SCO

Friday night is SCO night at City Halls!

The Orchestra is back in its Glasgow home, the acoustically renowned City Halls, in October, with 23 concerts in the 2009/10 season, featuring work from across the musical spectrum, from well-known classics to world première performances.

2009 has been a fantastic year so far for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, with a ground-breaking tour to India, a clean-sweep of awards for its recording of Mozart Symphonies Nos 38-41, with Sir Charles Mackerras, and great reviews from the concert hall.

The fantastic young Londoner, Robin Ticciati, takes up the position of new SCO Principal Conductor in September, with Glasgow audiences getting their first glimpse of the talented conductor in December. He will direct five concerts during the 2009/10 season, the first of which includes work by Henze and Brahms, and features songs by Mahler, sung by fantastic Czech mezzo-soprano, Magdalena Kozená.

With an impressive list of achievements to his name, Ticciati has already become the youngest debut conductor at the Salzburg Festival, and has performed at La Scala, Milan.

Of his new role with the SCO, The Daily Telegraph said "This should be a crack combination, and he will find the Orchestra in terrifically good shape." Read More...

The SCO also welcomes back Principal Guest Conductor Olari Elts, Conductor Emeritus Joseph Swensen, Conductor Laureate Sir Charles Mackerras, as well as Thierry Fischer, Louis Langreé, Christian Zacharias and John Storgårds to name just a few.

The Orchestra enjoys close relationships with many leading composers and has commissioned more than a hundred new works. These include pieces by Composer Laureate Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Lyell Cresswell, Einojuhani Rautavaara and the late Edward Harper.

The SCO doesn’t just perform on the stage, it is proud to have led the way in music education too. A varied programme of projects through partnerships has been created involving local authorities, local and regional arts organisations, schools and colleges, and festivals. The SCO’s Education department is a member of the City Halls Learning Programme.

Wonderful Scottish mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill is the SCO’s featured guest soloist this season, taking on two great Berlioz roles and the songs of Wagner. We also celebrate several anniversaries – the 200th anniversary of Schumann’s birth, the 75th birthday of SCO Composer Laureate, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, and the Year of Homecoming, and pay tribute to the late Kenneth Leighton and Edward Harper.

Look out for a world première by Estonian composer Erkki-Sven Tüür and a performance of both Mozart and Schumann’s Mass in C minor from the SCO Chorus.