PART two of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire’s 15 month-long Opening Festival is continuing with performances in the stunning Bradshaw Hall, intimate Recital Hall and other state-of-the-art performance spaces in Birmingham.

This month will see Julian Lloyd Webber, the Conservatoire’s principal, conduct the first concert of the Orchestra of the Swan’s brand new residency.

They will be playing Mendelssohn on Wednesday, November 7, when violinist Tai Murray play’s the composer’s Violin Concerto, while Lloyd Webber will conduct the orchestra in Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro overture and Symphony No 25, Mendelssohn’s youthful String Sinfonia No 6 and a new short work by a Conservatoire student.

In a pre-concert talk (1.30pm), Christopher Morley discusses opportunities for aspiring young musicians with Julian Lloyd Webber and Tai Murray, one of the few African-American musicians to be involved in classical music.

On Friday and Saturday, November 9 and 10, and Thursday, November 22, the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire hosts a two-day international symposium in the Bradshaw Hall marking the 350th anniversary of the birth of François Couperin.

The programme includes contributions from eminent scholars and a harpsichord recital by world-renowned interpreter of the composer’s music, Davitt Moroney (Nov 9).

Later in the month, students from the Early Music, Vocal and Recorder departments present recent discoveries, a selection of harpsichord pieces and a new reconstruction of Couperin’s Cecilian motet (Nov 22).

Later this month there will be a new festival dedication to the piano in chamber music from Tuesday to Friday, November 20-23 at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

Over the four-day festival there will be a competition, masterclasses and celebrity recitals featuring jury members and professional guest artists with performances by the London Bridge Trio, Gould Piano Trio, Katya Apekisheva, Michael Gurevich, Robin Ireland, Alice Neary, Christoph Richter, John Thwaites and Daniel Tong.

The Grand Final will see the winners receive £4,000, engagements including London’s Wigmore Hall and a recording with Resonus Classics.  The opening and closing events will be live-streamed on Classic FM.