SCO NEWS

INTRODUCING BRONTË HUDNOTT!

––––––After a short trial period, Australian flautist Brontë Hudnott has been appointed Sub-Principal Flute of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra!

Until now, Brontë has enjoyed a varied freelance career, performing with many of the UK’s leading orchestras, including the Philharmonia, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hallé. She was Principal Flute of the Britten-Pears Orchestra in 2015 and the LPO Foyle Future First flautist the same year, with her solo work in the latter role flatteringly highlighted as ‘ravishing’ by the Financial Times.

She completed her postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, graduating with distinction and the honorary Dip RAM for an outstanding final recital.

Like our Principal Flute, Alison Mitchell, Brontë also hails from Melbourne. Her new desk partner has this to say: “Brontë is the perfect “partner in crime”! She reads my mind and we work perfectly in sync.

Brontë Hudnott

I love her sound which blends beautifully with mine and, will bring a distinctiveness to the second flute voice. She is a great asset to our wind section and the Orchestra. I’m really looking forward to performing together and having her in the section.”

In addition to her orchestral work, Brontë enjoys performing chamber music whenever possible. When not performing or rehearsing, Brontë loves dancing, gallery-hopping, trying new recipes and exploring the countryside.

I love her sound which blends beautifully with mine and, will bring a distinctiveness to the second flute voice

––––––Brontë Hudnott’s Chair is kindly supported by Claire and Mark Urquhart

NO STRINGS ATTACHED – UNDER 18s GO FREE!

––––––We are passionate about sharing the experience of exceptional live orchestral music-making and inspiring new generations of classical music lovers. The upcoming 2017/18 Season reinforces this by offering free admission to Season concerts to all 18 year olds and under. In addition, teachers accompanying pupils to concerts can now attend free of charge. The SCO will also continue to offer Under 26s and unemployed £6 tickets, making concerts accessible and welcoming to all. Everyone has a story to tell about their experience with classical music at a young age. In a recent interview in The Herald, Robin Ticciati shared his: “I came from a family where my parents loved music, there was music in the household, I saw that my brother played violin and thought I’d really like to do that.”

He then shared a frustration: “It is about opportunity and it shouldn’t be about opportunity, it should be for everyone..... It’s about really getting music to people who don’t have the opportunity or the money or, in a sense, the open eyes for it. It’s to get at them and then the gateway will become wider and more people can get through it.”

Do you know young people who would like to come to concerts but may not be aware that tickets are free? Or do you know a school teacher who may be able to bring a group of students? Please share our news that Under 18s and teachers who bring a group of school students (minimum 6) can come to the Scottish Chamber Orchestra for free. You never know, you might change a young person’s life… ––––––

NURTURING YOUNG TALENT

––––––The SCO is committed to nurturing young talent and is developing its partnership with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland through a series of side by side concerts. The Season also features preconcert performances from RCS students, St Mary’s Music School, City of Edinburgh Music School, Douglas Academy and Aberdeen City Music School. If you already have tickets for one of these concerts, please add the free pre-concert performance to your diary too – the young musicians will really appreciate your support. ––––––For more information see sco.org.uk

Peter Whelan

© Jen Owens

WIN £250

250 SOCIETY Please join us in congratulating recent winners of our 250 Society draw who each won £250.

January – Margaret Thomson February – Peter Swarbrick March – Eleanor Morrison April – Pamela Harper

It costs just £5 a month to become a member of the SCO’s 250 Society and be in with a chance of winning a monthly prize of £250. All proceeds go towards helping to fund the work of SCO Connect. To join, simply download the SCO 250 Society membership form at www.sco.org.uk/support-us or contact Adam James on 0131 478 8344. PETER WHELAN ON SABBATICAL

––––––Here is a quick note about my adventures while I am on sabbatical from the SCO. I’ve been using the time to explore the world of conducting/directing and I’ve just completed 10 performances of Acis and Galatea with Opera Theatre Company/ Irish Baroque Orchestra, initially at the Wexford Opera House and then on tour around Ireland. The production was enormous fun - set in modern times in an Irish country pub with a line-dancing chorus!

Next in the diary is a concert of Haydn Symphonies 6-8 (Matin/Midi/Soir) at the Bath Festival with poetry relevant to the different times of day, and later in the Summer there will be concerts with my group, Ensemble Marsyas, at the Edinburgh International Festival and then at the Kilkenny Festival in Ireland.

Our concert at EIF is particularly exciting as it marks the reopening of St. Cecilia’s Hall following refurbishment. We will reconstruct a concert which took place in St. Cecilia’s in the late 18th century which featured the super-star castrato of the day, Giusto Tenducci, who had just eloped from Dublin with his new Irish bride (who was, against all

odds, pregnant). Mezzo-Soprano, Emilie Renard will be joining us to sing the role of Tenducci.

Unfortunately this concert is already sold-out, but if you are keen to hear more we plan to release a new CD in August called ‘Edinburgh 1742’ (Linn) which features lots of the music from the concert, including incredible new rediscoveries from forgotten Edinburgh resident composer, Francesco Barsanti. You will not believe your ears! These works feature spectacular horn parts played by my SCO colleague Alec Frank-Gemmill and prove that music in 18th century Edinburgh was every bit as vibrant as it is today.

Immediately after this we will travel to Kilkenny for another exciting project which explores the music scene in Dublin in the the run-up to Handel’s visit to the city in 1742 for the first performance of Messiah. Plenty of new musical material from 18th century Dublin has cropped-up in recent years which we intend to explore, some from the most unlikely of places. One work was taken as booty by the Russians at the end of WW2 and only returned to a German library in the mid-1990s. This will culminate with a performance of the 1742 Dublin version of Messiah (quite different from the familiar version) to mark the 275th anniversary of the first performance.

Then there will be a project with the Portland Baroque Orchestra in the USA followed by a week directing the Irish Chamber Orchestra before I return to my seat just in time for the downbeat of the new season (in the SCO)! I look forward to catching up with you all then.

Premiere of Memorial Ground at East Neuk Festival

ROYAL PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY AWARDS: MEMORIAL GROUND

––––––Congratulations to East Neuk Festival whose commission, Memorial Ground, has been nominated in the Audience Engagement category of the 2017 RPS Awards.

Memorial Ground is a piece of choral music by Pulitzer Prize-winning and Oscarnominated composer David Lang, composed in 2016 to mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme in a very special way. More than 1.1 million people from all over the world were killed or wounded during that Battle, and no single text or piece of music can respond to such a scale of loss.

Instead, David Lang wanted to offer many different people a way to voice their own response. Choirs ranging from primary schools to professional choirs of all sizes and abilities customised his piece to make it their own by choosing texts and shaping the performance according to their own thoughts, resources, location, circumstances and scale. Some kept it simple and short; others added instruments, video projections, staging, poetry, prayers, whispered names of the fallen – every performance was unique.

The piece was commissioned by East Neuk Festival in association with 14-18 NOW and WW100 Scotland. It was premiered at Cambo Barn, Fife as part of the 2016 East Neuk Festival by Theatre of Voices, SCO Chorus (director: Gregory Batsleer), Fife community choirs and SCO musicians conducted by Paul Hillier.

––––––www.1418now.org.uk WW100 Scotland

VIRGIN MONEY FIREWORKS CONCERT

––––––Join us for the triumphant conclusion of the 2017 Edinburgh International Festival with the Virgin Money Fireworks Concert.

This spectacular event brings together our music with magnificent pyrotechnics, specially choreographed by international fireworks artists Pyrovision.

Our programme this year includes music from Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty. Two rousing Scottish masterpieces open and close the evening: Sir James MacMillan’s infectious ceilidh-inspired Stomp, and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ joyful show-stopper An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise, an unforgettable musical portrait of an island marriage complete with riotous traditional folk tunes and tipsy revellers.

Pick up a Picnic!

This year, for the first time, we offer you the chance to enjoy an unforgettable evening in Princes Street Gardens with fine food and wine (and mineral water) in the form of a luxury picnic.

Early Bird Offer – only £39.50

until end of June – Check out the menus for the meat and vegetarian options at eif.co.uk/ virginmoneyfireworks, and follow the link to buy your picnic hamper. Once you have ordered, your hamper will be available for collection by you on the night in Princes Street Gardens.

EAST NEUK FESTIVAL

––––––In the coming months, amidst another busy touring schedule around Scotland, summer 2017 sees us returning to our friends in the East Neuk of Fife for several outings at the superb East Neuk Festival.

The festival grew out of the SCO’s “Summer Evenings in the East Neuk” concert series from the late 90’s. The overwhelming popularity of these concerts, the ample number of churches and venues perfectly suited for concert giving and the fantastic culture of music-making that exists in the area inspired SCO Life President Donald MacDonald, Louise MacDonald and Svend McEwanBrown to create a new festival with classical chamber music at its heart. The festival has since evolved and now encompasses many other types of music as well as art installations, exhibitions, literature, films and guided walks. Since its inception in 2004, the festival has hosted some of the worlds greatest artists and features the SCO and SCO players in a variety of guises.

For 2017, the SCO’s Wind Octet perform Mozart, Salieri and Schubert on 29 June at St Ayle Church in Cellardyke. On the 2 July, SCO players (as part of Mr McFall’s Chamber) join Norwegian musicians for an afternoon of traditional tunes, reinventions and a world premiere by Henning Sommerro at Anstruther’s Town Hall. In the evening of 2 July, SCO Strings close the festival with a musical journey across Scotland with a programme that includes music by Sibelius and Tchaikovsky. SCO Leader Stephanie Gonley will direct.

So that you don’t miss out on what promises to be another fun and memorable festival, we have organised a supporter’s trip to attend both concerts on Sunday 2 July. The trip costs £99 with coaches departing from Edinburgh and Glasgow and includes a sumptuous twocourse meal at The Waterfront restaurant in Anstruther. To book your place, please call Adam James on 0131 478 8344 or visit www.sco.org.uk/support-us/ events.

––––––For more details about the East Neuk Festival, please visit www.eastneukfestival.com SONGS OF FAREWELL

––––––SCO Chorus presents a specially staged performance of Parry’s Songs of Farewell, devised by SCO Chorus Director Gregory Batsleer, winner of the 2015 Arts Foundation Fellowship and Herald Angel winning director Jack Furness. This programme will invigorate Parry’s fine choral writing with a fresh approach to the concert experience. ––––––Songs of Farewell is on 15 June, Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh www.sco.org.uk/whats-on/1125songs-of-farewell

SCO Vibe in St Andrews

CONNECT LATEST

––––––As part of the build up towards a new three year community residency in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh, SCO Connect have developed a series of music and movement workshops at local primary schools. Several classes of children have had a fabulous, creative time working with composer Matilda Brown, movement specialist Ana Almeida, and SCO musicians Eric de Wit, Emily Dellit Imbert, Robert McFall and Su-a Lee. Projects in the area continue over the summer with a series of nursery workshops and a secondary school programme led by Matthew Hardy and Aisling O’Dea. We are excited to announce that the full residency begins in Autumn 2017 and will include a series of projects at every nursery, primary and secondary school in Wester Hailes.

Recent highlights of the St Andrews Orchestra in Residence programme included a hugely successful weekend of music making for students led by our