SCO NEWS

HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS, THE DUKE OF ROTHESAY, RENEWS HIS PATRONAGE OF THE SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

––––––We are delighted that The Duke of Rothesay has accepted our invitation to extend his Patronage of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra for a further five years. This has been received with the continuing recognition from HRH that, “for me, the SCO represents the very best of Scotland’s artistic heritage: integrity, excitement and artistic excellence.”

As part of our 40th Anniversary celebrations in 2014, the SCO Wind Soloists had the pleasure of performing in the presence of HRH in the Throne Room of the Palace of Holyrood House. SCO Wind Soloists Maximiliano Martín, William Stafford, Peter Whelan, Alison Green, Boštjan Lipovšek and Harry Johnstone played Mozart’s Divertimento No 14 in B-flat, K270 and Beethoven’s Sextet, Op 71 before guests retreated to the Evening Drawing Room for a reception.

SCO Chair, Colin Buchan said, “We are incredibly honoured that His Royal Highness has agreed to extend his term as Patron, a role he has now held for over 20 years.”

HRH greating Maximiliano Martín in 2014

FESTIVAL ROUND-UP

––––––In Scotland’s Year of Young People, we teamed up with the National Youth Choir of Scotland for the Opening Concert – Haydn’s dazzling oratorio The Creation – conducted by Edward Gardner. The 120-strong NYCoS gave an outstanding, finelybalanced performance in this colourful reading, conducted by Edward Gardner.

The distinguished tenure of the SCO’s Principal Conductor, Robin Ticciati, was capped with a final pair of concerts encompassing the four great Brahms Symphonies. These were performances of great richness and depth, showcasing “a top team on top form” (Herald) and with individual star turns all over the platform. After the final concert we presented Robin with a beautiful facsimile score of Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique as a souvenir of his very special partnership with SCO.

Olivier Messiaen’s ecstatic and wondrous Des Canyons aux étoiles was a unique International Festival occasion and an extraordinary sonic experience. This 90-minute meditation on the Utah landscape, its birdlife, the colours of its rocks and heavens, demanded virtuoso feats of musicianship from its soloists – pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard, percussionists Noè Rodrigo Gisbert and Bence Major, and our own Principal Horn Alec Frank-Gemmill. Conductor Matthias Pintscher, making his debut with SCO, brought together a performance of great intensity, conjuring his forces in a committed, breathtaking performance which brought the audience to its feet. The Orchestra was the proud winner of a Herald Angel for this memorable concert.

Gavin Reid collecting a Herald Angel Award

The International Festival came to a fabulous close with the spectacular pyrotechnics of the Virgin Money Fireworks Concert, conducted by Clark Rundell. Guest soloists Lucy Crowe and Nicky Spence opened the proceedings with a special Bernstein centenary-year selection of songs from West Side Story. This was followed by Holst’s visionary The Planets, illuminated by Pyrovision’s dazzling and colourful fireworks display, many seasoned Festival-goers declaring it “the best ever”.

A SPECTACULAR VISIT TO THE PLANETS

––––––This year’s spectacular Virgin Money Schools Concert, presented by the SCO in partnership with the Edinburgh International Festival, attracted the largest audience to date - with more than 1900 Primary 7 pupils from 34 primary schools across Edinburgh joining us for the open-air concert. To enhance the children’s experience and learning we commissioned a unique set of online resources, introducing Gustav Holst’s orchestral suite The Planets and exploring the science and astrological associations behind the music. The interactive concert was conducted by Clark Rundell, presented by Rachel Leach, and included a surprise guest video appearance by renowned astronaut Tim Peake! We were delighted for the second year running to showcase the excellent Kilmarnock Schools’ Pipe Band, who welcomed the audience to the Ross Theatre before the main show.

Astronaut Tim Peake

[The concert was] free, easy to access, well organised… the music and resources were fantastic… a really positive experience. Edinburgh Primary School Teacher

––––––To see the learning resources, including videos from University of Edinburgh scientists, Scottish Chamber Orchestra musicians and two pianists, see sco.org.uk/creative-learning/ current-projects/1388-the-planetslearning-resources

Monica, Amy and Laura

STAFF CHANGES

––––––We have four new members of the SCO administration team – two people in the Development department, a new Librarian and our new St Andrews University Graduate Trainee Melissa Jones. Laura Hickey joined us at the start of September as Development Officer (Individual Giving). She is originally from Kerry, although some of you from Edinburgh may be familiar with her from her work in the Queen’s Hall box office a few years ago. Most recently she was Development Officer at the Edinburgh International Science Festival. Laura looks forward to getting to know as many of you as possible through our new series of Patron’s events (see P14).

Monica Sutcliffe has also joined us as Development Officer (Trusts and Projects). She has made the move from the Dunedin Consort and will be working on our many Trust and Foundation applications and evaluations, helping develop our Business Partnerships and also working on special projects. Our new librarian Amy Brown joined us at the start of August. She is a horn player and recently graduated from Birmingham University, where she was strongly involved in the Music Society, firstly as Orchestra Manager and subsequently as President. She also worked at the Barber Concert Hall and Manchester Jazz Festival.

Welcome Laura, Monica, Amy and Melissa!

ON BOARD

––––––We have a new board member! Rachael Erskine was co-opted by the Board of Directors at a meeting in June, and participates in her first meeting in September.

Rachael is a partner at the search firm Ridgeway Partners, taking an active role in identifying diverse talent to senior roles and boards. As a mentor of The Kilfinan Group, Rachael provides informal mentoring to charity chief executives. Rachael started her career with KPMG where she qualified as a Chartered Accountant.

SCO Board members play an important role in helping to develop and deliver the vision, strategy and broad networking that is so important for an orchestra such as ours.

SCO Chair Colin Buchan: “On behalf of the SCO I am delighted