Though the dust has settled on 2012 and we're making great strides into 2013, we'd like to take a quick opportunity to say a very big THANK YOU to each and every one of the audience members, supporters and artists who made last December one of our best yet.

We sold over 350,000 tickets for events across both halls in the last nine months, the period from mid-November to late December being particularly busy in terms of ticket bookings, the number of events and sheer volume of audience members and visitors through our doors.

Our wonderful hardworking Front of House, Box Office, Bars and Hospitality and Technical teams, made up of both permanent and casual members of staff, helped to deliver 70 events in December alone.

16 performances of our family show at Town Hall - The Gruffalo's Child - took place during December, during which time Front of House staff counted 6,427 different pieces of merchandise for the show, sold 1,422 Gruffalo flags and 667 cuddly toys and risked 583 paper cuts from rolling postergrammes.

As part of our Generation Ladywood initiative, supported by our Concerts 2 Kerbstones project, we offered free tickets for show to around 700 reception-age children from the area. A selected group from one of the primary schools had the chance to have a photo taken (see above) with the cast after!

Before we exit Winter and enter Spring, on behalf of the whole organisation, we'd like to express our gratitude to everyone who helped us achieve a wonderful 2012, give ourselves a little pat on the back and say that we are thrilled to be heading into this year with such a brilliant team.

The next in our occasional series of chats with THSH staff, partners and supporters is here! We caught up with Sally, our Development Manager for Individual Giving.

THSH: Hello! Please talk us through your role, Sally.

SP: I look after the Membership scheme and Friends of THSH; I also work on particular fundraising campaigns with the Development team to raise money for THSH's excellent education and community programme. I organise and facilitate events for our Friends to socialise, learn more about the charity and have fun.  

THSH: If you were on Mastermind, what might your specialist subjects be?

SP: I think that I would like to answer questions about the productions of Matthew Bourne's dance company - New Adventures and UK darts players... which I know is a bit of an odd mix!

THSH: What is an average day like for you?

SP: I normally start by checking Membership and Friends enquiries. Very often I will be involved in departmental meetings where we will be discussing exciting new projects. Some days I will be running between the two venues carrying buckets, leaflets, pull up stands to get ready for events and then other days I will be researching different fundraising examples... or wading through spread sheets!

THSH: If you took over Programming for a day, who would you book to perform at THSH?

SP: I really love a good funky festival vibe so I would love to programme Devendra Banhart, The Destroyers, Quantic Soul Orchestra and Norman Jay DJing into the early hours...and UV face paint and flowery headdresses would be obligatory.

THSH: What are you looking forward to achieving in 2013?

SP: Organising more events for Friends; we are joining forces with other arts organisations to create exclusive events. I am also looking forward to incorporating more digital fundraising via our social media platforms. I'm hoping that our Membership (now up to 2500) continues to grow... I have a slightly competitive streak so I dream of it being the biggest arts membership in the UK!

Contact Sally for a chat about Membership, Friends and how you can support THSH via 0121 644 5072 or email

GREAT BRITTEN

Just over a week ago, Birmingham’s official celebrations of what would have been Benjamin Britten’s hundredth year began with a Discovery Day followed by a concert from Ex Cathedra at Town Hall.  Performances followed from The Britten Sinfonia with Angela Hewitt, Ian Bostridge (who penned this fascinating read for the Guardian's G2) with Julius Drake and the CBSO. A Boy Was Born continues through to July.

JOLLY GOOD FELLOWSHIPS

The recent announcement that, with support from the Jerwood Charitable Foundation, the Jazzlines programme will be offering three Jazz Fellowships to the country’s most talented emerging jazz musicians aged 18-35 was met with a warm response from the jazz world, with coverage in Blues and Soul,  The Jazz Breakfast and on Stephen Graham's blog. We'll be announcing the successful candidates in late February.

THE BRIDAL PATH

Over 300 visitors, many of them brides-to-be, braved the snow and ice last Sunday to explore Town Hall's wedding showcase event, the Designer Vintage Bridal Boutique. We hear from colleagues that the Miss Macaroon and Devenshire Girl Bakery's Vintage Tearoom was a particular success! The Birmingham Post and Mail ran a super feature before the event and here is what the space looked like on the day! Our Hires website has plenty of information for prospective couples looking for a very special venue for the big day.

In the last issue, we called for metronomes and their owners to get in touch ahead of a performance of Ligeti's Poeme symphonique - scored for 100 metronomes - which will be taking place in Symphony Hall's Cafe Bar on Tuesday 5 March.

The event is part of our regular Beyond Classical free performance series in association with Birmingham Conservatoire, and one of the events in the mini-series Reich: Influences which explores Steve Reich’s profound impact on contemporary music and the composers who have influenced him.

We've had coverage in BBC Music Magazine and Classic FM as well as people sharing our call online, resulting in offers tick-tocking their way to us, including:

"He is a Wittner Maelzel Pyramid with a wooden case and with a bell mechanism which, of course, does not have to sound.  He is well into his 60's or possibly older but still in good working order with a strong 'tick and tock'"

"I inherited my metronome from my Grandad. He had saved up coupons in the period after the second world war to buy his first clarinet (which I still own to this day), and at the same time, he saved up his pocket money and bought the metronome too!"

"If it's useful to know, it's a Wittner (made in West Germany). It goes 'click', but not 'ding'"

Do you have a mechanical metronome and are interested in taking part in the performance? Find out how to, here

Reich: Influences will feature the second world performance of the Radiohead-inspired Radio Rewrite, commissioned by the London Sinfonietta. The orchestra are looking to raise the final £3,000 towards the commission by 27 February - read more here.

We're also presenting a matinee performance for Key Stage 3 and 4 students - the whole Reich Influences mini-series promises to be a fantastic experience indeed.

What is the most beautiful song or piece of music you've ever heard?

Our Facebook fans and Twitter followers answered us in their droves, so we made a Spotify playlist with the results.

We'd love to hear yours - email, tweet or post on our Facebook page!

Image credits: Nigel Appleton, Kate Fitzgeorge