Birmingham's Symphony Hall celebrates 21st anniversary
Concerts are being held until July to celebrate the 21st anniversary of Birmingham's Symphony Hall.
The 2,200-seater venue has welcomed more than 10m visitors since it opened on 15 April 1991.
To celebrate the anniversary, its first conductor Sir Simon Rattle is returning to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic.
A screening of the 1939 version of Wizard of Oz accompanied by the BBC Symphony Orchestra is among the other anniversary events to be held.
Pin drop claim
The concert hall, home to the internationally renowned City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, led by Andris Nelsons, has played host to such diverse acts as Placido Domingo and Bruce Springsteen over the years.
It is housed within the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Broad Street.
The ICC, which took four years and 60,000 cubic metres of concrete to construct, is also celebrating its 21st anniversary.
It has hosted several political conferences including a summit of the G8 leaders.
The Symphony Hall is modelled on Amsterdam's Concertgebouw and Vienna's Musikverein and has a canopy that can be raised or lowered depending on the number of musicians playing.
Staff claim that a pin drop on the stage can be heard from any part of the hall.