The Dream – Season 22/23 – Programme note

Page 22

SCO.ORG.UK PROGRAMME THE DREAM 1-3 Mar 2023
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Season 2022/23 THE DREAM

Wednesday 1 March, 7.30pm Perth Concert Hall

Thursday 2 March, 7.30pm Usher Hall, Edinburgh

Friday 3 March, 7.30pm City Halls, Glasgow

Mendelssohn Symphony No 4 in A ‘Italian’, Op 90

Interval of 20 minutes

Mendelssohn A Midsummer Night's Dream, Incidental Music, Op 61

Maxim Emelyanychev Conductor

Hilary Cronin Soprano

Jessica Cale Soprano

SCO Chorus (Sopranos and Altos)

Gregory Batsleer Chorus Director

Maxim Emelyanychev

4 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh EH7 5AB +44 (0)131 557 6800 | info@sco.org.uk | sco.org.uk
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The SCO is extremely grateful to the Scottish Government and to the City of Edinburgh Council for their continued support. We are also indebted to our Business Partners, all of the charitable trusts, foundations and lottery funders who support our projects, and to the very many individuals who are kind enough to give us financial support and who enable us to do so much. Each and every donation makes a difference and we truly appreciate it.

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We believe the thrill of live orchestral music should be accessible to everyone, so we aim to keep the price of concert tickets as fair as possible. However, even if a performance were completely sold out, we would not cover the presentation costs.

We are indebted to everyone acknowledged here who gives philanthropic gifts to the SCO of £300 or greater each year, as well as those who prefer to remain anonymous. We are also incredibly thankful to the many individuals not listed who are kind enough to support the Orchestra financially, whether that is regularly or on an ad hoc basis. Every single donation makes a difference and we are truly grateful.

Become a regular donor, from as little as £5 a month, by contacting Mary Clayton on 0131 478 8369 or mary.clayton@sco.org.uk

Thank You PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR'S CIRCLE

Our Principal Conductor’s Circle is made up of individuals who share the SCO’s vision to bring the joy of music to as many people as possible. These individuals are a special part of our musical family, and their commitment and generosity benefit us all – musicians, audiences and creative learning participants alike. We would like to extend our grateful thanks to them for playing such a key part in the future of the SCO.

American Development Fund

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CHAIR SPONSORS

Conductor Emeritus Joseph Swensen

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Principal Second Violin

Marcus Barcham Stevens

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Principal Clarinet Maximiliano Martín

Stuart and Alison Paul

Principal Bassoon Cerys Ambrose-Evans

Claire and Anthony Tait

Principal Timpani Louise Lewis Goodwin

Geoff and Mary Ball

–––––

Our Musicians YOUR ORCHESTRA

First Violin

Sarah Kapustin

Kana Kawashima

Siún Milne

Aisling O’Dea

Fiona Alexander

Amira Bedrush-McDonald

Sarah Bevan-Baker

Benjamin Shute

Second Violin

Gordon Bragg

Rachel Spencer

Hatty Haynes

Huw Daniel

Niamh Lyons

Stewart Webster

Catherine James

Kristin Deeken

Viola

Max Mandel

Oscar Holch

Brian Schiele

Steve King

Kathryn Jourdan

Rebecca Wexler

Cello

Philip Higham

Donald Gillan

Eric de Wit

Christoff Fourie

Niamh Molloy

Kim Vaughan

Bass

Nikita Naumov

Margarida Castro

Adrian Bornet

Sophie Butler

Flute

André Cebrián

Marta Gómez

Oboe

Robin Williams

Katherine Bryer

Clarinet

Maximiliano Martín

William Stafford

Bassoon

Information correct at the time of going to print

Horn

Zoë Tweed

Jamie Shield

Rachel Brady

Trumpet

Peter Franks

Shaun Harrold

Brian McGinley

Trombone

Duncan Wilson

Nigel Cox

Alan Adams

Ophicleide

Tony George

Timpani

Cerys Ambrose-Evans

Alison Green

Louise Lewis Goodwin

Percussion

Kate Openshaw

Paul Stoneman

Siún Milne First Violin

WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO HEAR

Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Symphony No 4 in A ‘Italian’, Op 90 (1833, revised 1834)

Allegro vivace

Andante con moto Con moto moderato

Saltarello (Presto)

A Midsummer Night's Dream, Incidental Music, Op 61 (1842)

Overture (Op 21 – 1826)

No 1 Scherzo

No 2 Fairies’ March

No 3 Song with Chorus

No 5 Intermezzo

No 7 Notturno

No 9 Wedding March

No 13 Finale

His grandfather was Moses Mendelssohn, one of Germany’s most influential Enlightenment thinkers. His father Abraham was one of Berlin’s most successful bankers. As a child, he mingled with Europe’s cultural and intellectual elite – think scientist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt, philosopher GWF Hegel, even superstar writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe – at the family house in central Berlin.

With an early immersion in music, painting, literature and philosophy, it’s probably no surprise that Felix Mendelssohn would go on to become a polymath himself – as a gifted visual artist, a talented linguist, and of course a celebrated musician. He began composing at 11, wrote twelve String Symphonies between the ages of 12 and 14, and created his adored Octet at 16 and his Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture at 17 (we’ll return to that piece shortly). He would also go on to become a noted conductor and pianist, influential music director of the historic Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and founding director of the Leipzig Conservatoire, still going strong today.

For tonight’s music – or at least most of it – we return to Mendelssohn’s earlier years, however. We begin with Mendelssohn as a gap-year traveller in his early 20s. It was more like three gap years, in fact, off and on between 1829 and 1831, and it’s probably fairer to describe his travels as excursions in the tradition of a Grand Tour, in which a wealthy young man completed his education by ticking off the cultural highlights of Europe. Mendelssohn began – unconventionally – with a three-week visit to Scotland in

1829, which inspired both his 'Hebrides' Overture and his ‘Scottish’ Symphony. But, encouraged by both Goethe and his composition teacher Carl Friedrich Zelter, he set off for the more traditional destination of Italy in October 1830. He spent ten months in the country, making his way from Venice to Naples via Bologna, Florence and Rome, then back home again through Genoa and Milan.

If his Scottish trip had been about brooding landscapes, swirling mists and blood-soaked history, his Italian trip, as he wrote home to his parents, was about light, sunshine and happiness: ‘This is Italy! And now has begun what I have always thought to be the supreme joy in life. And I am loving it.’

He devoted time during his travels to planning what he called ‘the jolliest piece

IfhisScottishtriphad beenaboutbrooding landscapes,swirlingmists andblood-soakedhistory, hisItaliantrip,ashewrote hometohisparents, wasaboutlight,sunshine andhappiness

I have ever done’ in a letter to his sister Fanny, completing his ‘Italian’ Symphony back home in Berlin on 13 March 1833. It was an immediate success at its premiere in London two months later. (Its designation as No 4, incidentally, is misleading: Mendelssohn wrote and premiered the piece several years before his Second and Third Symphonies. It’s only numbered as his Fourth because it was published after those later works.)

Mendelssohn described the Symphony as ‘blue sky in A major’, and it’s a bright optimism that’s encapsulated in the first movement’s bounding opening theme, though the movement’s central development section brings in somewhat darker, more impish material. The slow second movement was inspired by religious processions that Mendelssohn witnessed in Rome: it contrasts a noble

Felix Mendelssohn

melody in the woodwind and violas with a plodding bassline, slipping away at its conclusion as if the procession has moved into the distance. Following an elegant third-movement minuet (complete with distant horn calls in its gently martial trio section), Mendelssohn closes with a finale that blends two breathless Italian dances: the Roman saltarello (which gives the movement its name) and the Neapolitan tarantella. The ‘Italian’ is one of very few symphonies that begins in the bright positivity of the major and ends in the more serious minor (often the journey is the other way round: just think of Beethoven’s Fifth). The finale’s whirling energy, however, alongside a melancholy memory of the Symphony’s opening melody just before the end, ensures a propulsive, somewhat delirious conclusion.

In a childhood immersed in culture, politics and science, it’s probably no surprise either that the young Mendelssohn should develop a passion for Shakespeare. He and his sister Fanny would act out favourite scenes from the Bard’s plays, and when the family acquired a new German translation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1826, its stories of lovers and fairies, spells and transformations immediately captured the 17-year-old’s imagination. So much so that he quickly set about transforming the play into music, completing his A Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture on 6 August the same year.

The Overture is intended for the concert hall rather than the theatre, and doesn’t set out to tell the play’s story. Nonetheless, its magical opening chords invite listeners into a world of magic and mystery, complete with the braying of

Bottom the ass and the scampering of fairy feet.

It was 16 years later that the mature composer was requested by King Frederick William IV of Prussia to provide incidental music for a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at his palace in Potsdam. Incorporating his existing Overture into what was now a theatrical setting, Mendelssohn also set about reusing the musical themes he’d concocted as a teenager into the broader scope of an evening-long entertainment. There are 14 numbers in all, including the Overture and grand Finale, from which we’ll hear the most substantial ones tonight.

The Scherzo and subsequent Fairies March’ lead us from Act I into Act II, and from the world of squabbling humans

William Shakespeare

Inachildhoodimmersedinculture,politicsand science,it’sprobablynosurpriseeitherthattheyoung MendelssohnshoulddevelopapassionforShakespeare. HeandhissisterFannywouldactoutfavouritescenes fromtheBard’splays,andwhenthefamilyacquired anewGermantranslationofAMidsummerNight’s Dreamin1826,itsstoriesofloversandfairies, spellsandtransformationsimmediatelycaptured the17-year-old’simagination.

into the mystery, intrigue and danger of the fairy kingdom, complete with a fairy march – listen out for tinkling triangle and cymbals – announcing the arrival of Fairy King Oberon. The choral song ‘Bunte Schlangen’ (or ‘You spotted snakes’ in Shakespeare’s original) introduces the second scene of Act II, as the retinue of Fairy Queen Titania sings songs and incantations to protect her while she sleeps. They fail to spot Oberon, however, as he drips flower juice into Titania’s closed eyes, so that she’ll fall in love with the first thing she sees once she wakes.

We jump to the end of Act II for the Intermezzo, whose unsettled music depicts the inner turmoil of Hermia, one of the quartet of human lovers lost in the fairy forest, who thinks her intended Lysander has abandoned her. The

four human lovers sleep to the gentle Notturno that follows, intended for the break between Acts III and IV.

By far the incidental music’s most famous number – doubtless heard at millions of marriage ceremonies worldwide since Mendelssohn created it in 1842 – is the Wedding March, which anticipates the triple marriage of humans Hermia and Lysander, Helena and Demetrius, and Hippolyta and Theseus. Mendelssohn’s incidental music closes with fairy monarchs Oberon and Titania leading the choral Finale in blessing the house of the human couples. The Finale ends as the Overture began, as the work’s four magic chords return to provide a hushed, calming backdrop to Puck’s famous ‘If we shadows have offended’ farewell.

Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Incidental Music

Erster Elfe

Bunte Schlangen, zweigezüngt!

Igel, Molche fort von hier!

Dass ihr euren Gift nicht bringt, in der Königin Revier!

Chor der Elfen

Nachtigall, mit Melodei sing in unser Eiapopeia, Dass kein Spruch, Kein Zauberfluch

Der holden Herrin schädlich sei. Nun gute Nacht mit Eiapopeia!

Zweiter Elfe

Schwarze Käfer, uns umgebt Nicht mit Summen, macht euch fort! Spinnen, die ihr künstlich webt, Webt an einem andern Ort!

Erster und Zweiter Elfen

Macht euch fort!

Chor der Elfen

Nachtigall, mit Melodei sing in unser Eiapopeia, Dass kein Spruch, Kein Zauberfluch

Der holden Herrin schädlich sei. Nun gute Nacht mit Eiapopeia!

Erste Elf

Alles gut! Nun auf und fort!

Einer halte Wache dort!

First Fairy

You spotted snakes with double tongue, Thorny hedgehogs, be not seen; Newts and blind-worms, do no wrong, Come not near our fairy queen.

Choir of Fairies

Philomel, with melody

Sing in our sweet lullaby; Never harm, Nor spell nor charm, Come our lovely lady nigh; So, good night, with lullaby.

Second Fairy

Weaving spiders, come not here; Hence, you long-legg'd spinners, hence! Beetles black, approach not near; Worm nor snail, do no offence.

First and Second Fairies Get away!

Choir of Fairies

Philomel, with melody

Sing in our sweet lullaby; Never harm, Nor spell nor charm, Come our lovely lady nigh; So, good night, with lullaby.

First Fairy

Hence, away! now all is well: One aloof stand sentinel.

LIBRETTO
3. Song with choir

Chor der Elfen

Bei des Feuers mattem Flimmern, Geister, Elfen, stellt euch ein!

Tanzet in den bunten Zimmern

manchen leichten Ringelreihn!

Singt nach seiner Lieder Weise, Singet, hüpfet, lose, leise!

Erste Elfe

Wirbelt mir mit zarter Kunst

Eine Not’ auf jedes Wort; Hand in Hand, Mit Feengunst, Singt und segnet diesen Ort!

Chor der Elfen

Bei des Feuers mattem Flimmern, Geister, Elfen, stellt euch ein!

Tanzet in den bunten Zimmern

manchen leichten Ringelreihn!

Singt nach seiner Lieder Weise, Singet, hüpfet, lose, leise!

Nun genung, Fort im Sprung, Trefft ihn in der Dämmerung!

Finale

Choir of Fairies

Through the house give glimmering light By the dead and drowsy fire; Every elf and fairy sprite

Hop as light as bird from brier; And this ditty, after me, Sing and dance it trippingly.

First Fairy

First, rehearse your song by rote, To each word a warbling note. Hand in hand, with fairy grace, Will we sing, and bless this place.

Choir of Fairies

Through the house give glimmering light By the dead and drowsy fire; Every elf and fairy sprite

Hop as light as bird from brier; And this ditty, after me, Sing and dance it trippingly. Trip away; make no stay; Meet me all by break of day.

Conductor MAXIM EMELYANYCHEV

At the Scottish Chamber Orchestra Maxim Emelyanychev follows in the footsteps of just five previous Principal Conductors in the Orchestra’s 49-year history; Roderick Brydon (1974-1983), Jukka-Pekka Saraste (1987-1991), Ivor Bolton (1994-1996), Joseph Swensen (1996-2005) and Robin Ticciati (20092018).

Highlights of his 2021/22 season included debuts with some of the most prestigious international orchestras: Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, Toronto Symphony and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, as well as returns to the Antwerp Symphony, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and a European tour with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, followed by appearances at the Radio-France Montpellier Festival and the Edinburgh International Festival.

In October 2022, Maxim toured the USA with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic. Other touring in 2022/23 includes the New Japan Philharmonic, the Osaka Kansai Philharmonic, the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Helsinki Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. He also returns to the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse and to the Royal Opera House in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte.

He regularly collaborates with renowned artists such as Max Emanuel Cenčić, Patrizia Ciofi, Joyce DiDonato, Franco Fagioli, Richard Goode, Sophie Karthäuser, Stephen Hough, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Julia Lezhneva, Alexei Lubimov, Riccardo Minasi, Xavier Sabata and Dmitry Sinkovsky.

Maxim is also a highly respected chamber musician. His most recent recording, of Brahms Violin Sonatas with long-time collaborator and friend Aylen Pritchin, was released on Aparté in December 2021 and has attracted outstanding reviews internationally. With the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Maxim has recorded the Schubert Symphony No 9 – the symphony with which he made his debut with the orchestra – which was released on Linn Records in November 2019.

For full biography please visit sco.org.uk

Soprano HILARY CRONIN

Selected by BBC Music Magazine as a Rising Star of 2022, Hilary Cronin won both First Prize and the Audience Prize at the 2021 London Handel International Singing Competition.

Hilary trained at Trinity Laban Conservatoire and at Royal Holloway University of London where she was awarded the Dame Felicity Lott Bursary and the Driver Prize for Excellence in Performance.

Engagements during 2022 include Poppea Agrippina with English Touring Opera, Télaïre Castor et Pollux with The Rameau Project, J. S. Bach St John Passion with VOCES8 and St Matthew Passion with the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus, Beethoven Choral Fantasia with the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Messiah with the English Chamber Orchestra, Handel Silete venti and Saeviat tellus for the London Handel Festival, Ode to Purcell on tour with Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Blow and Purcell with The English Concert at Wigmore Hall, a recording for La Nuova Musica as Second Woman Dido and Aeneas, Livietta Livietta e Tracollo for Baroquestock and Vaughan Williams Benedicite with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Upcoming engagements include tours of J.S. Bach B Minor Mass and Christmas Oratorio with The Monteverdi Choir, Fauré Requiem at Teatro La Fenice, Handel Chandos Anthems with Arcangelo, Messiah with the London Handel Orchestra, the London Mozart Players, The Sixteen, Irish Baroque Orchestra, Liverpool Welsh Choral and Cambridge University Symphony Chorus, Haydn Nelson Mass with The Really Big Chorus in Faro Cathedral, a recital at the Halle Handel Festival and Christmas with King’s College Choir at the Barbican.

Hilary is a regular soprano at St Bartholomew-the-Great and regularly works with Istante Collective.

Soprano JESSICA CALE

Welsh Soprano, Jessica Cale, is the 2020 First Prize winner of the Kathleen Ferrier Awards and Joint Audience prize winner at the 2020 London Handel Festival International Singing Competition. In 2022, Jessica made her European and house debut at Teatro La Fenice playing 2nd Niece in Britten’s Peter Grimes in addition to making her role and festival debut as Susanna in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro for Waterperry Opera Festival. Jessica also gave recitals at St Martin in the Fields and at the Oxford Lieder Festival.

On the concert platform, Jessica has performed under the batons of Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Paul McCreesh, Harry Christophers, Jonathan Cohen, Christian Curnyn, Ian Page and Brian Kay. Notable concert highlights include: Britten’s Les Illuminations in Vilnius, Lithuania for the British Ambassador; Bach with the Dunedin Consort at Wigmore Hall; Jessica’s debut at Cadogan Hall with The Mozartists; Porpora and Handel at Bilbao’s Musika Música Festival with Arcangelo, Handel’s Apollo e Dafne at the London Handel Festival, Handel’s Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall and Mendelssohn’s Elijah at the Berlin Philharmoniker. Jessica has performed as soprano soloist for recordings with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment of Bach’s St John Passion alongside Gerald Finley and Mark Padmore, and ‘Telling Tales with Telemann’ alongside Tabea Debus. Jessica is proud to be an Associate Artist of The Mozartists, performing regularly with the group under the direction of Ian Page and participating in their educational outreach projects.

Upcoming performances for Jessica include Handel’s Scipione at the London Handel Festival with the Early Opera Company and covering the role of Helena in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the 2023 Glyndebourne Festival.

For full biography please visit sco.org.uk

Chorus Director

GREGORY BATSLEER

Gregory Batsleer is acknowledged as one of the leading choral conductors of his generation, winning widespread recognition for his creativity and vision. Since taking on the role of SCO Chorus Director in 2009 he has led the development of the Chorus, overseeing vocal coaching, the SCO Young Singers’ Programme and the emergence of regular a capella concerts. As well as preparing the Chorus for regular performances with the Orchestra, he has directed their recent successful appearances at the Edinburgh International Jazz, East Neuk, Glasgow Cathedral and St Andrews Voices Festivals, at Greyfriars Kirk, and on the SCO’s 2022 Summer Tour.

In 2021 Gregory took up the position of Festival Director for the London Handel Festival. He leads the programming and development of the Festival, fulfilling its mission to bring Handel’s music to the widest possible audiences. Since 2017 he has been Artistic Director of Huddersfield Choral Society and was Chorus Director with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra from 2015 - 2021.

As Guest Conductor Gregory has worked with many of the UK’s leading orchestras and ensembles. Recent highlights include performances with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, RSNO, National Youth Choir of Great Britain, Orchestra of Opera North, Manchester Camerata, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra and London Symphony Chorus, as well as SCO.

From 2012 to 2017, he was Artistic Director of the National Portrait Gallery’s Choir in Residence programme, the first ever in-house music programme of any gallery or museum in the world. He has curated and devised performances for the Southbank Centre, Wilderness Festival and Latitude and collaborated with leading cultural figures across a variety of different art forms. Gregory is the co-founder and conductor of Festival Voices, a versatile ensemble dedicated to cross-art collaboration.

As a non-executive director, Gregory sits on the boards of Manchester Camerata and Charades Theatre Company. His outstanding work as a choral director was recognised with the 2015 Arts Foundation’s first-ever Fellowship in Choral Conducting.

Gregory’s Chair is kindly supported by Anne McFarlane

YOUR CHORUS TONIGHT

Gregory Batsleer

Chorus Director

Stuart Hope

Associate Chorusmaster

Alan Beck

Voice Coach

Emma Morwood

Voice Coach

Susan White

Chorus Manager

SOPRANO

Kirstin Anderson

Joanna Burns

Nancy Burns

Morven Chisholm

Joanne Dunwell

Emily Gifford

Lisa Johnston

Lesley Mair

Katie McGlew

Alison Robson

Alison Williams

Emily Zehetmayr*

ALTO

Shona Banks

Dinah Bourne

Sarah Campbell

Gill Cloke

Judith Colman

Liberty Emeny

Anne Gallacher

Jennie Gardner

Claire Goodenough

Anne Grindley

Caroline Hahn

Lorna Htet-Khin

Melissa Humphreys

Hilde McKenna

Linda Ruxton

Anna Yule

* Young Singers' Programme

Information correct at the time of going to print

SCO CHORUS

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra Chorus, under the direction of Gregory Batsleer since 2009, has built a reputation as one of Scotland’s most vibrant and versatile choirs. Widely regarded as one of the finest orchestral choruses in the UK, it celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2021.

Members enjoy the unique opportunity to perform with one of the world’s leading chamber orchestras, working with international conductors including Maxim Emelyanychev, Harry Christophers, Richard Egarr, Andrew Manze, John Storgårds and Sir James MacMillan.

The Chorus appears regularly with the Orchestra in Scotland’s major cities. Recent concerts have covered a wide range of music including MacMillan Seven Last Words from the Cross, Stravinsky Mass, Handel Messiah and Theodora, Haydn Seasons, Beethoven ‘Choral’ Symphony and Missa Solemnis, a rare performance of Vaughan Williams Flos Campi and the premiere of The Years by Anna Clyne, SCO Associate Composer 2019-2022.

The SCO Chorus also appears on its own in a cappella repertoire, both digital and live, including an acclaimed performance of Tallis’ Spem in Alium at Greyfriars Kirk and concerts as part of the SCO’s 2022 Summer Tour including the premiere of Anna Clyne’s The Heart of Night. Its annual Christmas concerts have quickly established themselves as a Season highlight.

Other notable out-of-Season appearances have included a critically-acclaimed debut at the BBC Proms in Handel’s Jephtha in 2019 and a dramatised performance of Parry’s Songs of Farewell in 2017, devised by stage director Jack Furness and Chorus Director Gregory Batsleer.

Our Young Singers' Programme was established in 2015 to nurture and develop aspiring young singers. It is designed for young people with a high level of choral experience and ambitions to further their singing with a world-class ensemble.

Further information at sco.org.uk

The SCO Chorus Young Singers' Programme is kindly supported by the Baird Educational Trust.

Biography

SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

The internationally celebrated Scottish Chamber Orchestra is one of Scotland’s National Performing Companies.

Formed in 1974 and core funded by the Scottish Government, the SCO aims to provide as many opportunities as possible for people to hear great music by touring the length and breadth of Scotland, appearing regularly at major national and international festivals and by touring internationally as proud ambassadors for Scottish cultural excellence.

Making a significant contribution to Scottish life beyond the concert platform, the Orchestra works in schools, universities, colleges, hospitals, care homes, places of work and community centres through its extensive Creative Learning programme. The SCO is also proud to engage with online audiences across the globe via its innovative Digital Season.

An exciting new chapter for the SCO began in September 2019 with the arrival of dynamic young conductor Maxim Emelyanychev as the Orchestra’s Principal Conductor.

The SCO and Emelyanychev released their first album together (Linn Records) in November 2019 to widespread critical acclaim. The repertoire - Schubert’s Symphony No. 9 in C major ‘The Great’ –is the first symphony Emelyanychev performed with the Orchestra in March 2018.

The SCO also has long-standing associations with many eminent guest conductors including Conductor Emeritus Joseph Swensen, François Leleux, Pekka Kuusisto, Richard Egarr, Andrew Manze and John Storgårds.

The Orchestra enjoys close relationships with many leading composers and has commissioned almost 200 new works, including pieces by the late Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Sir James MacMillan, Sally Beamish, Martin Suckling, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Karin Rehnqvist, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Nico Muhly, Anna Clyne and Associate Composer Jay Capperauld.

For full biography please visit sco.org.uk

CONCERTS SEASON 22/23

FOLK INSPIRATIONS WITH PEKKA

9-10 Mar, 7.30pm

Edinburgh | Glasgow

TRANSCENDENTAL VISIONS WITH PEKKA AND SAM

12 Mar, 3pm

Edinburgh

LES ILLUMINATIONS

15-17 Mar, 7.30pm

St Andrews | Edinburgh | Glasgow

HANDEL: MUSIC FOR THE ROYALS

Our Edinburgh concert is kindly supported by The Usher Family

23-24 Mar, 7.30pm

Edinburgh | Glasgow

SCHUBERT’S UNFINISHED SYMPHONY

Kindly supported by Claire and Mark Urquhart

30 Mar-1 Apr, 7.30pm

Edinburgh | Glasgow | Aberdeen

SUMMER NIGHTS WITH KAREN CARGILL

19-21 Apr, 7.30pm

St Andrews | Edinburgh | Glasgow

BEETHOVEN’S FIFTH

27-29 Apr, 7.30pm

Edinburgh | Glasgow | Aberdeen

TCHAIKOVSKY’S FIFTH

4-5 May, 7.30pm

Edinburgh | Glasgow

BRAHMS REQUIEM

11-12 May, 7.30pm

Edinburgh | Glasgow

SCO.ORG.UK

4 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh EH7 5AB +44 (0)131 557 6800 sco.org.uk

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra is a charity registered in Scotland No. SC015039. Company registration No. SC075079.

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A warm welcome to everyone who has recently joined our family of donors, and a big thank you to everyone who is helping to secure our future.

Monthly or annual contributions from our donors make a real difference to the SCO’s ability to budget and plan ahead with more confidence. Each and every contribution is crucial, and your support is truly appreciated.

For more information on how you can become a regular donor, please get in touch with Mary Clayton on 0131 478 8369 or email mary.clayton@sco.org.uk.

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The SCO is a charity registered in Scotland No SC015039.

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