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The Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) is an
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
-based UK
chamber orchestra Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...
. One of Scotland's five National Performing Arts Companies, the SCO performs throughout Scotland, including annual tours of the Scottish Highlands and Islands and South of Scotland. The SCO appears regularly at the Edinburgh, East Neuk, St Magnus and Aldeburgh Festivals and
The Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...
. The SCO's international touring receives support from the Scottish Government. The SCO rehearses mainly at Edinburgh's Queen's Hall.


History

The SCO was formed in 1974, with Roderick Brydon as its first Principal Conductor, from 1974 to 1983. The founding leader of the SCO was John Tunnell, and by 1977 he had been joined by Carolyn Sparey as principal viola, and Haflidi Halgrimsson as principal cello. With Michael Storrs managing the orchestra for much of  its first decade, the schedule, which for a while included work as the orchestra for Scottish Opera, offered a full diary of concert performances, recordings and touring. In 1978 there was a tour to Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, as well as the first of two summers as orchestra in residence for the festival in Aix-en-Provence. A year later a tour of the Scottish Highlands and islands was the first of its kind ever to take place on the islands of th
West coast of Scotland
and was followed by the official opening by Queen Elizabeth II of the Queen's Hall in Edinburgh on July 6. A highlight of the year 1980 was a BBC TV recording with Raymond Leppard o
all six Brandenburg Concertos
and over the next couple of years the relentless schedule continued with concerts in Barcelona, a residency in the Scottish Highlands, performances at the St. Magnus Festival in
Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...
, a recording of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with violinist Jaimie Laredo, tours of the UK and Europe with mezzo soprano Teresa Berganza, concerts with the Polish conductor, Jerzy Maksymiuk, and an introduction to the up and coming young English conductor,
Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born 19 January 1955) is a British-German conductor. He rose to international prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, while music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1980–1998). Rattle was principa ...
in a concert involving the American opera singer, Jessye Norman. Other principal conductors have included Jukka-Pekka Saraste (1987–1991) and Ivor Bolton (1994–1996). The American violinist and conductor Joseph Swensen served as Principal Conductor from 1996 to 2005, and is now the SCO's Conductor Emeritus. Sir Charles Mackerras held the position of Conductor Laureate until his death in 2010. The Estonian conductor
Olari Elts Olari Elts (born April 27, 1971 in Tallinn) is an Estonian conductor. He was the principal conductor of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra from 2001 to 2006. He is the founder and director of the contemporary music ensemble NYYD Ensemble. ...
served as the SCO's Principal Guest Conductor from October 2007 to September 2010.
Robin Ticciati Robin Ticciati (born 16 April 1983, in London) is a British conductor of Italian ancestry. Biography Ticciati's paternal grandfather, Niso Ticciati, was a composer, arranger, cellist, and keyboardist. His father is a barrister, and his mother ...
was principal conductor from 2009 through 2018. with an initial contract of 3 years. Emmanuel Krivine became the SCO's principal guest conductor in September 2015. In March 2018,
Maxim Emelyanychev Maxim Yuryevich Emelyanychev (Максим Юрьевич Емельянычев; born 28 August 1988, Dzerzhinsk) is a Russian conductor, pianist, harpsichordist and cornetist. From a musical family, Emelyanychev studied music at the Nizhny Novgor ...
first guest-conducted the SCO, as an emergency substitute for Ticciati. Based on this appearance, in May 2018, the SCO announced the appointment of Emelyanychev as its sixth principal conductor, effective with the 2019-2020 season. In November 2019, the SCO announced the extension of Emelyanychev's contract as principal conductor through 2025.


Contemporary music

The SCO's work in contemporary music has included collaborations with Gordon Crosse, John McLeod, and Peter Maxwell Davies, notably the series of
Strathclyde Concertos The ''Strathclyde Concertos'' are a series of ten orchestral works by the English composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. History and character Commissioned by Strathclyde Regional Council, each work features an instrumental soloist and small orchestr ...
.
Einojuhani Rautavaara Einojuhani Rautavaara (; 9 October 1928 – 27 July 2016) was a Finnish composer of classical music. Among the most notable Finnish composers since Jean Sibelius (1865–1957), Rautavaara wrote a great number of works spanning various styles. T ...
's ''Autumn Gardens'' received its world premiere with the SCO in 1999. The SCO premiered
Sally Beamish Sarah Frances Beamish (born 26 August 1956) is a British composer and violist. Her works include chamber, vocal, choral and orchestral music. She has also worked in the field of music, theatre, film and television, as well as composing for c ...
's ''Concerto for Orchestra'' (''Sangsters'') in November 2002. The SCO has commissioned over 100 new works, from composers including Peter Maxwell Davies (the SCO's Composer Laureate), Mark-Anthony Turnage, Judith Weir, Sally Beamish,
Karin Rehnqvist Karin Rehnqvist (born 21 August 1957) is a Swedish composer and conductor of classical music. She composes chamber music, orchestral works, music for the stage, and particularly vocal music, incorporating elements of folk music such as the vocal t ...
,
Lyell Cresswell Lyell Richard Cresswell (13 October 1944 – 19 March 2022) was a New Zealand composer of contemporary classical music. He was the younger brother of philosopher Max Cresswell. Cresswell studied in Wellington, Toronto, Aberdeen and Utrecht and l ...
, James MacMillan,
Hafliði Hallgrímsson Hafliði Hallgrímsson (born 1941 in Akureyri) is an Icelandic composer, currently living in Bath, England. Hafliði was the principal cellist of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, but left that position in 1983 to pursue a full-time career as a co ...
, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Stuart MacRae, Edward Harper and
Martin Suckling Martin Suckling (born 23 November 1981) is a British composer. He is also a violinist and teacher. Education Suckling was born in Glasgow and attended Bearsden Academy. He read music at Clare College, Cambridge and went on to study composition ...
(appointed SCO Associate Composer in 2013). The SCO has recorded for a number of labels, including
Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...
and Hyperion. It has a recording partnership with the Glasgow-based record company, Linn Records, with whom it has recorded 12 albums, including several recordings of Mozart symphonies conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras and an album of Berlioz conducted by Ticciati.


Principal conductors

* Roderick Brydon (1974–1983) * Jukka-Pekka Saraste (1987–1991) * Ivor Bolton (1994–1996) * Joseph Swensen (1996–2005) *
Robin Ticciati Robin Ticciati (born 16 April 1983, in London) is a British conductor of Italian ancestry. Biography Ticciati's paternal grandfather, Niso Ticciati, was a composer, arranger, cellist, and keyboardist. His father is a barrister, and his mother ...
(2009–2018) *
Maxim Emelyanychev Maxim Yuryevich Emelyanychev (Максим Юрьевич Емельянычев; born 28 August 1988, Dzerzhinsk) is a Russian conductor, pianist, harpsichordist and cornetist. From a musical family, Emelyanychev studied music at the Nizhny Novgor ...
(2019–present) Past SCO chief executives have included Roy McEwan-Brown. In April 2016, the SCO announced the appointment of Gavin Reid as its current chief executive, effective 29 August 2016.


References


External links


Official website of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra

Farlex biography of Roderick Brydon
{{Authority control Musical groups established in 1974 Scottish orchestras Culture in Edinburgh National performing arts companies of Scotland Chamber orchestras Organisations based in Edinburgh 1974 establishments in Scotland Erato Records artists