SCO news|15
End of an era 23 years at the helm of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Roy McEwan has helped grow our reputation. After an astonishing 23 years at the administrative helm of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Roy McEwan has decided it’s time to collect his pension. McEwan turns 65 in May, so there’s nothing unusual about this decision to step down at the end of the season. Yes, age is one factor, he says. But the other has been to allow the wheels of change at the SCO to turn smoothly. “One of the reasons I stayed so long was having such a wonderful chairman in Donald MacDonald,” he explains. “We had a partnership for 21 of my 23 years at the SCO, which is pretty unheard of nowadays.” It seemed sensible that McEwan should hang around a little longer to see the new chairman in, who could then manage his own successor. It is, without doubt, the end of an era. McEwan remembers fondly the many wonderful partnerships he has helped nurture: the long and fruitful relationship the orchestra enjoyed with the late Sir Charles Mackerras, whose Mozart recordings with Linn Records are simply genius; the enticement of Joseph Swensen to become Principal Conductor after a period of shifts in that post; and the Linn partnership itself, which continues today in svelte new recordings
featuring the current Principal Conductor, Robin Ticciati. It was Mackerras who first suggested the use of natural horns, a stylistic feature of most SCO performances ever since. “The SCO was an exceptional orchestra when I came, but it’s been wonderful to see it grow in terms of its bold repertoire and international reputation,” says McEwan. “We already have a really fine orchestra, an international reputation, and a really fine creative learning programme. Now we need the facilities of a new concert hall to progress the work of the SCO: opening up possibilities to work with new artists, development of our life-long learning programme, the way the orchestra builds itself into the community. There is huge potential, but that requires a place for us in Edinburgh that is absolutely stunning.” The SCO is one of our national musical treasures. McEwan’s custodianship for more than half its existence has been one of great integrity and musical adventure. Let the adventure continue. –––––– Extract from full interview by Ken Walton, which was published in Scotsman Life Magazine on 20 February 2016.
