A NEW LOOK FOR CLASSICAL MUSIC

click to see SCO's project click to see Concerto Caledonia's project click to see Hebrides Ensemble's project click to see McFall's project
(click logo to jump to relevant projects and concerts)

Welcome to an exciting collaboration between four of Scotland's leading music groups.

If you've ever heard the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Hebrides Ensemble, Concerto Caledonia or Mr McFall's Chamber, you'll know that the music is superb, the playing fantastic and the programmes diverse. But now the four groups have collaborated to add a new dimension to classical music performance in Scotland, enhancing the visual presentation of the concerts to make them livelier and allow audiences to get closer to the exciting creative process of music-making.

This website will tell you about the project and give you details of the associated concerts between now and May 2004. It is currently under construction, so re-visit over the next few weeks to find out more.

Each of the four groups will use a series of concerts to experiment with new ways of presenting classical music. Some changes will be subtle, others more radical. In each case the aim is to enhance your enjoyment and understanding of the music which, of course, remains the main element and primary purpose of each concert.




click here to return to the SCO home page The Scottish Chamber Orchestra has employed a top class theatre director
to work with the players to develop their relationship with the audience.

Audiences tell us they like to see the players' own enjoyment of and commitment to the music, and this project will look at how this can be communicated more effectively. High quality lighting will also enhance the audience's focus on the orchestra. You'll see the results during the SCO's Adventurer Series of concerts and it culminates in a special performance at Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh where the architecture of the building, atmospheric lighting and the gorgeous acoustic of the kirk will be combined with an exciting programme of music from the Baltic region. Come along to see and hear the difference.

SCO ADVENTURER Series

image of promotional material for this concert H K Gruber conductor / chansonnier
Frances-Marie Uitti cello / electric cello

Programme includes H K Gruber’s Frankenstein!! and
Peter Nelson’s new Concerto for Cello and Electric Cello

GLASGOW Friday 24 October 2003 : Academy Concert Hall, RSAMD
EDINBURGH Saturday 25 October 2003 : Queen's Hall

image of promotional material for this concert Garry Walker conductor
Catherine Wyn-Rogers mezzo soprano

Programme includes Lyell Cresswell’s latest work Shadows Without Sun,
which combines music theatre, narration, mezzo voice, chamber orchestra
and recorded material to explore issues of exile, identity and belonging.
[Supported by a Scottish Arts Council Creative Scotland Award]
GLASGOW Friday 12 December 2003 : Academy Concert Hall, RSAMD
EDINBURGH Saturday 13 December 2003 : Queen's Hall

image of promotional material for this concert John Storgårds conductor
Truls Mørk cello

Programme includes the new Cello Concerto by Haflidi Hallgrimsson
alongside Grieg’s Symphony in C minor

GLASGOW Friday 23 January 2004 : Academy Concert Hall, RSAMD
EDINBURGH Saturday 24 January 2004 : Queen's Hall

photo of Jaime and Sharon Andrew Litton conductor
Jaime Laredo violin
Sharon Robinson cello

The UK premiere performances of Danielpour’s In the Arms of the Beloved
together with works by Falla, Debussy and Roussel

GLASGOW Friday 12 March 2004 : Academy Concert Hall, RSAMD
EDINBURGH Saturday 13 March 2004 : Queen's Hall

image of promotional material for this concert Olari Elts conductor
SCO Chorus

A programme of Baltic music by Part, Lindberg,Tuur and Sibelius


EDINBURGH Thursday 22 April 2004 : Greyfriars Kirk
GLASGOW Friday 23 April 2004 : St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral

Tickets:
EDINBURGH £7 - £22 (concessions available) 0131 668 2019
GLASGOW £12 (concessions available) 0141 353 8000

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click here to enter the Hebrides Ensemble web site room by David Fennessy
directed by Benjamin Twist
Come into the front room. Experience a new chamber music.
Extraordinary playing and musicality from the Hebrides Ensemble.


The Hebrides Ensemble is Scotland’s finest contemporary chamber ensemble, offering
playing and musicianship of the highest quality and programming of fascinating variety.

Continuing an interest in music-theatre, the group has commissioned Glasgow based composer David Fennessy to write a new piece that explores the theatre inherent in the chamber concert. Using sharp lighting and clever staging of the players and their instruments, this project will investigate the essence of intimate music making through a visual as well as a musical performance.

STIRLING Friday 7 November 2003, 8pm : Tolbooth
tickets: £10 (£6.50) telephone: 01786 274000

GLASGOW Sat 8 November 2003, 8pm : Centre for Contemporary Art
tickets: £10 (£8) telephone: 0141 352 4900

ABERDEEN Mon 10 November 2003, 8pm : Lemon Tree
tickets: £10 (£6.75) telephone: 01224 642230

EDINBURGH Tuesday 11 November 2003, 8pm : Queen’s Hall
tickets: £10 (£6, students £3) telephone: 0131 668 2019

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click here to enter Concerto Caledonia's web site plays early Scottish classical music
– with occasional Frank Zappa tunes and the like thrown in.


But the players with their period instruments moonlight as traditional musicians too,
with the Cape Breton fiddler David Greenberg a regular collaborator.

This project will combine the traditional with the classical on a special tour in March 2004, bringing David Greenberg together with Scottish opera star Lisa Milne. Performances will take place in traditional music haunts as well as classical venues from 9-12 March – check the website nearer the time for details.

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click here to enter Mr Mcfall's web site are no strangers to new ways of presenting music.

They collaborate with video disc jockeys, perform in venues from churches to nightclubs and have a style all of their own.
For this project they will experiment further with video during the performance, working with a video artist to create specific works to accompany specific music and making use of live video to capture music making as it happens.

Two tours are planned, including performances in Shetland, Glasgow and Edinburgh in April 2004
and a Highland tour in May 2004.

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For more details on any of these projects, contact the group direct, or:
Benjamin Twist, Project Manager on ben.twist@blueyonder.co.uk
Tel 0131 477 7425

A New Look for Classical Music
is imaginatively sponsored by

(lottery funded)


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