Welcome to the 2025/26
Two inspiring orchestras, nine outstanding concerts!
Subscribe to the 2025/26
Aberdeen Concert Series
– 9 wonderful concerts to choose from
– 7 Subscription concerts plus 2 special festive concerts
– Book 3 Subscription concerts or more and save up to 30%
– Build your own season to suit your tastes
– Free ticket exchange if your plans change
How to book
Online aberdeenperformingarts.com
Phone 01224 641 122 (10am-6pm, Tuesday-Saturday)
Post Aberdeen Concert Series Subscriptions Union Street, Aberdeen, AB10 1QS (Please use the form at the back of the brochure)
Yeol Eum Son plays Mozart
Exceptional South Korean pianist
Yeol Eum Son has dazzled and delighted SCO audiences over the past couple of years with her exquisitely poetic playing and her exuberant enthusiasm. She is famed for her particularly profound insights in Mozart’s music, and she returns with two of the great composer’s most compelling concertos: the profoundly expressive No.21 and deeply dramatic No.24.
In between, SCO Principal Guest Conductor Andrew Manze guides you through one of music’s most fascinating creations. Every note tells a story in Anton Webern’s jewel-like 1928 Symphony, which distills all the expression and emotion of a larger work down to just a few, brief minutes.
Saturday 1 November 2025, 7.30pm Scottish Chamber Orchestra
MOZART Piano Concerto No.21 in C K467
WEBERN Symphony
MOZART Piano Concerto No.24 in C minor K491
Andrew Manze conductor
Yeol Eum Son piano
Photo: Marco Borggreve
The RSNO Christmas Concert featuring The Snowman
Join the RSNO this December for a special feast of Christmas cheer! This family-friendly concert is packed full of your favourite sing-along carols and festive melodies, including Consider the Penguin and Schneewalzer.
Plus, don’t miss the enchanting film The Snowman shown on the big screen, accompanied by the Orchestra and narrated by our star guest, comedian Josie Long. It’s the perfect start to your Christmas!
Wednesday 17 December 2025, 6.30pm Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Stephen Doughty conductor Josie Long narrator
Please note: This concert is not part of the Aberdeen Concert Series Subscription offer. Tickets are priced at £41.50, £34, £29, £23, £16. Under 26s, mature students, disabled and unemployed 50% off.
Viennese New Year
Immerse yourself in all the glorious opulence of a traditional Viennese New Year celebration – and welcome 2026 in lavish style.
Indulge your senses with a tempting selection of timeless Viennese waltzes, polkas and more by the iconic Strauss family – from the sparkling Die Fledermaus Overture to the rapturous beauty of The Blue Danube
SCO Principal Guest Conductor Andrew Manze is your guide to this captivating world of musical wonders, and he’s joined by internationally celebrated Scottish soprano Rachel Redmond.
Sponsored by
Saturday 3 January 2026, 3pm Scottish Chamber Orchestra
J STRAUSS II Tales from the Vienna Woods
J STRAUSS II Die Fledermaus Overture and Arias
LEHÁR Gold and Silver Waltz
J STRAUSS II Blue Danube Waltz
J STRAUSS I Radetsky March
Andrew Manze conductor Rachel Redmond soprano
Please note: This concert is not part of the Aberdeen Concert Series Subscription offer. Tickets are priced at £36.50, £31, £28, £22.50, £15. Under 18s go free – Under 16s must be accompanied by a paying adult. Under 26s and students £6. People with disabilities 50% off, carer goes free.
Mozart’s Last Three Symphonies
Mozart’s final three symphonies are visionary, pioneering works, as powerful as they are passionate, and representing a lifetime of emotion and experience from a composer at the height of his musical creativity. They’re also a mystery, written together in a blaze of white-hot creativity, though it’s not known why – some even suggest Mozart may have conceived them as a single, monumental mega-symphony.
Principal Conductor Maxim Emelyanychev and the SCO drew adulation from critics and audiences alike for their fresh, incisive performances of the symphonies at the 2021 BBC Proms. Discover – or rediscover – the pieces’ compelling power as Maxim brings his vibrant visions to Aberdeen – from the elegance and warmth of No.39 to the deep passions and drama of No.40, and the triumphant glories of No.41, the ‘Jupiter’ Symphony.
Saturday 31 January 2026, 7.30pm
Scottish Chamber Orchestra
MOZART Symphony No.39
MOZART Symphony No.40
MOZART Symphony No.41
Maxim Emelyanychev conductor
Kindly supported by Anne, Tom and Natalie Usher
Photo: Christopher Bowen
Beethoven, Pekka & Dreamers’ Circus
Classical and folk join forces for a thrilling celebration of dance, in this joyfully unconventional programme masterminded and conducted by much-loved Finnish violin pioneer Pekka Kuusisto.
Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony dances its way from start to blazing finish, propelled along by driving rhythms, and brimming over with energy, passion and bounding positivity.
Kuusisto directs the spirited Symphony with the SCO, interspersing its four movements with a specially curated collection of folk tunes that he plays with his friends and colleagues in Danish/Swedish trio Dreamers’ Circus, injecting a distinctively 21st-century freshness into trad music from across Europe.
Discover unexpected connections and thrilling contrasts as Beethoven meets folk in this free-spirited collaboration.
Saturday 21 March 2026, 7.30pm Scottish Chamber Orchestra
BEETHOVEN Symphony No.7 interspersed with folk tunes played by Dreamers’ Circus and Pekka Kuusisto
Pekka Kuusisto director/violin
Dreamers’ Circus: Ale Carr cittern
Nikolaj Busk piano and accordion Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen violin
Pekka Kuusisto Visiting Artist Chair kindly supported by The Honorary Consulate of Finland, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen
Photo: Christopher Bowen
Sir Stephen Hough Plays Rachmaninov
Sir Stephen Hough: a pianist whose effortless brilliance at the keyboard has been described as little short of genius.
John Wilson: the Newcastle-born conductor who knows how to make an orchestra sound like a million dollars.
Put them together and sparks will fly – whether in Rachmaninov’s showstopping concerto, Ravel’s sumptuous dream waltz or Vaughan Williams’ glorious technicolour portrait of a great city in all its bustling, glittering life. Trust us: this is going to be special.
Thursday 23 April 2026, 7.30pm Royal Scottish National Orchestra
RAVEL La valse
RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No.1
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Symphony No.2 A London Symphony
John Wilson conductor Sir Stephen Hough piano
Schumann Cello Concerto
From a daring maritime adventure to a captivating showcase for the soulful cello – in the company of vibrant Principal Conductor Maxim Emelyanychev and exceptional SCO
Principal Cello Philip Higham.
An esteemed international soloist as well as a pivotal SCO musician, Philip Higham takes centre-stage for the poetry and passion of Schumann’s entrancing Cello Concerto, written in a two-week burst of inspiration.
German composer Jörg Widmann pays affectionate homage to Schumann in his witty Albumblätter, receiving its first UK performances, while Debussy takes us dancing and sailing in his charming Petite Suite. Mendelssohn weighs the anchor for more distant shores, however, in his thrilling celebration of seafaring heroism.
Saturday 9 May, 7.30pm Scottish Chamber Orchestra
MENDELSSOHN Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage
SCHUMANN Cello Concerto*
WIDMANN Albumblätter (UK Premiere)*
DEBUSSY Petite Suite
Maxim Emelyanychev conductor Philip Higham cello*
Aberdeen Box Office
Aberdeen Box Office, Music Hall, Union Street, Aberdeen, AB10 1QS
Telephone 01224 641 122
www.aberdeenperformingarts.com
Opening Times
10am–6pm Tuesday to Saturday On performance days the Box Office will also open one hour before the concert starts.
On Sale Dates
Aberdeen Concert Series subscriptions (3 or more concerts) are available to purchase from 24 April 2025. Tickets for individual concerts go on sale from 12 May 2025.
Ticket Prices
Booking fees of £2.50 apply for all Aberdeen Concert Series concerts. This booking fee helps to ensure that Aberdeen Performing Arts is a sustainable business.
Ticket Discounts
Free Tickets for 18s and Under 18s and under go free to the Aberdeen Concert Series. Under 16s must be accompanied by a paying adult with a maximum of two free child tickets per adult ticket. Additional children are charged at £6 each.
Young Adults (19-26 yrs), Students and Universal Credit Concessions
£6 tickets are available in price areas III and IV for patrons aged 26 and under, mature students and patrons in receipt of unemployment benefit.
Patrons with a disability
Patrons with disabilities and their carer are entitled to 50% off standard price tickets.
Group Discounts
Groups of 6 or more save 20% off standard price tickets. Groups of 11 or more save 30% off standard price tickets.
School Groups
We welcome school and youth groups to all Aberdeen Concert Series concerts. Tickets for schools and school-age youth groups are £6.
Please note: All discounts are subject to availability. We regret that tickets to the Aberdeen Concert Series are non-refundable.
Access
Full access for wheelchair users. Guide dogs are welcome.
An infra-red sound enhancement system is fitted for people with hearing difficulties.
Please notify the Box Office when booking if you have any specific access requirements which require assistance.
Become a subscriber and save!
Book 3 or more Subscription series concerts in this brochure and you can save money! The more concerts you book the more you can save – up to 30% for all 7 Subscription concerts!
Book Online
Visit www.aberdeenperformingarts.com, choose your concerts, pick your seats and your subscription discount will be applied automatically once you have more than 3 concerts in your basket.
Book by Phone
Simply call the Aberdeen Box Office on 01224 641122 (open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am – 6pm) and let them know which concerts you would like to attend. Have your credit or debit card ready to make your payment.
Subscription Prices
Book by Post
Select the concerts you wish to attend on the booking form
− Count the number of concerts and tell us how many people will be attending
Check the seating plans and tell us in which price area (Premium – IV) you would like to sit
Using the pricing table calculate the cost of your series ticket and enter the total onto the booking form (see next page)
Tell us your contact information so the Box Office can send you details of how to make payment. Please note that cheques are no longer accepted as a payment method
Return your completed booking form to: Aberdeen Concert Series Subscriptions, Union Street, Aberdeen AB10 1QS
Privacy Summary: The Aberdeen Concert Series is a joint promotion between the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in collaboration with Aberdeen Performing Arts. When you purchase tickets to our concerts your personal details will be processed by these organisations in order to provide you with relevant information about our activities as Arts Charities. These include keeping you up-to-date on the events you have booked as well as sending you information about similar events and opportunities to support our work. More information about how we process your data can be found within the Privacy Statements on the websites of the SCO, the RSNO and Aberdeen Performing Arts. If you wish for your data not to be used in these ways, please tell us at the point of purchase or contact us each directly.
A family affair!
Bring the whole family to the Aberdeen Concert Series with our great ticket offers.
Free tickets for 18 & Under
Why not introduce your children or grandkids to the wonder of classical music at Aberdeen Music Hall? Children aged 18 and under go free to RSNO and SCO concerts when accompanied by a paying adult.*
£6 tickets for Young adults (19-26) & Students
If you’re aged 19-26 or in full-time education, you can enjoy your favourite Aberdeen Concert Series concerts for just £6.*
*All discounts are subject to availability. Seating restrictions may apply. Offer excludes RSNO Christmas Concert – under 26s/students are 50% off.
Concert Calendar
Thursday 12 Feb 2026
Saturday 1 Nov 2025
7.30pm SCO
Yeol Eum Son plays Mozart
Thursday 20 Nov 2025
7.30pm RSNO
Gershwin & Rachmaninov
Wednesday 17 Dec 2025
6.30pm RSNO
The RSNO Christmas Concert featuring The Snowman
Saturday 3 Jan 2026
3pm SCO
Viennese New Year
Saturday 31 Jan 2026
7.30pm SCO
Mozart’s Last Three Symphonies
Royal
7.30pm RSNO
Love & Fairy Tales: Rachmaninov & The Mermaid
Saturday 21 March 2026
7.30pm SCO
Beethoven, Pekka & Dreamers’ Circus
Thursday 23 April 2026
7.30pm RSNO
Sir Stephen Hough plays Rachmaninov
Saturday 9 May 2026
7.30pm SCO
Schumann Cello Concerto
Scottish National Orchestra Scottish Chamber Orchestra
His Majesty The King Patron
Thomas Søndergård Music Director 19 Killermont Street, Glasgow G2 3NX Tel: 0141 226 3868, Email: info@rsno.org.uk www.rsno.org.uk
A charity registered in Scotland NoSC010702 Company registration No27809
The RSNO and SCO are two of Scotland’s National Performing Companies supported by the Scottish Government:
His Majesty The King Patron Maxim Emelyanychev Principal Conductor 4 Royal Terrace, Edinburgh EH7 5AB Tel: 0131 557 6800, Email: info@sco.org.uk www.sco.org.uk
A charity registered in Scotland NoSC015039 Company registration No75079
All details are correct at time of publication. The SCO and RSNO reserve the right to change performance details in exceptional circumstances without prior notification.