Cycle the Score

Sunday 20 September 2026, 3–6.30pm

Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham

£20 (On sale from mid-June via Midlands Arts Centre)

Experience Birmingham in motion with this unique musical journey on two wheels.

Starting and finishing at Midlands Arts Centre in Cannon Hill Park, this guided bicycle concert invites audiences to travel together through a series of green spaces for live performances of contemporary music. Participants will visit Highbury Hall and the Birmingham Brewery Company, where short, pop-up concerts unfold in the open air.

At each stop, musicians from BCMG perform an eclectic programme of works by leading composers – from John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen to Carola Bauckholt and Harrison Birtwistle – transforming familiar surroundings into unexpected stages.

The event culminates back at MAC with a joyful and participatory finale: A Breeze by Mauricio Kagel. In this playful and thought-provoking work, 111 cyclists ring bells, sound horns, sing and whistle, become performers in a collective reflection on how we use space, time and air.

Part of MAC’s Great Big Green Weekender, this family-friendly event celebrates creativity, sustainable travel and Birmingham’s green spaces. Whether you’re a seasoned cyclist or a casual rider, this is a chance to experience music in a completely different way.

Bring your bike. Bring your curiosity. And be part of the performance.

Artists

Birmingham Contemporary Music Group

Programme

MIDLANDS ARTS CENTRE

Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928–2007): Tierkreis – VII. Leo, 2′ (1974–75)

HIGHBURY HALL

Harrison Birtwistle (1934–2022): Roddy's Reel, 3′ (2009)

Jasper de Bock (b. 2003): 1001 Stokslagen, 6′ (2023)

John Woolrich (b. 1954): Watermark, 10′ (2002)

BIRMINGHAM BREWERY COMPANY

John Cage (1912–1992): Ryoanji, 16′ (1983–85)

MIDLANDS ARTS CENTRE

Carola Bauckholt (b. 1959): Specht, 3′ (2007)

John Cage: Branches, 8′ (1976)

John Cage: Trio – III. Waltz, 2′ (1936)

Theo Loevendie (b. 1930): Doppleriana, 5′ (1978)

FINALE AT MIDLANDS ARTS CENTRE

Mauricio Kagel (1931–2008): A Breeze, 5′ (1996)

David Hindley (1933–2018): Fanfare for the Corn Bunting Fanfare, 3′ (1990, rev. 1994)

Karlheinz Stockhausen: Tierkreis – IX. Libra and III. Aries, 4′

Cycle the Score is presented in partnership with Midlands Arts Centre.