Brummies share a rather special bond with Disney’s global magic. Whether we were watching The Lion King transform the Hippodrome for two unforgettable summers or listening to Smethwick-raised Julie Walters in Pixar’s Brave, we absolutely adore a cinematic journey!
Now, a brand-new musical portal is opening right here in the city. Presented under licence from Disney Concerts, Candlelight: Disney Journeys is a completely different programme boasting its own bespoke setlist. You are swept on a worldwide musical tour through 16 instrumental soundtracks—from the 1967 jungle canopies of The Jungle Book to the colourful Colombian mountains of Encanto.
Candlelight: Disney Journeys
15 January 2027 21:00 + more dates
St Paul's Church (Birmingham)
Gospel, swing and a Hawaiian mele, all on four strings
Candlelight: Disney Journeys is an hour-long concert of Disney and Pixar songs from films set allver the world, played live by a string quartet by candlelight. It’s presented under licence from Disney Concerts, and the 16-song setlist works like a musical world tour.
The fun part is how many styles two violins, a viola and a cello have to cover. There’s gospel in “The Gospel Truth” from Hercules, swing and scat in “I Wanna Be Like You” from The Jungle Book, and New Orleans jazz in “Down in New Orleans” from The Princess and the Frog. Latin American rhythms drive “Un Poco Loco” (Coco) and “The Family Madrigal” (Encanto), while “He Mele No Lilo” from Lilo & Stitch is a Hawaiian mele.
Then come the big ones: “Be Our Guest”, the showstopper from Beauty and the Beast, “You’re Welcome” from Moana and “Circle of Life” from The Lion King. Two pieces aren’t classic Disney songs at all: “The Games”, a score cue for the Highland games in Brave, and “Immortals”, Fall Out Boy’s pop-rock track from Big Hero 6. “Arabian Nights”, “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?”, “I’ll Make a Man Out of You”, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” and “Strangers Like Me” complete the list. No singers: the strings carry every tune.
A Georgian church in the Jewellery Quarter
Birmingham: St Paul’s Church. You’ll find it in St Paul’s Square (B3 1QZ), in the Jewellery Quarter. Built in 1777–79, it’s the only 18th-century church still standing in the city, set in its only surviving Georgian square, and it’s Grade I listed. Look out for the east window, The Conversion of St Paul by Francis Eginton after a painting by Benjamin West, finished in 1791.
Jewellery Quarter station and the St Paul’s tram stop are both close (from the tram stop, walk round via Constitution Hill), there’s a car park at the church, and the main areas have level access, with a ramp on request.
