Thumb has been dedicated to making new music since its formation in 2009. This contemporary classical ensemble works with emerging composers, supporting the writing process and performing premieres and repeat performances of original works.
Since their inauguration, Thumb have given over 50 premieres in concerts across the UK, begun actively commissioning new music and collaborated with organisations and artists such as Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, Joe Cutler, Howard Skempton and Mark-Anthony Turnage.
Their programme is one of confrontation and impact, including the premiere of a new work featuring a scratch choir, examining our motivation to protest in a safe and wealthy contemporary Britain.
The ensemble’s principal aims are to commission new music and present these works to new audiences. The ensemble develops collaborative partnerships with artists and professionals from other art forms and organisations, and performs fresh original repertoire, influencing a new generation of contemporary composers and audiences.
Thumb hail from the centre of Birmingham’s concrete jungle, and feel proud to be associated with a city whose history is so closely intertwined with innovation and social change.