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Maxim lead the Orchestra at the proms. The organ is visible and the backs of heads.
Maxim lead the Orchestra at the proms. The organ is visible and the backs of heads.

Scottish Chamber Orchestra

Welcome to the SCO. We have been inspiring audiences and connecting with communities since 1974, delivering diverse programmes that are open to all. Embrace the classics, discover exciting new music, and create beautiful musical memories with us!

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  1. monochrome images. Eric Lu side profile, he wears a white shirt and black blazer. Ryan Bancorft wears a jumper and is writing notes and facing the camera.

    Grieg Piano Concerto

    Edinburgh
    Glasgow
    Aberdeen
    Eric Lu brings power to the luscious Nordic melodies of Grieg’s Piano Concerto.
    Book now
  2. Andrew Manze, conducting with the baton raised high, against a vibrant background with bright and dark green tones.

    Mozart Flute Concerto

    Edinburgh
    Glasgow
    St Andrews
    Mozart’s elegant Concerto forms the centrepiece to this rich concert.
    Book now
  3. A dark background with bright green and red shapes, featuring two cartoon-like drawings of horns.

    From Scotland to Persia

    Matinee

    Edinburgh
    Glasgow
    SCO Wind Soloists are joined by exceptional players from RCS.
    Book now
  4. Against a dark, starry night sky with a large bright star on the left, two silhouettes of faces with mouths opened are tilted up as if singing to the star.

    Bach's Christmas Oratorio

    Choral

    Edinburgh
    Glasgow
    Celebrate the coming festivities with one of music’s most uplifting seasonal creations.
    Book now
  5. Violinist Aylen Pritchin stands holding his instrument, looking to the left with a smile on his face, against a dark background with bright red and green shapes.

    Prokofiev & Brahms

    Edinburgh
    Glasgow
    Aberdeen
    Prokofiev’s darkly lyrical Violin Concerto No 2 is the ideal musical match for the exceptional violinist Aylen Pritchin and conductor Maxim.
    Book now
  6. SCO clarinettists William Stafford, holding his clarinet and smiling, and Maximiliano Martín, playing the clarinet, are set against a dark background surrounded by bright red shapes.

    Eine kleine Nachtmusik

    Edinburgh
    Glasgow
    St Andrews
    Maxim Emelyanychev surrounds one of Mozart’s most-loved pieces with rarities created around the same time by Haydn, Krommer and Wranitzky.
    Book now
  7. A bright green background with light white stars, featuring a cartoon drawing of a church with an illuminated window and a bright star.

    Silent Night

    Choral

    Edinburgh
    Join the luminous voices of the SCO Chorus in the intimate setting of Greyfriars Kirk for a much-loved Edinburgh musical tradition.
    Book now
  8. A cartoon drawing of a champagne bottle with the cork popping out alongside confetti, with a chandelier hanging above, set against a dark green and bright red background.

    New Year Gala

    1 Matinee

    Edinburgh
    Ayr
    Dumfries
    Celebrate the New Year in style with musical glitz and glamour – from both sides of the Atlantic.
    Book now
  9. Violinist Rachel Podger holds her instrument, smiling at the camera, against a light pink and dark green background.

    Bach's Brandenburg Concertos

    Matinee

    Edinburgh
    Glasgow
    Aberdeen
    Join British violinist Rachel Podger in a concert focusing on some of JS Bach’s most iconic orchestral music.
    Book now
  10. Geneva Lewis with her violin, smiling at the camera against a dark background with shapes in various shades of pink.

    Sibelius Violin Concerto

    Edinburgh
    Glasgow
    SCO Conductor Emeritus Joseph Swensen directs the fiery Sibelius Violin Concerto, alongside the coolly elegant Sixth Symphony.
    Book now

6 Latest videos  

Samuel Coleridge Taylor sits on a chair. The photo is in black and white and he is in formal ware.

Coleridge-Taylor Novelletten

13:58

A colourful illustration of mozart winking.

24/25 Season Outline

8:32

A donor smiles. An older gentleman in a black sweater.

Supporting the SCO

2:37

Andrew Manze weras a blue shirt. He is mid conversation.

Principal Guest Conductor

3:09

A trombone player in an SCO tshirt kneels down and plays to a young child.

The Great Grumpy Gaboon 2024

0:47

A head shot of Cerys (Bassoon player) rehearsing as The Gaboon, pulling a silly face next to a noise clacker.

Making of The Gaboon

2:08

Latest news

  1. Composer Andrea Tarrodi leaning forward with one arm resting on a surface and her face resting on the palm of her other hand.

    Digital Season: Andrea Tarrodi Serenade in Seven Colours

    6 November 2024

    Read the programme note for our online performance of Tarrodi's Serenade in Seven Colours.
    Read More
  2. The search for Beethoven's successor

    4 November 2024

    Beethoven died in 1827. Who would be worthy to take on his mantle?
    Read More
  3. Schubert's Unfinished and other incomplete works

    1 November 2024

    Schubert is far from the only composer to have put a piece of music aside and leave it unfinished ...
    Read More
  4. Why is there so little classical Christmas music?

    28 October 2024

    Where are all the Christmas classics from the great composers?
    Read More
  5. Three men, dressed formally: one Victorian, with a short grey beard, one young and clean-shaven, in sepia, the last (in a painting) with a long grey beard and glasses

    The lure of the exotic: northern Africa in classical music

    21 October 2024

    How does the west's fascination with the wider Arab world come across in music? We look at a few examples ...
    Read More
  6. A historic photograph of Samuel Taylor-Coleridge sitting in a chair, wearing a suit.

    Digital Season: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Novelletten

    17 October 2024

    Read the programme note for our online performance of Coleridge-Taylor's Novelletten Nos 1 & 3.
    Read More
  7. André Cebrián and Marta Gómez play the flute sitting in the SCO desks

    The flute concerto

    14 October 2024

    In the third installment of our series looking at the concerto, it's the turn of the SCO flautists to recommend their favourites.
    Read More
  8. Three Swedish composers: Bellman (in the middle, in 18th century dress) is playing the cittern, with formal photographs of Berwald to his left and Atterberg to his right

    Not just Eurovision: an introduction to Swedish music

    7 October 2024

    Wherein we challenge you to think past 'Waterloo' and 'Mamma mia' ...
    Read More
  9. Ryan Bancroft: "a conversation with the leader of a Finnish orchestra changed how I heard Sibelius"

    30 September 2024

    We speak to conductor Ryan Bancroft about music from (his not quite native) Scotland and Scandinavia.
    Read More
  10. Max Mandel plays the viola, concentrating hard on the sheet music. He wears a black suit and tie.

    The viola concerto

    23 September 2024

    Our examination of the concerto continues with the viola, whose potential as a solo instrument was long unrecognised.
    Read More