bus. There is on-street parking available outside the centre, and there are multiple car parks nearby.
Catching the tram or bus is an easy way to get to the CBSO Centre. You can plan your journey in advance, purchase your tickets and find out the latest travel information on the My Metro App and West Midlands Metro website.
Access
Everyone is welcome at our concerts, and we are committed to doing all we can to ensure you have a great experience.
CBSO Centre’s Justham Auditorium is a flexible space that can accommodate wheelchairs as required. In order to ensure that your seats are allocated with any access requirements in mind, please indicate your requirements when going through the booking process. There is level access and an accessible toilet.
You may like to note that the atmosphere will be quiet and still for extended periods. Audiences may reserve applause for the end of each half.
If you have any other access questions, please contact us, we are happy to help.
Concert FAQs
Find answers to your questions here. Do let us know if we've missed anything you'd find helpful.
Jeffrey says
"Ex Cathedra Scholars continue to be very active. Their Valentine’s Day concert in February - Chansons d’amour - was a great success, and their performance at the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards ceremony at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire in March was described as ‘a class act’. On 18 July 2025 in St Paul’s Church in the Jewellery Quarter they performed a diverse programme of choral music from around the world - The Language of Baroque - as part of the International Conference of Baroque Music which brought the world’s leading musicologists to Birmingham.
"The Garden of Love, performed days before the Vernal Equinox 2026, celebrates spring and the season of beauty and love with a programme of ravishing music to delight the senses, with music by Palestrina, Le Jeune, Daniel-Lesur, and Eric Whitacre - a Grand Tour of earthly delights."
