The players stressed that Frémaux retained their support, but he never conducted the orchestra again  Although the loss of the orchestra's Manager and Music Director in a single week was a crisis in the short term, it resulted in a series of longer term changes that would have more positive effects. The Swiss avant-garde composer and conductor Erich Schmid was found at short notice to take over Fremaux's immediate conducting commitments, including a Beethoven festival due to take place less than two months later, and the resulting artistic triumph saw him appointed as the orchestra's first Principal Guest Conductor in September 1979. The structure of the orchestra's management committees was reformed, with two elected players' representatives on the main decision-making body to improve communications between musicians and management. Baker's role as General Manager was taken by Ed Smith, who came from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, where he had worked closely for many years with the conductor of the youth orchestra, Simon Rattle. Rattle had performed four well-received concerts with the CBSO over the previous year and had made no secret of his interest in the Birmingham position. Smith later commented that "Simon was still an unknown quantity to most people, but not, of course, to me. I pushed very hard to have him appointed". For the first time the appointment of a Principal Conductor required a poll of the musicians as well as the agreement of the committee of management, but on 2 July 1979 Rattle was announced as the orchestra's "Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor". The "Birmingham Post" wrote of Frémaux that "whatever the circumstances of his going, he was the man who raised the CBSO to the highest point of prestige in its history to date", while Rattle joked that he had inherited "possibly the best French orchestra in the world." The CBSO began to gain greater international renown after Simon Rattle became chief conductor in 1980. Under him, the orchestra increased its recording profile and became one of the leading ensembles in Europe, and gained a name for its interpretations of late romantic and 20th century works, especially those of Sibelius and Gustav Mahler. During this period, the orchestra moved from Birmingham Town Hall to a new home venue, Symphony Hall, inside Birmingham's International Convention Centre. The nearby CBSO Centre, a converted factory, houses management offices, rehearsal facilities, and is a concert venue in its own right, for more intimate performances. The CBSO Youth Orchestra has been affiliated with the CBSO since 2004.