Orchestrating a greener future

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is the only symphony orchestra based in the Midlands. In line with our commitment to take classical music to the widest possible audience, we play at our home in Symphony Hall but also regularly tour across the UK and in Europe. Our heavy concert schedule means the orchestra travels extensively in ways that aren’t always environmentally friendly – especially if individual musicians decide to travel to concert venues on their own. As for our audiences, who travel from across the region to our Birmingham concerts, unless they are using public transport, they too are contributing significantly to carbon emissions.

 But, we’re working on our ‘carbon conscience’. One of the ways we have tackled emissions reduction is through our coaches scheme in partnership with a Cheltenham coach company. We organise coaches from key locations across the region to Symphony Hall for selected concerts. This has proved popular with our regional audiences and was recognised by the transport industry – receiving an Effective Partnership award in 2009.

Moreover, while on tour in Europe, the CBSO has made a decision to travel by coach or train and only by plane when it is absolutely necessary. If you use clever scheduling you don’t need to travel by air, as most parts of Europe have a good overland transport infrastructure. Besides the obvious benefit to the environment, it’s often cheaper and affords a great opportunity for sightseeing. Plus, given rigorous security checks and restrictions at airports, musicians who play (and thus carry with them) small instruments are increasingly finding travel by air a less attractive option.

Elsewhere, we also had the opportunity to contribute to a research project by Julie’s Bicycle which examined the impact of bands, theatres and orchestras touring on the environment. CBSO was one of many representatives on the orchestral sector steering group, which included other orchestras, promoters, agents and venues. The final publication ‘Managing the Carbon Impacts of touring on Orchestras’ was published in April this year and put forward number of key recommendations.

As a result, we are planning environmental improvements to our rehearsal venue, and extending our coach scheme. It’s easy to blame the current climate for a reluctance to green your building or organisation but, as we’ve learnt, reducing the environmental impact of orchestras and being cost-effective go hand in hand.

Tips for tours
• Embed environmental sustainability into tour planning
• Create demand for goods with strong environmental credentials
• Scope the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions when planning a tour
• Measure GHG emissions post tour and report them
• Create new touring models – this might involve more performances per tour and assessment of logistics (e.g. performer travel and instrument freighting)