Perth is set to resonate with the timeless beauty of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's music this October and November. From the lyrical Ballet Music from Idomeneo to the immortal Requiem, the city's Perth Concert Hall will host a series of enchanting events. Notable highlights include the return of favorite WASO guest conductor Fabien Gabel and pianist Alexandra Dariescu's stunning performances. Join us as Perth honors one of history's greatest composers with concerts that promise to leave you spellbound.

Mozart's Masterpieces in Perth: A Celebration of Musical Brilliance

Get ready for a musical spectacle in Perth! From the harmonious duo of Paul Lewis and Steven Osborne performing Schubert piano duets, to Mark Padmore singing Britten accompanied by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and the remarkable partnership of Steven Osborne and cellist Alban Gerhardt, this season promises to enchant. Each event is graced by the timeless compositions of Robert Schumann - making it a must-attend for classical music enthusiasts.

Musical Gems in Perth: Celebrating Schumann with Osborne, Lewis, and More

As the festive season approaches, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra presents an enchanting series of events tailored to delight music lovers and holiday enthusiasts alike. From the heartwarming 'Christmas Classics' in Aberdeen to the cinematic wonderland of 'Christmas at the Movies' in Edinburgh and Glasgow, each concert promises a unique musical experience. As we transition into the new year, the orchestra continues to captivate audiences with powerful symphony performances and extraordinary soloists. Join us as we explore these seasonal treasures and the remarkable talents bringing them to life.

A Symphony of Festive Cheer and Musical Masterpieces: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra's Winter Extravaganza

Join us as we delve into the captivating world of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra's upcoming performances. From the emotional intensity of Vaughan Williams' Symphony No.4 to the evocative storytelling of Elgar's 'The Dream of Gerontius', these concerts promise a rich tapestry of musical experiences. Engage with the artistry of renowned conductors, soloists, and composers as they bring to life a series of diverse concerts across Scotland. Discover the unique connections and narratives woven into each performance, offering a profound exploration of classical music's timeless appeal.

Exploring the Symphony: A Journey Through Music's Emotional Landscapes with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra brings an array of musical performances that blend cultural diversity and artistic excellence. From Sibelius's sunlit symphonies to Tchaikovsky's passionate symphonies, this season promises a remarkable experience. Renowned conductors and soloists like Zakir Hussain, Tami Pohjola, and Javier Perianes take center stage, offering fresh interpretations of classic works. With performances spanning from the mystique of Eastern melodies to the elegance of Western classics, the orchestra showcases an extraordinary fusion of sound, emotion, and storytelling.

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra: A Journey Through Musical Landscapes

Everyone knows the tale of Felix Mendelssohn’s trip to the Hebrides, and the sonic enchantment that emerged from that (slightly choppy) boat trip to Fingal’s Cave. What more can we say? These isles sometimes have that effect on visitors. Jean Sibelius ran into fogbanks as his steamer took him to Britain, and you can hear them swirling around the expansive Finnish landscape of his sunlit Third Symphony. And Magnus Lindberg’s radiant First Violin Concerto was hailed as an instant classic after its premiere in 2006. Two of the most dynamic young stars in Finnish music – violinist Tami Pohjola and conductor Taavi Oramo – bring a special freshness and energy to music filled with sea air and northern light.

EPSG:4326

Afternoon Performance: Sibelius's Symphony No.3

Glasgow City Hall

Here is your opportunity to experience Elgar’s epic choral masterpiece in the magnificent setting of the Usher Hall. Gerontius is a very ordinary sort of human being – and as he lies dying, he’s anguished and afraid. But his cry of longing opens a portal to wonders beyond the imagination. “This is the best of me” wrote Elgar on the score of The Dream of Gerontius, and this epic drama of a lonely soul’s voyage towards eternity can move listeners to tears. Ryan Wigglesworth has form with Elgar: in a previous performance, The Observer noted that he “plumbed the work’s rich meanings, sacred and secular” – and that Brenden Gunnell sang the title role “with feeling but never excess”. Beth Taylor, Neal Davies and the Huddersfield Choral Society complete an all-star line-up for this landmark of British music.

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra: Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius

Usher Hall

Elgar's Dream of Gerontius in Edinburgh

The Usher Hall

Join us in the magnificent setting of Paisley Abbey for an epic choral masterpiece. Gerontius is a very ordinary sort of human being – and as he lies dying, he’s anguished and afraid. But his cry of longing opens a portal to wonders beyond the imagination. “This is the best of me” wrote Elgar on the score of The Dream of Gerontius, and this epic drama of a lonely soul’s voyage towards eternity can move listeners to tears. Ryan Wigglesworth has form with Elgar: in a previous performance, The Observer noted that he “plumbed the work’s rich meanings, sacred and secular” – and that Brenden Gunnell sang the title role “with feeling but never excess”. Beth Taylor, Neal Davies and the Huddersfield Choral Society complete an all-star line-up for this landmark of British music.

Paisley Abbey: Elgar's Dream of Gerontius

Paisley Abbey

In 2002, a 12-year-old Jennifer Pike became the youngest-ever winner of the BBC Young Musician and in the two decades that followed has dazzled audiences across the globe. Tonight, she’ll bring her unique artistry to Mendelssohn’s uplifting Violin Concerto (a tried-and-tested audience favourite!).

Perth Concert Series: Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto

Perth Concert Hall

When Sir James MacMillan speaks, the world takes notice – and at his Ayrshire community music festival, The Cumnock Tryst, he’s helping a generation of composers find their own individual voice. Tonight, he conducts the first Scottish performance of Ghosts, his new concerto for orchestra. Judging from that title (and knowing MacMillan’s passionate belief in the communicative power of music), there’s every reason to expect a lot more than just a colourful workout for a full symphony orchestra. MacMillan introduces it himself and also presents a dazzling, thought-provoking spread of new music from his younger colleagues at The Cumnock Tryst: a vibrant, typically generous celebration of the state of the art in Scottish classical music.

MacMillan's ‘Concerto For Orchestra'

All music tells a story, but the best music tells more than one. Shostakovich’s Festival Overture opens with jubilant trumpets – but this was the Soviet Union, so it would do, wouldn’t it? Prokofiev wrote his Sixth Symphony in the aftermath of World War Two, and though it’s certainly an epic, it’s far from clear that it ends in anything as simple as triumph. At the heart of this concert, Colin Currie performs a show-stopping Percussion Concerto by New York-based percussionist Andy Akiho. In Colin’s own words, he’s “completely blown away by the verve, joy, depth of emotion and vibrancy of colours” in this music, composed in 2019. Prepare for big-hearted marimba solos, chopsticks with amplified rice bowls (!) and a groovy ‘Grand Finale’.

Colin Currie & Ilan Volkov in Aberdeen

Music Hall

All music tells a story, but the best music tells more than one. Shostakovich’s Festival Overture opens with jubilant trumpets – but this was the Soviet Union, so it would do, wouldn’t it? Prokofiev wrote his Sixth Symphony in the aftermath of World War Two, and though it’s certainly an epic, it’s far from clear that it ends in anything as simple as triumph. As you’d expect from Ilan Volkov, it’s the climax of a whole evening of music that asks as many questions as it answers, including Olga Neuwirth’s utterly original vision of a robot creator going terrifyingly off the rails. Armed with DJ turntables, a megaphone and clicking metal frogs, soloist Colin Currie - possibly the world’s greatest living percussionist – is the only man who can stop it…

Colin Currie & Ilan Volkov

"The remarkable soloist Ning Feng, his tone so sweet and pure, believed in every note, and as a result so did we” wrote The Times, after a performance of Brahms’s Violin Concerto by this phenomenal Chinese violinist – and after all, it takes a special kind of soloist to do justice to this noblest of the great Romantic violin concertos. This should be something special, and conductor Antony Hermus has devised a whole concert charged with wonder. Cinderella flees at midnight, and in Prokofiev’s shimmering ballet score, you’ll hear every chime, every magic spell, and every loving glance. Dutch composer Joey Roukens lights the touchpaper with a riotous nocturnal rollercoaster ride through a city of dreams.

Brahms’ Violin Concerto in Inverness

Eden Court Inverness

Afternoon Performance: Brahms' Violin Concerto

Vaughan Williams didn’t like to talk about the inspiration for his Fourth Symphony, and he didn’t need to, because the music speaks louder than any words. Raw, explosive and driven by unstoppable emotional force, this is music on the edge, written as Europe fell under the shadow of war. Not what you expected from Vaughan Williams? Well, Chief Conductor Ryan Wigglesworth loves to find unexpected connections and tell compelling musical stories. In a concert that begins with Mozart’s darkest and most dramatic piano concerto (with Wigglesworth directing from the keyboard, just as Mozart would have done) and includes the haunted beauty of Britten’s folksong suite, he’ll do just that.

Vaughan Williams' Symphony No.4 in Edinburgh

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra: Vaughan Williams’ Symphony No.4

Vaughan Williams' Symphony No.4

Singer Jamie MacDougall is your host for the BBC SSO’s annual feast of movie music for all ages, featuring popular tunes from blockbusters, timeless film scores by the legendary John Williams, and the opulent harmonies of Hollywood’s Golden Age. It’s always a sell-out, so secure your tickets today to kickstart your festive celebrations with a symphonic burst of big screen magic. Prepare to be mesmerised by the power of a live symphony orchestra –perhaps the best special effect of all time!

Christmas at the Movies

The BBC SSO’s festive feast of movie music is back by popular demand, returning to the Usher Hall for its second year! Singer Jamie MacDougall is your host for this family-friendly celebration, featuring popular tunes from blockbusters, film scores by the legendary John Williams, and the opulent harmonies of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Secure your tickets today to kickstart your festive celebrations with a symphonic burst of big screen magic. And prepare to be mesmerised by the power of a live symphony orchestra – perhaps the best special effect of all time!

Christmas at the Movies in Edinburgh

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra: Christmas At The Movies

Join us on the Friday before Christmas and prepare to be enchanted by the orchestra’s annual feast of festive music. Enjoy toe-tapping melodies, a midnight sleigh-ride and beloved seasonal classics. Immerse yourself in the timeless classics of Yuletide carols and festive songs, enveloped in the rich harmony of a live symphony orchestra - all guided by the delightful Jamie MacDougall. Secure your seats now for a concert brimming with Christmas cheer – the ideal start to your seasonal festivities.

Christmas Classics in Aberdeen

Darkly lyrical and bristling with devilish energy, Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto is the ideal musical match for the exceptional talents of violinist Aylen Pritchin – a close musical collaborator and friend of conductor Maxim Emelyanychev – who so impressed SCO audiences with his Brahms Concerto in 2023.

SCO Prokofiev & Brahms

With two explosive chords, Beethoven’s Eroica symphony launched a new era for music and created a world of limitless sonic potential. It’s revolutionary in every sense, and for our Chief Conductor Ryan Wigglesworth – a composer himself – it’s the natural culmination of a concert filled with sounds that stretch the bounds of possibility. The poetry of Georg Trakl finds a wordless voice in Donghoon Shin’s wild and wonderful new cello concerto (and the young South Korean cellist Jaemin Han has been described as “a staggering talent”). The late Harrison Birtwistle, meanwhile, dives deep into nocturnal melancholy, and finds both terror and beauty: a potent tribute, in what would have been Birtwistle’s 90th birthday year.

Beethoven's 'Eroica’ Symphony

A composer’s imagination is a dangerous place at the best of times; still, nothing in music quite tops the fabulous, opium-fuelled phantasmagoria that is Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. Born from unrequited desire, and sweeping from glittering romance to the foot of the guillotine, it continues to startle and amaze. Ryan Wigglesworth brings a composer’s insight, and teams up with BBC New Generation Artist (and musical all-rounder) Giorgi Gigashvilli to give a new sparkle to the young Beethoven’s happiest (and funniest) piano concerto. First though, we’re off to warmer climes with another Berlioz showstopper – the riotous dance-rhythms and blazing energy of his irresistible Roman Carnival overture. Fun in the sun, whatever the weather outside!

Afternoon Performance: Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique

Sir Mark Elder is more than just one of the world’s most respected conductors; he’s an artist who lives every minute of the music. “He coaxed a gorgeous sound from the musicians of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra” wrote The Times in 2022. And it’s true - Elder has a lifetime’s understanding of what makes an orchestra glow. Under his direction, this sumptuous, gloriously tuneful selection from Tchaikovsky’s greatest ballet score would be a treat in itself, but with Elder there’s always a bigger picture and a colourful rarity by Sibelius is merely the upbeat to Prokofiev’s ferocious Second Piano Concerto. Music from a time of revolution, played by a pianist as fearless as Elder himself.

Elder Conducts Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty

When night falls, so too does silence – and that’s when music can weave its darkest spells. In the middle of the 20th century, composers Benjamin Britten and Witold Lutosławski were kindred creative spirits, and each crafted ravishing, dream-haunted tapestries of song for a handful of instruments and the tenor voice of Peter Pears.

Perth Concert Series: Mark Padmore Sings Britten

When night falls, so too does silence – and that’s when music can weave its darkest spells. In the middle of the 20th century, composers Benjamin Britten and Witold Lutosławski were kindred creative spirits, and each crafted ravishing, dream-haunted tapestries of song for a handful of instruments and the tenor voice of Peter Pears. One of Britain’s greatest living tenors, Mark Padmore, assumes his mantle today, at the dark heart of this typically imaginative programme from Ryan Wigglesworth. Mozart opens the evening in a blaze of sunlight, and Schumann’s most personal symphony brings it to a close: strong emotions, spoken with love.

Mark Padmore Sings Britten

Britta Byström’s Voyages extraordinaires was inspired by the enchanting (and impossible) journeys depicted in Jules Verne’s famous novel series. Her own work is intended as a fantastical musical journey on which the listener encounters new worlds of sound through recurring orchestral transformations. So, bring a thirst for discovery to the 2024 Nordic Music Days festival – this year in Glasgow – which celebrates contemporary music and sounds from Scotland and the Nordic region.

Nordic Music Days 2024: An Extraordinary Voyage!

An all-night party, a northern sunrise – join us for a life-affirming celebration of music made in Scotland. Singers from across the Central Belt come together to perform modern sacred masterpieces by Sir James MacMillan, and Errollyn Wallen salutes her ancestors in a wordless song of survival and freedom. We raise a toast to the late Lyell Creswell - the irrepressible, utterly individual New Zealand composer who made Edinburgh his home, and whose extraordinary Third Piano Concerto receives its European premiere from Danny Driver. And then we’re off to Orkney, where Peter Maxwell Davies is keeping a welcome – no spoilers, but let’s just say that it gets lively…

Scottish Influences

When Mozart wrote his 20th Piano Concerto, he directed the orchestra and played the piano himself. Sadly, he can’t be here today – but in his place, we’ve got a real genius: the multitalented Lera Auerbach. She’ll play this great concerto (if you’ve seen Amadeus, you’ll already know it), conduct sparkling masterpieces by Mozart’s friend and mentor Haydn, and bang the drum for Mozart in her own composition Eterniday: a very personal homage to one of the world’s greatest ever composers.

 Plays Mozart And Haydn

Gabriela Montero is the virtuoso who broke the mould – the Venezuelan pianist whose irrepressible imagination and flair for improvisation has put creativity back into the heart of the classical piano repertoire. “For me, music is a purposeful art”, she says, and today she stars in her own, exuberant Latin Concerto: not, she says, “a naïve vision of a carnival continent” but “a profoundly personal expression of the continent in which I was born”. Guest conductor Elim Chan frames it with classics old and new – Caroline Shaw’s 21st century tribute to the music of the classical era, and Brahms’s mighty final symphony: an old master singing, dancing and raging against the dying of the light.

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra: Gabriela Montero’s ‘Latin’ Piano Concerto

Gabriela Montero is the virtuoso who broke the mould - the Venezuelan pianist whose irrepressible imagination and flair for improvisation has put creativity back into the heart of the classical piano repertoire. “For me, music is a purposeful art”, she says, and today she stars in her own, exuberant Latin Concerto: not, she says, “a naïve vision of a carnival continent“ but “a profoundly personal expression of the continent in which I was born”. Guest conductor Elim Chan frames it with classics old and new - Caroline Shaw’s 21st century tribute to the music of the classical era, and Brahms’s mighty final symphony: an old master singing, dancing and raging against the dying of the light.

Gabriela Montero's ‘Latin’ Piano Concerto in Edinburgh

Gabriela Montero's ‘Latin’ Piano Concerto

With their very first sounds, a composer creates a world. Mahler opens his Fifth Symphony with an ominous fanfare: the first step on a journey through midnight storms, leaping horn-calls, and possibly the most tender love-letter ever written without words, the rapturous Adagietto. British composer Helen Grime, meanwhile, has dived deep into the pages of Zoe Gilbert’s novel 'Folk', drawing on Scottish, Irish and Manx folklore – as well as the magic of a full symphony orchestra – to create an extraordinary new adventure for soprano Claire Booth, who gives the world premiere today. Fellow composer (and BBC SSO Chief Conductor) Ryan Wigglesworth brings both worlds to life: it’s a truly fantastic way to launch a new season.

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Mahler's Fifth Symphony in Aberdeen

With their very first sounds, a composer creates a world. Mahler opens his Fifth Symphony with an ominous fanfare: the first step on a journey through midnight storms, leaping horn-calls, and possibly the most tender love-letter ever written without words, the rapturous Adagietto. British composer Helen Grime, meanwhile, has dived deep into the pages of Zoe Gilbert’s novel 'Folk', drawing on Scottish, Irish and Manx folklore – as well as the magic of a full symphony orchestra – to create an extraordinary new adventure for soprano Claire Booth, who gives the world premiere today. Fellow composer (and BBC SSO Chief Conductor) Ryan Wigglesworth brings both worlds to life: it’s a truly fantastic way to launch a new season

Opening Night: Mahler's Fifth Symphony

From earthy folk melodies to richly Romantic passions – what better way to launch a new season of discoveries than in the company of Czech maestro Antonín Dvořák and charismatic Principal Conductor Maxim Emelyanychev?

Perth Concert Series: Scottish Chamber Orchestra - A Celebration Of Dvořák

We reunite with our Conductor Emeritus Sir Donald Runnicles, in celebration of his 70th birthday. Join the orchestra to experience the works of Gustav Mahler and Anton Bruckner – two late-Romantic musical titans – and to celebrate Runnicles’s position as the leading Scottish conductor of his generation.

EIF: Runnicles conducts Bruckner 9

The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra reunites with its former Chief Conductor Sir Donald Runnicles in celebration of his 70th birthday. Join the orchestra to experience the works of Gustav Mahler and Anton Bruckner – two late-Romantic musical titans – and to celebrate Runnicles’s position as the leading Scottish conductor of his generation.

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra & Sir Donald Runnicles

In the summer of 1826 Felix Mendelssohn stumbled upon a German translation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream made by August Wilhelm Schlegel. Spellbound, the 17-year-old composer wrote an orchestral overture for the play and, another 17 years later, augmented it with yet more scene-setting music – the most enchanting and characterful he would write. Gemma New joins the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra for Mendelssohn’s musical retelling of Shakespeare’s story (see also Proms 24 & 68) – performed with readings from the play for dramatic context – after equally colourful musical storytelling from forgotten French late-Romantic composer Mel Bonis and the heavenly sounds of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto.

Prom 36: Gemma New conducts Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Royal Albert Hall

Ilan Volkov and friends celebrate milestones from the past 100 years of American jazz, starting with a sequence honouring the ‘Duke’. Mary Lou Williams’s Zodiac Suite from 1945 romps between boogie-woogie and dissonance in its response to astrological signs. The evening culminates in the work of a boundary-crossing visionary very much still with us. From the south side of Chicago, multi-instrumentalist and self-styled ‘trans-idiomatic composer’ Anthony Braxton has established himself as a musician whose imagination recognises no bounds.

Prom 35: Ellington, Braxton and Mary Lou Williams

Experience the profound beauty of Bach's St Matthew Passion like never before at the Edinburgh International Festival. This exceptional performance, led by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under the baton of Ryan Wigglesworth, showcases Felix Mendelssohn's transformative arrangement of Bach's masterpiece. Set to take place at Usher Hall, Edinburgh, on Sunday, 4th August 2024, at 3:00 pm, this concert promises to be a historic event that revisits and celebrates the monumental impact Mendelssohn had on Bach's revival in the 19th century.

The concert will feature an impressive lineup of soloists, including Elizabeth Watts (Soprano), Dame Sarah Connolly (Alto), Laurence Kilsby (Tenor), James Atkinson (Bass), Ed Lyon (Evangelist), and Neal Davies (Christus), alongside the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, and the RSNO Youth Chorus. Together, they will bring to life the urgent narrative and potent emotions of the Passion story, from Christ’s capture to his trial and crucifixion.

This rendition of St Matthew Passion not only highlights Mendelssohn's role in the Bach revival but also offers audiences a chance to immerse themselves in the dramatic and emotional depth of the work. Tickets start from £22.50, making this a must-attend event for classical music enthusiasts and those looking to experience the power of Bach's music, reimagined by Mendelssohn's genius.

Don't miss this opportunity to be part of a musical journey that bridges history and emotion, set against the backdrop of one of the world's most prestigious festivals. Book your tickets now for an unforgettable afternoon at Usher Hall.

Eif: St Matthew Passion

The young Felix Mendelssohn transformed Johann Sebastian Bach’s majestic St Matthew Passion for modern orchestra. His groundbreaking performances of his impassioned arrangements in Berlin (1829) and Leipzig (1841 – the version heard in this concert) changed the course of music history. Without these, the great Bach revival might never have happened.

EIF Opening Concert: St Matthew Passion

Ryan Wigglesworth’s feast of English music opens with Britten’s suite of ‘best bits’ from his 1953 Coronation opera Gloriana, all about the fraught relationship between Elizabeth I and the Earl of Essex. Cheryl Frances-Hoad’s new climate change-themed Cello Concerto – premiered last year in Glasgow by tonight’s forces – takes inspiration from three disparate aspects of the natural world. Elgar’s Symphony No. 2 is considered by many to be the best ever written in England. ‘I have put my soul into it,’ said the composer of this captivating journey, whose thrusting outward energy conceals deep inner poignancy.

Prom 10: Elgar’s Second Symphony

Both Gustav Mahler and Friedrich Rückert lost children. When Mahler came to set Rückert’s grief-stricken poems on the subject as his five Kindertotenlieder, he did so with music that appears emotionally stunned and radiantly consolatory. Leading international mezzo-soprano Alice Coote lends her glowing voice to these devastating songs, after Ryan Wigglesworth conducts his BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in a symphony by Brahms that is both menacing and mellifluous. At the heart of the programme is Schoenberg’s sumptuous tone-poem Verklärte Nacht (‘Transfigured Night’), filled with crepuscular angst and decadent late-Romantic harmony.

Prom 9: Mahler, Brahms and Schoenberg

A pairing of epic works: Unsuk Chin’s Cello Concerto, one of the most important concertos of the 21st century, and Bruckner’s majestic Seventh Symphony

Aldeburgh Festival: Bruckner & Unsuk Chin

Snape Maltings

The BBC SSO return to Aldeburgh Festival for Britten’s Violin Concerto played by Daniel Pioro, the “heavenly” Mahler symphony which Britten so loved, and Judith Weir’s Forest with its fairytale character.

Aldeburgh Festival: Mahler, Britten & Weir

Join conducting talent from across the UK, Austria and Finland as they direct the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in a varied programme of works by Debussy, Gregson & Elgar. This concert, jointly presented by the BBC SSO and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland is the culmination of a week’s activities with conductor Martyn Brabbins.

RCS & BBC SSO: Young Conductors Showcase

City Halls

Our Chief Conductor Ryan Wigglesworth closes the season with a spellbinding concert with our 2023/24 Featured Artist, the phenomenal Bomsori Kim.

Sibelius Violin Concerto in Aberdeen

Closing Night: Sibelius Violin Concerto

Big sounds and tender feelings. Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man is one of those pieces that you know without realising you know it – pure optimism from wartime America, wrought from great shining beams of brass and percussion. The young Chopin wasn’t short of confidence either, and his gloriously dreamy Second Piano Concerto has to be one of the most exquisite love letters ever penned by a young genius to his sweetheart. BBC Young Musician 2022 finalist Ethan Loch is the soloist this evening; his energy and imagination make him the perfect partner for guest conductor Michael Sanderling. Expect freshness, fire – and a few surprises too – when Sanderling conducts Dvořák’s much-loved symphony “from the New World”.

Dvořák’s New World Symphony in Edinburgh

Recorder player, improviser and sound-worker Yamada shares time and space with audiences, air becomes sound material by exploring, deepening and refining it using playing techniques developed by herself.

TECTONICS: Eiko Yamada

Grand Hall

Join us for Dvořák’s much-loved symphony “from the New World”. Plus BBC Young Musician 2022 finalist Ethan Loch joins conductor Michael Sanderling and the orchestra for Chopin's Piano Concerto No.2.

Dvořák’s New World Symphony

Ka Baird, a New York-based artist, presents an extended solo version of "Bearings: Soundtracks for the Bardos," blending theatricality, spirituality, and minimalism in a cosmic journey exploring life and death cycles

TECTONICS: Ka Baird

The Old Fruitmarket

Join BBC Radio 3 presenter Kate Molleson for insights into Day 1 of Tectonics, offering a chance to meet artists and explore their music performances.

TECTONICS: Meet The Artists - Day 2

Scottish Music Centre

Born in Belfast, composer Brian Irvine’s unique musical world combines the known and the unknown, the free and the fixed, the schooled and the unschooled. His music-making is “spontaneous and irresistibly alive” (Washington Post). And for Tectonics 2024, he’s assembled musicians of all ages, instruments and abilities to be part of the beautiful, monster, music machine phenomena that is THE IMAGINARY ORCHESTRA. The only prerequisite for participants? A sense of adventure! Come and hear what they’ve devised in just a few hours, guided by the musical lunacy of this maverick composer.

TECTONICS: Brian Irvine & The Imaginary Orchestra

**This performance in the Recital Room will have performances throughout the weekend. Due to limited capacity, you must reserve a separate free ticket from the box office for the performance.

TECTONICS: Recital Room Performance

Baltimore-born Marlo De Lara works within the realms of sound performance, visual distraction and film. Previously under the moniker ‘marlo eggplant’, their work aims to blur the definitions of the (un)intentional and the myth of permanence. Edinburgh-based Euan Currie cut his teeth in the early noughties with the group Muscletusk, described as a “psychedelic clatter team’s leatherboy tape-dirt party” (Giant Tank). More recently, he’s taken his solo sound collage and electronics project - Dead Labour Process – across Europe, Canada and Japan. Their live improvisation will draw on voices, electronics and field recordings. Expect an exploration of the miniscule properties of sound blown to senseless proportions, a sonic palette of unknown origins bonded in wordless dialogue across cluttered tables.

TECTONICS: Marlo De Lara & Euan Currie

City Halls & Old Fruitmarket

Elaine Mitchener, “the UK’s boldest operatic voice” (The Guardian), is an experimental vocalist, movement artist and composer whose work encompasses improvisation, contemporary music theatre and performance art.

TECTONICS: Elaine Mitchener

Your chance to meet and hear about some of the artists and music performed in Day 1 of Tectonics.

TECTONICS: Meet the Artists - Day 1

Mariam Rezaei is a multi-award winning composer, turntablist and performer, creating music described as “high-velocity sonic surrealism’” (The Guardian). Alongside composer Matthew Shlomowitz, their co-created ‘6 scenes’ are a divine collision of lots of things they love with some allusions to conventions from opera and concerti.

Tectonics: Bbc Sso 1

Norway-based duo Sarah-Jane Summers (fiddle) & Juhani Silvola (guitar) combine Scottish traditional music from the Highlands with influences from Scandinavian traditions and experimental music with the BBC SSO.

TECTONICS: Sarah-Jane Summers & Juhani Silvola with BBC SSO

“Performers should not be afraid of playing good music” says Sean Shibe – the visionary, multi-award-winning Scottish guitarist who’s single-handedly redefining the way the 21st century thinks of his instrument. “And listeners should try not to be scared of listening to it”. No worries on that score, as Shibe pairs the world’s favourite guitar concerto with the first hearing (in this form, anyway) of a flickering, fantastical modern classic by the innovative Spanish composer Francisco Coll. The passion rises like heat-haze; no wonder, then, that guest conductor Delyana Lazarova has framed it with visions of wonder: Rimsky-Korsakov’s very Russian postcard from Spain, and the sorcery, secrets and ear-tingling sensations of a real BBC SSO favourite, Stravinsky’s ‘Firebird’.

Afternoon Performance: Rodrigo Guitar Concerto

“My heartfelt homage to Tchaikovsky’s wonderful talent”. Audiences in the 1920s were astonished when the modernist firebrand Stravinsky started adapting Tchaikovsky. In fact, Stravinsky adored Tchaikovsky’s music, and his ballet The Fairy’s Kiss puts Tchaikovsky’s music under a very modern – but utterly captivating – spell. But then, under the baton of our Chief Conductor Ryan Wigglesworth, there’s wonder in every note of this ravishing concert.

Hough Plays Rachmaninov in Aberdeen

“My heartfelt homage to Tchaikovsky’s wonderful talent”. Audiences in the 1920s were astonished when the modernist firebrand Stravinsky started adapting Tchaikovsky. In fact, Stravinsky adored Tchaikovsky’s music, and his ballet The Fairy’s Kiss puts Tchaikovsky’s music under a very modern – but utterly captivating – spell. But then, under the baton of our Chief Conductor Ryan Wigglesworth, there’s wonder in every note of this ravishing concert. You’d expect no less, when the phenomenal pianist Stephen Hough works his very personal alchemy on Rachmaninov’s hugely-popular Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. But the music of Hans Abrahamsen’s fairy-tale opera The Snow Queen might be a little less familiar. Believe us – it’s pure enchantment.

Hough Plays Rachmaninov

Book your free ticket for this chance to experience a live performance of Sir Michael Tippett’s space-age fairytale opera New Year. The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers and an internationally-renowned team of solo singers assemble to record a live, public performance of the complete opera, marking 35 years of NMC Recordings and its support of great titans of British contemporary music.

Sir Michael Tippett’s ‘New Year’ with BBC Singers

Join us for a mesmerizing evening as the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and BBC Singers present "Sir Michael Tippett’s New Year" on Saturday, 13th April 2024, at the City Halls. This unique event promises to be an unforgettable experience, featuring a live performance of Sir Michael Tippett’s space-age fairytale opera, "New Year," alongside a stellar cast of soloists including Rhian Lois, Ross Ramgobin, Susan Bickley, Roland Wood, Robert Murray, Rachel Nicholls, and Alan Oke. Under the baton of conductor Martyn Brabbins and with Victoria Newlyn as the stage director, the evening is set to be a showcase of exceptional talent.

"New Year" is a compelling opera that intertwines two worlds, as a visitor from the future, "Nowhere Tomorrow," aids the central character in overcoming personal fears and fantasies to confront the realities of "Somewhere Today." This opera, one of Tippett’s most adventurous works, completed at the age of 83, blends influences from opera, rock musicals, pop songs, spoken dialogue, jokes, and dance, offering an eclectic and engaging experience for the audience.

The concert will also feature a pre-performance discussion at 6:45 pm in the Recital Room, led by Oliver Soden, author of "Michael Tippett: The Biography," and Sally Groves, Tippett’s friend and colleague, in conversation with Kate Molleson. This panel will provide deeper insights into Tippett’s life and the opera, enriching your experience of the performance.

This event is part of the BBC SSO 2023-24 Season and the BBC Singers 2023-24 Season, marking 35 years of NMC Recordings and its dedication to British contemporary music. Tickets are free but must be booked in advance, with a limit of 4 tickets per application. Tickets will be available from 10 am on Wednesday, 7th February 2024.

Don’t miss this opportunity to experience the magic of Sir Michael Tippett’s "New Year" in a live performance that promises to be both thought-provoking and thoroughly entertaining.

Sir Michael Tippett’s 'New Year' with BBC Singers

City Halls and Old Fruitmarket

Judgement Day: drums roar, trumpets blast, and hundreds of voices cry to heaven. Arguably no composer had a deeper understanding of the human heart, or a more potent sense of drama, than Giuseppe Verdi. Blazing with emotion and conceived on the grandest possible scale, Verdi’s Requiem has been described as the greatest opera he never wrote. It’s raw sonic theatre, and 150 years after its first performance, our Chief Conductor Ryan Wigglesworth has assembled the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, the BBC SSO and a stellar team of solo singers – all ready to storm the ramparts of death itself.

Verdi’s Requiem in Edinburgh

Verdi’s Requiem

Rufus Wainwright brings an epic reimagining of his Want One and Want Two albums to Glasgow following performances across Europe and the US. Brand new arrangements, performed live with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

Rufus Wainwright's ‘Want Symphonic’ LIVE with BBC SSO

Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

Great artists can draw strength from tradition. When Brahms wrote his final symphony, he reached back across the centuries to find courage and strength as he strode forward into the storm. It’s as moving as it is powerful. In jazz-age America, Samuel Barber reinvented the romantic violin concerto with streamlined melodies and all-American verve; BBC New Generation Artist Geneva Lewis is the soloist today, and you’re about to hear why Musical America described her as “one to watch”. And Sarah Gibson takes handloom weaving as her inspiration: warp & weft is a vibrant, evocative modern celebration of female creativity, woven from sounds that glow in the ear. Gemma New conducts a concert of rich colours and luminous emotions.

Barber Violin Concerto

The BBC SSO and conductor Alpesh Chauhan bring the festival weekend to a close with the final notes Bruckner ever wrote, the incomplete Symphony No. 9. There’s something deeply spiritual, other-worldly even, about this final work which Bruckner dedicated ‘to my beloved God.’ Be moved by the heart-on-sleeve emotion and declaration of faith, expressed in exquisite orchestral colour.

Bruckner's Ninth Symphony at The Glasshouse

The Glasshouse International Centre for Music

Bruckner never finished his Ninth Symphony. At the end of a lifetime’s spiritual striving, he poured both his unquenchable faith and his agonising doubts into one mighty final testament “to my beloved God” – and then fell at the final hurdle. But it doesn’t feel that way, and the music that he did complete is among the most majestic (and moving) experiences in all of Romantic art. Conductor Alpesh Chauhan loves this music profoundly, and he pairs it with equally uninhibited music by two near-contemporaries of Bruckner who wore their hearts (and their knack with a great tune) proudly upon their sleeves, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Giacomo Puccini.

Bruckner’s Symphony No.9

Tunes For Tots Stranraer

Park Primary School

'Tunes for Tots' is 35-minutes long, for children up to 5 years old with their parents or carers.

Tunes for Tots Greenock

Beacon Arts Centre

No composer does emotion quite like Tchaikovsky. “With desire and passion”, he wrote on the score of his Fifth Symphony, and it begins in melancholy and ends in roof-raising celebration. No wonder it’s one of the most popular symphonies ever composed - and conductor Tabita Berglund will bring out its raw power as well as all those unforgettable tunes. It’s a stirring climax to a concert that begins with a haunting folksong from the fjords of Norway, and stars the great Truls Mørk in Dvořák’s Cello Concerto: music of heartfelt tenderness and epic grandeur. Some say it was inspired when the composer saw Niagara Falls – but decide for yourself today.

Perth Concert Series: Tchaikovsky's Fifth

“With desire and passion”, he wrote on the score of his Fifth Symphony, and it begins in melancholy and ends in roof-raising celebration. Join us, conductor Tabita Berglund and soloist Truls Mørk for an evening of pulse-raising passion.

Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.5

Join us for a 35 minute musical story, and get a chance to listen, sing, dance, and meet musicians from the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

Tunes for Tots in Saltcoats

Tunes for Tots in Inverness

Merkinch Community Centre

A piano plays a chord in the silence, and a chain of sound grows, swells, and breaks into passionate, endless song. No question, the great Romantic composers knew how to unleash emotion: whether it’s Tchaikovsky diving into the whirlwind of a doomed love or Puccini creating melodies to melt the heart. Or, indeed, Rachmaninov uniting a glittering piano and a sumptuous orchestra in an concerto that could have been written for soloist Boris Giltburg. “Every note pulses with life and warmth” was how one critic described his playing, and the same could be said when guest conductor Ludovic Morlot shares Roxanna Panufnik’s vivid new versions of Alma Mahler’s lovely, neglected songs.

Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No.2 in Inverness

A piano plays a chord in the silence, and a chain of sound grows, swells, and breaks into passionate, endless song. No question, the great Romantic composers knew how to unleash emotion: whether it’s Tchaikovsky diving into the whirlwind of a doomed love or Puccini creating melodies to melt the heart. Or, indeed, Rachmaninov uniting a glittering piano and a sumptuous orchestra in a concerto that could have been written for our soloist, Boris Giltburg. “Every note pulses with life and warmth” was how one critic described his playing, and the same could be said when guest conductor Ludovic Morlot shares Roxanna Panufnik’s vivid new versions of Alma Mahler’s neglected love songs.

Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.2

Tunes for Tots in Aberdeen

Tunes for Tots in Aberdeen (Quieter Session)

“Free but happy” is the motto that Brahms gave to his Third Symphony, and it opens with all the freshness of a summer storm. What comes next is a musical landscape of rolling clouds, tender lullabies, and radiant sunsets: a haunting finish to a concert that’s all about light, shade, and deep feelings. If you thought Elgar’s popular Cello Concerto was merely the sound of green fields and rolling hills, think again, as cellist Dai Miyata – praised by critics for his “sublime beauty of tone” – joins Ryan Wigglesworth to uncover its troubled soul. And explore a new world o

Elgar’s Cello Concerto in Aberdeen

“Free but happy” is the motto that Brahms gave to his Third Symphony, and it opens with all the freshness of a summer storm. What comes next is a musical landscape of rolling clouds, tender lullabies, and radiant sunsets: a haunting finish to a concert that’s all about light, shade, and deep feelings. If you thought Elgar’s popular Cello Concerto was merely the sound of green fields and rolling hills, think again, as cellist Dai Miyata – praised by critics for his “sublime beauty of tone” – joins Ryan Wigglesworth to uncover its troubled soul. And explore a new world of sound from the imagination of Lisa Illean, who creates music (it’s been said) from “exquisitely quiet shadows”.

Afternoon Performance: Elgar’s Cello Concerto

Take Ilan Volkov, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra’s charismatic Principal Guest Conductor, and a byword for music-making without compromise. Add Joanna MacGregor: the energising, genre-busting British pianist who plays by no rules but her own. Now put them together with the melody, the wit and the irrepressible imagination of a 21-year-old genius called Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and that’s just the centrepiece of a concert that pairs the most dazzling musical mind of the late 18th century with the composer who revolutionised the 20th. Driving rhythms, fabulous colours, and fairground puppets that spring to startling, heart-breaking life: this is the musical world of Igor Stravinsky, and we can’t wait to show you around.

Perth Concert Series: Volkov Conducts Petrushka

On a spring day in an imaginary Russia, an excited crowd gathers for a puppet show. Petrushka loves the Ballerina. She prefers another. Tragedy looms, but don’t worry: puppets don’t have souls…do they? Stravinsky’s 'Petrushka' paints Russian tradition in colours as bright as a piece of folk art – and as sinister as the 20th century. It’s a wonderfully bold finale for a concert that opens with Stravinsky at his most startling, and which unites two dauntless musical explorers – pianist Joanna MacGregor and our Principal Guest Conductor Ilan Volkov – in the haunting, utterly original Piano Concerto by Howard Skempton. A striking new work by one of British music’s true radicals completes an evening of music that fascinates and thrills.

Volkov Conducts ‘Petrushka’

The BBC SSO returns to Celtic Connections for the Opening Night of the Festival. The orchestra join American mandolinist and singer-songwriter Chris Thile for his work ATTENTION! a narrative song cycle for extroverted mandolinist and orchestra.

Celtic Connections Opening Night: Chris Thile with the BBC SSO and Rachel Sermanni

From music as bracing and exhilarating as a midnight sleigh-ride, to the comforts of familiar seasonal favourites, the BBC SSO invites you to an evening of Christmas orchestral magic. Enjoy instantly recognisable melodies of Yuletide carols and festive songs, all wrapped up in the luxurious sound of a live orchestra and hosted by the wonderful Jamie MacDougall. Book now, for a concert that’s brimming with festive good cheer and the perfect kick-start to your seasonal celebrations.

Christmas Classics in Ayr

Town Hall

Can you imagine Christmas without a classic film (or two) to enjoy with a cheeky sherry (or three)? Well some sensible folks can’t even imagine a Christmas without our annual festive feast of movie music. And if you’re 8 or 80 there’s something for you. Expect the sumptuous sounds of Hollywood’s Golden Age, John Williams blockbusters, Disney favourites and the occasional surprise. Singer and presenter Jamie MacDougall is once again in the director’s chair for this fabulous matinee performance.

There’s a special kinship between Scotland and Poland – two nations with stirring histories and dauntless spirits. Grażyna Bacewicz stood her own ground in a time of tyranny, writing music as characterful as it is defiant. Karol Szymanowski imagined new realms of musical sensuality, and the dazzling young South Korean violinist Bomsori Kim is passionate about his silken, shimmering First Violin Concerto. Then, to finish, Witold Lutosławski launches fabulous musical fireworks into the grey skies of communist Poland. Fiery, playful, and utterly original his Concerto for Orchestra is one of post-war music’s true showstoppers, and it’s a special favourite of guest conductor Marta Gardolińska. She won’t hold back today.

Afternoon Performance: Muzyka Polska!

UPDATE: We are sorry to announce that Sir Mark Elder is indisposed and will not be conducting tonight at Glasgow City Halls. We are most grateful to Martyn Brabbins who steps in at short notice to conduct the programme as originally advertised.

The Shostakovich Piano Concertos

Join our Chief Conductor Ryan Wigglesworth for Elgar's majestic First Symphony and Mozart's Piano Concerto No.20 with BBC Young Musician 2014, Martin James Bartlett.

Elgar: Symphony No.1 in Edinburgh

Elgar Symphony No.1

Alpesh Chauhan takes you through the sorrow and sweetness of Mahler's 'Das Lied von der Erde' with soloists Brendan Gunnell and Karen Cargill.

Mahler's 'Song of the Earth'

Join us at Paisley Abbey for a truly uplifting concert featuring Saint-Saëns’s show-stopping Organ Symphony!

Saint-Saëns's Organ Symphony at Paisley Abbey

The completed work of David Fennessy’s 'Conquest of the Useless' returns to City Halls for a performance preceded by a discussion with the composer and a screening of Les Blank’s 1982 documentary of the 'Fitzcarraldo' shoot, 'Burden of Dreams'

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