The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra has announced that its music director Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla will remain in her position until summer 2022, when she will move to the role of principal guest conductor.
Her initial appointment in 2016 for three years was extended in 2018 for a further two years, meaning she was due to stay with the orchestra until summer 2021.
‘I have decided to give up my position of Music Director of the CBSO at the end of the 2021/22 season,' says Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla. 'This is a deeply personal decision, reflecting my desire to step away from the organisational and administrative responsibilities of being a Music Director at this particular moment in my life and focusing more on my purely musical activities.'
Gražinytė-Tyla joined the orchestra in 2016 as the first female conductor in the role, following in the footsteps of Andris Nelsons, Sakari Oramo and Simon Rattle, all of whom have gone on to conduct the world's top orchestras.