History
The BBC opened its Edinburgh studio in 1930, and decided to form its own full-time Scottish orchestra to complement BBC orchestras already established in London, Manchester and Wales. The BBC Scottish Orchestra was established as Scotland's first full-time orchestra on 1 December 1935 by the BBC's first head of music in Scotland, composer and conductor Ian Whyte.
In 1938, the orchestra moved into its purpose-built home at Studio One, in the newly opened Glasgow Studios, at Broadcasting House in Queen Margaret Drive. The newly formed Scottish Variety Orchestra (which became the BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra in 1967) occupied Studio Two.
As one of the BBC's many ensembles, the orchestra led a busy though sheltered life, broadcasting live at least five times a week from its studio and only occasionally allowed out. Throughout the war, the orchestra fulfilled 30 hours of broadcasts per week on the BBC Home and World Services. This meant live performances at any time of day or night, often broadcasting live to Latin America at half past one in the morning.
By the end of the war, during which the orchestra had been expanded in numbers, Whyte had brought it to a standard considered good enough for the newly established Edinburgh Festival, at which the orchestra has appeared regularly since 1948.
Through the 1950s and 1960s, live studio broadcasting still dominated the orchestra's schedule, and there was little time in its schedule for public performances. This situation changed after Norman Del Mar's advent as Principal Conductor in 1960. He led the BBC Scottish Orchestra's first visit to The Proms in 1962, and through his efforts the orchestra was further expanded, which led to a change of its title to the "BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra" the following year. Del Mar's earliest projects included the UK premiere of Stockhausen's Gruppen , performed jointly in Glasgow with the Scottish National Orchestra, and it was his interest in contemporary music that laid the foundation for the BBC SSO's long-standing commitment to new work. The BBC SSO has continued to perform the work of Scottish composers in Scotland and at The Proms, such as the 1990 Premiere of James MacMillan's The Confession of Isobel Gowdie .
The last twenty years has seen the gradual emergence of the BBC SSO as a fully fledged 'public' orchestra, with foreign touring, commercial recordings and concerts all over the world consolidating its position as one of the cornerstones of Scottish musical life. The BBC SSO appears annually in such festivals as the BBC Proms, the Edinburgh International Festival, the Cheltenham, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and the St Magnus Festival in Orkney. At the beginning of January 2006, the BBC SSO moved from Broadcasting House, Glasgow to the fully refurbished City Halls in Glasgow.
From 2003 to 2009, the orchestra's Chief Conductor was Israeli-born Ilan Volkov, the youngest-ever chief conductor of any BBC orchestra. [2] In October 2007, the orchestra announced the appointment of Edinburgh born Donald Runnicles as its Chief Conductor in September 2009. [3] [4] Volkov took the title of principal guest conductor BBC SSO as of the 2009–2010 season, in parallel with the advent of Runnicles as chief conductor. [5] In September 2011, the BBC SSO announced the extension of Runnicles' contract as chief conductor through 2015. [6] In October 2014, the BBC SSO reported the scheduled conclusion of Runnicles' tenure as chief conductor in September 2016, at which time he took the title of conductor emeritus with the orchestra. [7]
In March 2015, the orchestra announced the appointment of Thomas Dausgaard as its 11th chief conductor, effective with the 2016–2017 season. [8] [9] [10] In January 2018, the BBC SSO announced the extension of Dausgaard's contract as chief conductor through the 2021–2022 season. [11] Dausgaard concluded his chief conductorship of the BBC SSO at the close of the 2021–2022 season. [12] In February 2022, the BBC SSO announced the appointment of Ryan Wigglesworth as its next chief conductor, effective September 2022. [13] [14]
The Royal Philharmonic Society presented the BBC SSO with its award for Best Orchestra in 2002, and its then-chief conductor Ilan Volkov with the prize for Best Young Artist in 2004. In March 2014, the orchestra made its first trip to India, covering the cities of Chennai, Mumbai and New Delhi.
The BBC Symphony Chorus is a British amateur chorus based in London. It is the dedicated chorus for the BBC Symphony Orchestra, though it performs with other national and international orchestras.
The Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Singapore. It is Singapore's flagship orchestra. Its principal concert venue is the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. The orchestra also gives concerts at the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, and performs over 60 concerts per year. The orchestra was first established In 1978 with Choo Hoey its resident director. The orchestra's music director from 1997 to 2019 was Shui Lan, and Hans Graf its Chief Conductor from 2020 and Music Director from 2022. The SSO is part of the Singapore Symphony Group, which also manages the Singapore Symphony Choruses, the Singapore National Youth Orchestra (SNYO), the VCHpresents chamber music series, the Singapore International Piano Festival and the biennial National Piano and Violin Competition. It achieved third place in 2021 for Gramophone's Orchestra of the Year award, and made the list of the BBC Music Magazine's Top 21 Best Orchestras in the World in 2022 and 2023.
James Loughran was a Scottish conductor, the first British conductor to be appointed chief of a major German orchestra.
Thomas Dausgaard is a Danish conductor.
Sarah Frances Beamish 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 children and for her local community.
Ilan Volkov is an Israeli orchestral conductor, who has been chief conductor and guest conductor of a number of orchestras.
Sir Donald Cameron Runnicles is a Scottish conductor, known for his Romantic symphonic and operatic repertoire, especially Richard Wagner, Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss and Anton Bruckner. With a career that has spanned the USA, Germany and his native Scotland, Runnicles has served as Music Director of the San Francisco Opera, Principal Guest Conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Principal Conductor of the Orchestra of St. Luke's, Music Director of the Grand Teton Music Festival, Generalmusikdirektor of Deutsche Oper Berlin and as Chief Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. He is scheduled to serve as chief conductor-designate for the 2024–2025 season of the Dresden Philharmonic.
Martyn Charles Brabbins is a British conductor.
Jessica Cottis is an Australian-British conductor. She is currently artistic director and chief conductor of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra.
David Sawer, is a British composer of opera and choral, orchestral and chamber music.
Ryan Wigglesworth is a British composer, conductor and pianist.
Lawrence Power is a British violist, born 1977, noted both for solo performances and for chamber music with the Nash Ensemble and Leopold String Trio.
Jennifer Johnston is an English operatic mezzo-soprano. Born in Liverpool, she studied law at the University of Cambridge and worked in London chambers as a barrister before studying opera at the Royal College of Music (RCM). She is universally known as the 'Scouse Diva'.
Ian Whyte was a Scottish conductor and composer, and founder of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
Matthew Barley is an English cellist. He is best known for his performances of core classical music, improvisation, and contemporary music including electronics.
The Symphony No. 4 is the fourth symphony by the Scottish composer James MacMillan. The work was composed in celebration of the conductor Donald Runnicles's 60th birthday. It was premiered at The Proms on August 3, 2015, by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Donald Runnicles.
Shiori Usui is a composer of contemporary classical music, improvising musician and music animateur based in Scotland. She is originally from Japan.
Two Eardley Pictures is a set of two orchestral compositions written in 2016 by the Scottish composer Helen Grime. It was inspired by two works by the British artist Joan Eardley, for which the music is named. The first piece "Catterline in Winter" was commissioned by the BBC and given its world premiere by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Thomas Dausgaard as part of the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, London, on 5 August 2016. The second piece "Snow" was commissioned by the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland and also given its premiere at the Proms by the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland conducted by Ilan Volkov on 7 August 2016. Two Earley Pictures won the prize for Large Scale Work at the 2017 Scottish Awards for New Music.
