SCO News | May 2017

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INSPIRING AND CONNECTING WITH PEOPLE OF ALL AGES

www.sco.org.uk | Issue 67 | May 2017

DANCING WITH DVORÁK Dvorák and the SCO in Season 2017/18 Thoughts from Dr Martin Ennis, University of Cambridge

Also inside: Brontë Hudnott | Under 18s Free | European Tour Instagram Takeover

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CONTENTS

Issue 67 | May 2017

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REGULARS 3 FOREWORD 4 SCO NEWS 10 60 SECOND INTERVIEW 11 RECENT RECORDINGS 22 YOUR ORCHESTRA, YOUR SAY 23 THROUGH THE EYES OF...

COVER 18 Dancing with Dvorák Dvořák and the SCO in Season 2017/18. Thoughts from Dr Martin Ennis, University of Cambridge

4 Royal Terrace Edinburgh EH7 5AB telephone: 0131 557 6800 email: info@sco.org.uk www.sco.org.uk

OTHERS 12 Summer Tour 13 Something Old, Something New An ambitious new project piloted in partnership with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

14 European Tour 2017 Instagram takeover with Emily Dellit-Imbert

22 Finland Honours Roy McEwan-Brown

In March at a ceremony at The Finnish Ambassador’s Residence in London, Roy received the Award of Knight 1st Class of the Order of the Lion of Finland

24 Summer Tour Dates Core funded by

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The Scottish Chamber Orchestra is a charity registered in Scotland No. SC015039 Company registration No. SC75079

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FOREWORD Welcome to SCO News!

school and I know how important

It has been a busy, exciting and very varied start to the year with many concerts and workshops across the length and breadth of Scotland as well as performances further afield in Europe.

those concerts were in helping to instil in me a love of music and a determination to become a professional musician. So I am thrilled that from the start of next season all our tickets for Under 18s will be completely free. Please help us to spread the word.

There have been many highlights for me in my first season with the SCO and whilst there are still a couple of concerts to go in the current series, I must say that I was particularly moved by the performances in March of Sir James MacMillan’s extraordinary new Stabat Mater, with our friends The Sixteen and conductor Harry Christophers.

As the winter season draws to a close, we can now start to look forward to our summer touring programme. This is such an important part of our work as a National Performing Company and I am delighted that each year we are able to visit so many different venues and communities around Scotland. Between June and September you will find our musicians performing in venues as far apart as Selkirk and the Shetland Isles, St Andrews and Greenock and Langholm and Thurso. You will find details of all of our summer concerts in this edition of SCO News – I do

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Gavin Reid

hope you will be able to join the orchestra as they tour the country.

Two of the world’s greatest festivals – The Edinburgh International Festival and the BBC Proms – have recently announced their programmes for 2017 and it is terrific to see the SCO featuring prominently in both. It is always a great honour to be invited to open the International Festival and this year – the Festival’s 70th anniversary – the SCO will begin proceedings with Haydn’s Symphony No 94 ‘Surprise’ – the very first work performed in the very first Festival, in 1947. Later in August, we travel to the Royal Albert Hall for a performance of Berg’s Violin Concerto and Schumann’s Symphony No 3 ‘Rhenish’, which you will also be able to hear broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.

I hope that by now you will have received our 2017/18 Winter Season brochure. I have many wonderful memories of hearing the SCO in the Queen’s Hall and Usher Hall in the 1980s when I was at

As you will know, next season is Robin Ticciati’s last as our Principal Conductor. His musical insights and intelligence and the care and love that he has shown for the music he performs and the musicians he performs with have, I think, been the hallmarks of his time with the SCO. His programmes next Season are typical – highly distinctive, clearly recognisable themes, new paths of discovery, repertoire that seeks to extend the boundaries of a chamber orchestra and some of the most sought-after soloists in the world.

But before we get ahead of ourselves too much, I hope very much that you will be able to join us for the closing concerts of this Season

Gavin Reid Chief Executive

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SCO NEWS INTRODUCING BRONTË HUDNOTT! –––––– After a short trial period, Australian flautist Brontë Hudnott has been appointed Sub-Principal Flute of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra!

Until now, Brontë has enjoyed a varied freelance career, performing with many of the UK’s leading orchestras, including the Philharmonia, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hallé. She was Principal Flute of the Britten-Pears Orchestra in 2015 and the LPO Foyle Future First flautist the same year, with her solo work in the latter role flatteringly highlighted as ‘ravishing’ by the Financial Times.

She completed her postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, graduating with distinction and the honorary Dip RAM for an outstanding final recital.

Like our Principal Flute, Alison Mitchell, Brontë also hails from Melbourne. Her new desk partner has this to say: “Brontë is the perfect “partner in crime”! She reads my mind and we work perfectly in sync.

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Brontë Hudnott

I love her sound which blends beautifully with mine and, will bring a distinctiveness to the second flute voice. She is a great asset to our wind section and the Orchestra. I’m really looking forward to performing together and having her in the section.”

In addition to her orchestral work, Brontë enjoys performing chamber music whenever possible. When not performing or rehearsing, Brontë loves dancing, gallery-hopping, trying new recipes and exploring the countryside.

I love her sound which blends beautifully with mine and, will bring a distinctiveness to the second flute voice –––––– Brontë Hudnott’s Chair is kindly supported

by Claire and Mark Urquhart

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NO STRINGS ATTACHED – UNDER 18s GO FREE! –––––– We are passionate about sharing the experience of exceptional live orchestral music-making and inspiring new generations of classical music lovers. The upcoming 2017/18 Season reinforces this by offering free admission to Season concerts to all 18 year olds and under. In addition, teachers accompanying pupils to concerts can now attend free of charge. The SCO will also continue to offer Under 26s and unemployed £6 tickets, making concerts accessible and welcoming to all.

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Everyone has a story to tell about their experience with

It’s to get at them and then the gateway will become wider and

classical music at a young age.

In a recent interview in The

more people can get through it.”

Herald, Robin Ticciati shared his: “I came from a family where my parents loved music, there was music in the household, I saw that my brother played violin and thought I’d really like to do that.”

Do you know young people who would like to come to concerts but may not be aware that tickets are free? Or do you know a school teacher who may be able to bring a group of students? Please share our news that Under 18s and teachers who bring a group of school students (minimum 6) can come to the Scottish Chamber Orchestra for free. You never know, you might change a young person’s life…

–––––– NURTURING YOUNG TALENT –––––– The SCO is committed to nurturing young talent and is developing its partnership with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland through a series of side by side concerts. The Season also features preconcert performances from RCS students, St Mary’s Music School, City of Edinburgh Music School, Douglas Academy and Aberdeen City Music School. If you already have tickets for one of these concerts, please add the free pre-concert performance to your diary too – the young musicians will really appreciate your support.

–––––– For more information see sco.org.uk

He then shared a frustration: “It is about opportunity and it shouldn’t be about opportunity, it should be for everyone.....

It’s about really getting music to people who don’t have the opportunity or the money or, in a sense, the open eyes for it.

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Peter Whelan

PETER WHELAN ON SABBATICAL –––––– Here is a quick note about

© Jen Owens

my adventures while I am on sabbatical from the SCO. I’ve been using the time to explore the world of conducting/directing and I’ve just completed 10 performances of Acis and Galatea with Opera Theatre Company/ Irish Baroque Orchestra, initially at the Wexford Opera House and then on tour around Ireland. The production was enormous fun set in modern times in an Irish country pub with a line-dancing chorus!

WIN £250 ––––––

250 SOCIETY Please join us in congratulating recent winners of our 250 Society draw who each won £250.

January – Margaret Thomson February – Peter Swarbrick March – Eleanor Morrison April – Pamela Harper It costs just £5 a month to become a member of the SCO’s 250 Society and be in with a chance of winning a monthly prize of £250. All proceeds go towards helping to fund the work of SCO Connect. To join, simply download the SCO 250 Society membership form at www.sco.org.uk/support-us or contact Adam James on 0131 478 8344.

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Next in the diary is a concert of Haydn Symphonies 6-8 (Matin/Midi/Soir) at the Bath Festival with poetry relevant to the different times of day, and later in the Summer there will be concerts with my group, Ensemble Marsyas, at the Edinburgh International Festival and then at the Kilkenny Festival in Ireland.

Our concert at EIF is particularly exciting as it marks the reopening of St. Cecilia’s Hall following refurbishment. We will reconstruct a concert which took place in St. Cecilia’s in the late 18th century which featured the super-star castrato of the day, Giusto Tenducci, who had just eloped from Dublin with his new Irish bride (who was, against all

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odds, pregnant). Mezzo-Soprano, Emilie Renard will be joining us

275th anniversary of the first performance.

to sing the role of Tenducci.

Unfortunately this concert is already sold-out, but if you are keen to hear more we plan to release a new CD in August called ‘Edinburgh 1742’ (Linn) which features lots of the music from the concert, including incredible new rediscoveries from forgotten Edinburgh resident composer, Francesco Barsanti.

You will not believe your ears!

These works feature spectacular horn parts played by my SCO colleague Alec Frank-Gemmill and prove that music in 18th century Edinburgh was every bit as vibrant as it is today.

Immediately after this we will travel to Kilkenny for another exciting project which explores the music scene in Dublin in the the run-up to Handel’s visit to the city in 1742 for the first performance of Messiah.

Plenty of new musical material from 18th century Dublin has cropped-up in recent years which we intend to explore, some from the most unlikely of places. One work was taken as booty by the Russians at the end of WW2 and only returned to a German library in the mid-1990s. This will culminate with a performance of the 1742 Dublin version of Messiah (quite different from the familiar version) to mark the

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Then there will be a project with the Portland Baroque Orchestra in the USA followed by a week directing the Irish Chamber Orchestra before I return to my seat just in time for the downbeat of the new season (in the SCO)! I look forward to catching up with you all then.

Premiere of Memorial Ground at East Neuk Festival

ROYAL PHILHARMONIC SOCIETY AWARDS: MEMORIAL GROUND –––––– Congratulations to East Neuk Festival whose commission, Memorial Ground, has been nominated in the Audience Engagement category of the 2017 RPS Awards.

Memorial Ground is a piece of choral music by Pulitzer Prize-winning and Oscarnominated composer David

Lang, composed in 2016 to mark the centenary of the Battle of the Somme in a very special way.

More than 1.1 million people from all over the world were killed or wounded during that Battle, and no single text or piece of music can respond to such a scale of loss.

Instead, David Lang wanted to offer many different people a way to voice their own response.

Choirs ranging from primary schools to professional choirs of all sizes and abilities customised his piece to make it their own by choosing texts and shaping the performance according to their own thoughts, resources, location, circumstances and scale. Some kept it simple and short; others added instruments, video projections, staging, poetry, prayers, whispered names of the fallen – every performance was unique.

The piece was commissioned by East Neuk Festival in association with 14-18 NOW and WW100 Scotland. It was premiered at Cambo Barn, Fife as part of the 2016 East Neuk Festival by Theatre of Voices, SCO Chorus (director: Gregory Batsleer), Fife community choirs and SCO musicians conducted by Paul Hillier.

–––––– www.1418now.org.uk WW100 Scotland

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VIRGIN MONEY FIREWORKS CONCERT –––––– Join us for the triumphant conclusion of the 2017 Edinburgh International Festival with the Virgin Money Fireworks Concert.

This spectacular event brings together our music with magnificent pyrotechnics, specially choreographed by international fireworks artists Pyrovision.

Our programme this year includes music from Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty. Two rousing Scottish masterpieces open and close the evening: Sir James MacMillan’s infectious ceilidh-inspired Stomp, and Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ joyful show-stopper An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise, an unforgettable musical portrait of an island marriage complete with riotous traditional folk tunes and tipsy revellers.

Pick up a Picnic!

This year, for the first time, we offer you the chance to enjoy an unforgettable evening in Princes Street Gardens with fine food and wine (and mineral water) in the form of a luxury picnic.

Early Bird Offer – only £39.50 until end of June – Check out

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the menus for the meat and vegetarian options at eif.co.uk/ virginmoneyfireworks, and follow the link to buy your picnic hamper. Once you have ordered, your hamper will be available for collection by you on the night in Princes Street Gardens.

EAST NEUK FESTIVAL –––––– In the coming months, amidst another busy touring schedule around Scotland, summer 2017 sees us returning to our friends in the East Neuk of Fife for several outings at the superb East Neuk Festival.

The festival grew out of the SCO’s “Summer Evenings in the East Neuk” concert series from the late 90’s. The overwhelming popularity of these concerts, the ample number of churches and venues perfectly suited for concert giving and the fantastic culture of music-making that exists in the area inspired SCO Life President Donald MacDonald, Louise MacDonald and Svend McEwanBrown to create a new festival with classical chamber music at its heart. The festival has since evolved and now encompasses many other types of music as well as art installations, exhibitions, literature, films and guided walks.

Since its inception in 2004, the festival has hosted some of the worlds greatest artists and features

the SCO and SCO players in a variety of guises.

For 2017, the SCO’s Wind Octet perform Mozart, Salieri and Schubert on 29 June at St Ayle Church in Cellardyke. On the 2 July, SCO players (as part of Mr McFall’s Chamber) join Norwegian musicians for an afternoon of traditional tunes, reinventions and a world premiere by Henning Sommerro at Anstruther’s Town Hall. In the evening of 2 July, SCO Strings close the festival with a musical journey across Scotland with a programme that includes music by Sibelius and Tchaikovsky. SCO Leader Stephanie Gonley will direct.

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SCO Vibe in St Andrews

CONNECT LATEST

So that you don’t miss out on what promises to be another fun and memorable festival, we have organised a supporter’s trip to attend both concerts on Sunday 2 July. The trip costs £99 with coaches departing from Edinburgh and Glasgow and includes a sumptuous twocourse meal at The Waterfront restaurant in Anstruther. To book your place, please call Adam James on 0131 478 8344 or visit www.sco.org.uk/support-us/ events.

–––––– For more details about the East Neuk Festival, please visit www.eastneukfestival.com

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SONGS OF FAREWELL –––––– SCO Chorus presents a specially staged performance of Parry’s Songs of Farewell, devised by SCO Chorus Director Gregory Batsleer, winner of the 2015 Arts Foundation Fellowship and Herald Angel winning director Jack Furness. This programme will invigorate Parry’s fine choral writing with a fresh approach to the concert experience.

–––––– Songs of Farewell is on 15 June, Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh www.sco.org.uk/whats-on/1125songs-of-farewell

–––––– As part of the build up towards a new three year community residency in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh, SCO Connect have developed a series of music and movement workshops at local primary schools. Several classes of children have had a fabulous, creative time working with composer Matilda Brown, movement specialist Ana Almeida, and SCO musicians Eric de Wit, Emily Dellit Imbert, Robert McFall and Su-a Lee. Projects in the area continue over the summer with a series of nursery workshops and a secondary school programme led by Matthew Hardy and Aisling O’Dea. We are excited to announce that the full residency begins in Autumn 2017 and will include a series of projects at every nursery, primary and secondary school in Wester Hailes.

Recent highlights of the St Andrews Orchestra in Residence programme included a hugely successful weekend of music making for students led by our

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SCO VIBE team. William Stafford and pianist Hiroaki Takenouchi gave a fabulous Lunchtime Chamber Concert featuring the music of James MacMillan, and as part of our Early Evening Concert series SCO players, students and staff performed an innovative programme of music by Jeremy Thurlow. This year’s StAFCO Spring Concert showcased Maximiliano Martín’s spellbouding performance of Weber’s Concertino for Clarinet with the orchestra.

In other news, Scrapers and Tooters visited Dundee on 6 & 7 May, and we celebrate our two year residency at Rattray Primary School, Perthshire with a final performance at Horsecross Youth Arts Festival on 14 June. We are also delighted to be working in partnership with Live Borders to produce Sounding Out the Past, a new music commission for the Borders Heritage Festival 2017. Composer Suzanne Parry, a Borders writer and musicians from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra will work with four classes of local primary school children to explore the history and stories connected to three historic Borders houses – Abbotsford, Bowhill, and Aikwood Tower. The resulting pieces for a small SCO ensemble will be performed at a series of school concerts and at an evening performance during the Borders Heritage Festival in September 2017

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SECOND INTERVIEW RICHARD EGARR Tell us about Schumann’s Requiem?

We all know Schumann for his great piano music and great song cycles and lieder in general. Even the symphonies are loved by musicians, but audiences grow a bit foxed by them. I think musicians tend to love Schumann and audiences go “eh what”?! So hearing the Schumann Requiem will hopefully create a wonderful eureka moment for audiences.

He wrote it very late in life, in 1852, and Schumann himself said, “One only writes a Requiem for one’s self”. This is kind of interesting as he was already ill, so I think he saw the writing on the wall and the result was this extraordinary, very thoughtful, quite introverted Requiem.

What does it sound like?

If you are used to Requiems such as Verdi’s or Mozart’s, there is lots of bluster and noise around their Dies Ires. Schumann’s Requiem is not like these. It is very Schumann-esque, a very introverted piece, a bit like his Violin Concerto. So I’m hoping that our audiences will discover a whole new side of Schumann through this piece.

What will be different about this concert, having previously worked with the SCO Chorus?

I’m a choir man. I was brought up as a choir boy so I love working with choirs. I think Greg has done fantastic things with the SCO Chorus over the last three or four years since I’ve known him. I am looking forward to working on this piece with him because it is a piece they have never sung before and the orchestra have probably never played it before, so actually it’s rather exciting to play a piece by a major composer for the first time.

I think this will also bring a sense of expectation and excitement to the whole project –––––– Schumann’s Requiem is on the 26 & 27 October in Edinburgh and Glasgow The Glasgow concert is proudly sponsored by

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RECENT RECORDINGS COMING SOON… ––––––

Mozart Piano Concertos 25 & 26 FRANCESCO PIEMONTESI – PIANO ANDREW MANZE – CONDUCTOR Release date - August 18th 2017

THROWBACK –––––

Our extensive 2015 European Tour included a performance in the Halle aux Grains, Toulouse with Robin Ticciati at the helm and Renaud Capuçon starring as violin soloist in both Beethoven and Lindberg Violin Concertos

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Summer Tour 2017 From June to September 2017, we embark on an extensive programme of touring across the length and breadth of Scotland. Our commitment to engaging as many Scottish communities as possible is strengthened with more than 20 concerts across the country.

The summer tour will showcase the talents of our virtuoso Principal Players, Maximiliano Martín, Benjamin Marquise Gilmore, Nikita Naumov

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and Stephanie Gonley. Joining us on the road are internationally-renowned guest artists – South African conductor Gerard Korsten, American conductor Karina Canellakis (Winner of the 2016 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award) and Violinist/ Directors Tobias Ringborg, Alexander Janiczek and Anthony Marwood –––––– Full summer tour dates can be found on the back cover or by visiting www.sco.org.uk

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Something Old, Something New

In March, SCO Connect brought 100 pupils from four primary schools in Springburn, Glasgow to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) to showcase the results of Something Old, Something New – an ambitious new project piloted in partnership with the RCS. Something Old, Something New focused on the music of Sir James MacMillan, whose work was celebrated by the SCO, BBC SSO and RCS during March. The project’s title refers to MacMillan’s use of traditional melodies, stories and ideas from his own compositions which he develops or reuses in new compositions. In an intensive series of school workshops, SCO and RCS musicians worked in teams to introduce MacMillan’s music to the pupils and to help them create their own group compositions, using MacMillan’s musical and thematic ideas as starting points.

The project was designed to give primary school children from an area of multiple deprivation a unique opportunity to work creatively and to perform with professional musicians. Led by animateur Lucy Forde, it also developed creative leadership skills among SCO musicians and provided a training opportunity for RCS students to work alongside the SCO musicians in educational settings. SCO musicians taking part were Aisling O’Dea, Su-a Lee, Felix Tanner, Eric de Wit, Alison Mitchell, and Nikita Naumov, with percussionist Phil Hague and eight BMus and MMus students from the RCS. The teams were proud to be able to bring the pupils’ work into a professional venue and to give the children the experience of performing in public. To everyone’s delight, James MacMillan himself was present for an afternoon of vibrant performances by Saracen, Elmvale, Barmulloch and Balornock Primary Schools, including a grand finale written for all the performers by Lucy Forde

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SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA www.sco.org.uk –––––

EUROPEAN TOUR 2017 Instagram takeover with Emily Dellit-Imbert –––––

#SCOonTour

In February we asked Emily Dellit-Imbert and Su-a Lee to takeover our instagram account for our European tour.

This is Emily’s story.

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Whenever I tell my non-musical friends that I’m off on tour with my orchestra, I’m met with collective sighs of envy, and exclamations of ‘Wow, I’m so jealous! Your job is so cool! You’re so lucky!’

Ten days into the SCO’s 2017 European tour, four months pregnant and struggling against a lingering case of hyperemesis gravidarum (Google it – ALL the hip pregnant celebs get it), I will wake up too early to one of the fifteen-or-so precautionary alarms I set the night before so as not to miss the tour bus, groggily trying to remember which country I’m currently in, and gaze accusingly at my suitcase, which has, perhaps in commiseration with its ailing

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mistress, vomited its entire contents all over the hotel room.

I think back to those aforementioned conversations with my friends at home in Australia, and imagine them all as they might be at that moment, ten hours ahead of me in their Antipodean summer, smugly wearing one thin layer of clothing, enjoying postwork cocktails outdoors or an evening swim, and I contemplate posting a selfie of my current situation to Instagram, accompanied by the bitter caption ‘Me on tour #prettycool #prettylucky #jealousmuch?’

Thankfully for followers of the SCO, this snapshot

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was NOT one which made it to the final cut for my tour takeover of the orchestra’s Instagram feed. After all, to imply that my overwhelming experience of touring in general was one of such struggle would be to neglect the manifold other daily moments of discovery, camaraderie, and sheer joy of musicmaking that inevitably take place in the life of a touring orchestra.

Last January, via plane, train, and coach, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, joined by Principal Conductor Robin Ticciati and piano soloist Maria João Pires, zigzagged across continental Europe, performing in seven different cities in almost as many days. Starting

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out in Salzburg for the Mozartwoche Festival, we toured our program of Dvořák, Mozart, and Haydn onwards to Aix-en-Provence, Paris, Toulouse, Pamplona, Luxembourg, and Rotterdam. Though the schedule itself was gruelling (day 7 alone saw us touch land in three different countries!) the concerts were always fresh, the inspiration new, the dynamic charged. Sharing the stage with pianist Maria João Pires was a particular highlight. The gravitas and dignity she brought to her performances of Mozart each night made each of us feel like she was approaching the work anew, transporting orchestra and audience alike through her inspired interpretations.

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Of course life isn’t Instagram, and you can’t hashtag a story, but if I could, I would. #prettycool #prettylucky #jealousmuch?

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After our final concert in Rotterdam, I went to Maria’s dressing room to thank her for her consistently transcendental performances throughout the tour. She placed her hands on my pregnant belly, and in her calm, earnest, and considered way, wished me and my future child all the very best for our life together. I promptly burst into tears, overwhelmed by sheer end-of-tour exhaustion and an overload of pregnancy-related emotion and sentimentality.

Again, not me in my finest moment, and thankfully another snapshot that didn’t make it onto Instagram, but definitely one that will be stored and treasured in the mental repository of souvenirs and stories I am already collecting for my unborn child.

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I sometimes imagine my future self, telling my child that when I was expecting him or her, I travelled around Europe as a member of a wonderful chamber orchestra, that I played compositions by Mozart in his birthplace, that I travelled through three different countries in one day, that I shared the stage with a musical angel who played some of the first sounds he or she would ever have heard. Of course life isn’t Instagram, and you can’t hashtag a story, but if I could, I would. #prettycool #prettylucky #jealousmuch?

–––––– Keep up with us on Instagram at www.instagram.com/scottishchamberorchestra/

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Season 2017/18 Poster image for our Dvorák Symphony No 8 concerts

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Dancing with Dvorák Dvorák and the SCO in Season 2017/18.

Thoughts from Dr Martin Ennis, University of Cambridge For his ninth and final season as Principal Conductor of the SCO, Robin Ticciati has chosen a programme based round works by Antonín Dvořák. In doing so, he revisits some of the repertoire championed by Sir Charles Mackerras, his immediate predecessor.

A turn to Dvořák after several seasons exploring core Austro-German music may seem surprising; however, the widespread image of Dvořák as standard-bearer for Czech music can be misleading.

For a start, some of the pieces we tend to see as quintessentially Czech are, in fact, representative of a pan-Slavic movement. The work that established Dvořák’s broader reputation, the Slavonic Dances, was criticised by no less a figure than Smetana as a hodgepodge of different Eastern European traditions. Moreover, the range of Dvořák’s output, which is focussed on the iconic genres of symphony and string quartet, suggests a composer whose musical world was not so far removed from his great contemporary, Brahms. In truth, Dvořák, like Tchaikovsky, was an internationalist: he happily identified with ‘mainstream’ European culture while employing some couleur locale.

Ticciati’s approach to Dvořák differs from that of Mackerras. However, interpretation is not just a matter of individual temperament: with orchestras like the SCO, which boasts many distinguished instrumentalists among its ranks, interpretations result from engagement and (often unspoken) negotiation between director and players. In short, the readings we shall hear this season grow out of experiences shared over the past decade. Building creatively on established traditions has been the hallmark of Ticciati’s tenure at the SCO – just as it was of Dvořák’s compositional career – and the coming season promises a highly stimulating envoi –––––– Dr Martin Ennis is Senior Lecturer in Music at the Faculty of Music and Fellow and Director of Music at Girton College, Cambridge. He taught Robin Ticciati when he was a student there.

–––––– For more information on all our Dvořák concerts please visit our website at: https://www.sco.org.uk/whats-on?composer=10 –––––– The Glasgow concert is proudly sponsored by

Long-term supporters of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra will doubtless be intrigued to see how

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Finland Honours Roy McEwan-Brown We are really proud of our former long-serving Chief Executive Roy McEwan-Brown. In March at a ceremony at The Finnish Ambassador’s Residence in London, Roy received the Award of Knight 1st

and is open to both Finnish citizens and nationals of other countries. The President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö, has graciously authorised the award to Roy McEwan-Brown. I am personally delighted to

Class of the Order of the Lion of Finland from Her Excellency Päivi Luostarinen, Ambassador of Finland to the United Kingdom.

be able to make this award which represents strong evidence of cultural and artistic friendship between Finland and Scotland in this, the 100th year since Finnish Independence”.

He received this honour for services in fostering and promoting Finnish Composers, Artists and Conductors over several decades in his roles as Chief Executive of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (19932016) and earlier as Director of the MacRobert Arts Centre, University of Stirling (1981-1991).

Her Excellency Päivi Luostarinen commented: “This sustained and vigorous support of Finnish music

by Roy McEwan-Brown has not gone unnoticed by the Joint Board of the Order of the Lion of Finland, which was established in 1942 for Merit

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During the decade beginning 1996, the SCO performed works by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius no fewer than 75 times. Roy was also behind commissioning new works by Finnish composers including Lotta Wennäkoski. Her work Verdigris was commissioned to celebrate the 150th birthday of Jean Sibelius, and received its World Premiere at the Younger Hall, St Andrews, on 28 October 2015. Performances in Edinburgh and Glasgow followed shortly after. Other Finnish composers that Roy commissioned include

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IN HIS TIME AS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF THE SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA: ROY COMMISSIONED THE FOLLOWING WORKS FROM FINNISH COMPOSERS: –––––– Einojuhani Rautavaara –

– The Countess’s Portrait and

Autumn Gardens.

This received its world premiere at the BBC Proms and was performed ten times throughout Scotland.

The Maiden in the Tower Suite (Orchestrated by Tuomas Hannikainen)

Jukka Tiensuu – Missa.

Clarinet Concerto ‘Missa’ was premiered by soloist Kari Kriikkuu.

Lotta Wennäkoski – Verdigris.

Commissioned to mark the 150th birthday of Sibelius and premiered in 2015.

UK Premieres in the 1990s included works by Kalevi Aho, Magnus Lindberg, Eero Hammeeniemi, Einojuhani Rautavaara and Olli Mustonen.

Two works by Jean Sibelius received their UK Premieres

Finnish Musicians who Roy invited to collaborate with the SCO included: Jukka Pekka Saraste, Paavo Berglund, John Storgårds, Okko Kamu, Tuomas Hannikainen, Pekka Kuusisto, Juho Pohjonen, Kari Krikku, Mikku Franck, Hannu Lintu, Susanna Mälkki and Sakari Oramo.

Einojuhani Rautavaara and Jukka Tiensuu. He programmed the UK premieres of works by Kalevi Aho, Magnus Lindberg,

compatriot John Storgårds, and performed by the much-loved Scot Colin Currie. Performances are in Dumfries, Edinburgh,

my teens, this recognition comes as a wonderful surprise and a great honour. As a small country which has invested so much

Eero Hämmeeniemi and Olli Mustonen.

Glasgow and Inverness on the 28th February to 3rd March 2018.

in culture and creative talent – through music, architecture, literature, art and design – Finland is an inspiration to us all and it has been a great privilege to help celebrate its achievements throughout my career, both at the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and before at the University of Stirling” –––––– Rautavaara Percussion Concerto John Storgårds – Conductor Colin Currie – Percussion 28 Feb - 2 May 2018 Dumfries | Edinburgh | Glasgow

The SCO also performed the UK premiere of two works by Jean Sibelius – T he Countess’s Portrait and The Maiden in the Tower Suite, which was orchestrated by Tuomas Hannikainen.

A future Scottish Premiere which Roy programmed prior to his retirement is Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Percussion Concerto ‘Incantations’. It will be conducted by the composer’s

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As well as composers, Roy is also a conspicuous supporter of leading Finnish conductors and musicians. Over the years those he invited to the SCO included Jukka Pekka Saraste, Paavo Berglund, Okko Kamu, Juho Pohjonen, and Pekka Kuusisto.

On receipt of the award, Roy said: “Having admired Finland since I discovered some of its music in

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22|SCO NEWS

YOUR ORCHESTRA, YOUR SAY...

–––––– Your opportunity to comment and have your say.

Whether it is via social media or by sending us a letter, we love to hear from you.

–––––– Thank you SCO and Chris Jarvis!

We had the best time ever at Stan and Mabel today! One little girl is desperate to learn the violin now.

Elaine Wilson, Facebook

FANTASTIC INITIATIVE! Thanks @SCOmusic Scottish Chamber Orchestra to give free tickets to young people Mar Carmena @mar_carmena

Super evening. Orchestra on top form but even it was eclipsed by the sound of the piano in Llŷr Williams imperious performance, glorious.

Loved Alexander’s conversation with the orchestra in the Mozart and the closing bars of the Berg spellbinding… Thank you!.

Mr and Mrs Donaldson, Beethoven The ‘Emperor’ attender (Customer email)

Still reverberating after seeing the awesome @NickyBenedetti @theusherhall @SCOmusic last night. Breathtaking, dizzying talent.

Orla O’Loughlin @orlaoloughlin1

“As we were newbies, we were completely blown away by the performance, the energy and enthusiasm that each musician put in created a breath taking display. The conductor was marvellous and was one whose passion for the piece was clear. Thoroughly enjoyed it and will definitely be attending again” (Customer email)

JOIN THE CONVERSATION –––––– Sign up for our email newsletter For all our latest news, films, photos, blogs and special offers, visit sco.org.uk/latest Email us Michael Devlin, Customer Communications michael.devlin@sco.org.uk Comment on Facebook facebook.com/scottishchamberorchestra

An electric performance tonight @SCOmusic @TheSixteen of @jamesmacm’s startling Stabat Mater. Big crowd from school – thank you SCO! St Mary’s Music School @stmarys_music

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THROUGH THE EYES OF...

Eric de Wit Cello Rachel Smith Second Violin Nora just turned one a few weeks back, congratulations – she is absolutely adorable! We imagine it’s been quite the year... how have you both found the transition into parenthood?

The transition is never what one expects! First, you hit the ground running so there aren’t many moments to take stock… Our relationship with our work and practice has certainly changed.

We are playing with wooden blocks at home far more than playing our instruments at the moment… one learns to become very economical with the practice, that’s for sure. We both wonder what on earth we did with our time before!

It’s a pity babies don’t grasp the concept of sleeping in on a Sunday after a late night Aberdeen concert…

Performing with the SCO requires a lot of travelling, how do you manage to balance responsibilities?

And how do you decide who plays what concerts?

We’ve been lucky in a few respects – firstly that our job is quite flexible and we are mostly able to share the caring for Nora between us. We have a lot of diary sessions to figure out the whole administration aspect of who’s playing what and who’s staying home. Secondly, there are concerts we’d both like to do. Let’s just say Oma and Opa have increased their shares in KLM. It’s been

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great to share a lot of experiences with other newparent-colleagues Phil and Felix. And impending new mother Emily!

Having two incredibly musical parents, we’re guessing Nora is exposed to a lot of music... Does she have any particular favourites?

There’s one piece Nora must know quite well – we were playing it a lot up until the week before she was due as well as when she was a few months old – Mozart’s epic Divertimento for string trio...

Hopefully she still enjoys it! Her first experience of listening to music (outside the womb) was when she was just a few days old, she was restless and we played her David Watkin’s solo Bach CD. It was magical – she went quiet and was transfixed for ages

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HEAR US IN CONCERT DATE Thursday 8 June Friday 9 June Saturday 10 June Thursday 15 June Thursday 22 June Friday 23 June Saturday 24 June Tuesday 27 June Wednesday 28 June Thursday 29 June Sunday 2 July Thursday 20 July Friday 21 July Saturday 22 July Thursday 27 July Friday 28 July Saturday 29 July Wednesday 13 September Thursday 14 September Friday 15 September Saturday 16 September

ORCHESTRA FULL FULL FULL CHORUS FULL FULL FULL Winds Winds Winds Strings Strings Strings Strings FULL FULL FULL FULL FULL FULL FULL

SUMMER TOUR DATES 2017 ––––––

VENUE 1. Callander 2. Thurso 3. Findhorn 4. Edinburgh 5. Greenock 6. Langholm 7. Blair Castle 8. Fyvie Castle 9. Banchory 10. East Neuk Festival 10. East Neuk Festival 11. Shetland 12. Shetland 13. Shetland 14. Stirling Castle 15. Fraserburgh 16. Cults 17. Strathpeffer 18. St Andrews 19. Selkirk 20. Linlithgow

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For full tour and ticket information visit www.sco.org.uk SCO News May 2017 FINAL.indd 24

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