Scottish Chamber Orchestra String Ensemble

Renowned as a soloist, chamber musician and as the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s accomplished Leader, Stephanie Gonley directs the Orchestra’s brilliant string players in a wide ranging concert to delight, inspire – and probably surprise.

Schubert’s elegant but rarely performed Rondo in A shows off Gonley’s prowess as a violin soloist in its effortless, transporting melody. Elgar gave full rein to his youthful exuberance in his richly imagined Serenade for Strings, while Britten raided the music he’d written as a boy for his Simple Symphony – with results that are infectiously joyful and full of dancing energy.

US composer Arthur Foote – an almost exact contemporary of Elgar – shows similar charm, gracefulness and aching nostalgia to his British colleague, while Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson melded together jazz, dance, black folk music and classical in his pioneering music, shot through with catchy rhythms and memorable melodies.

After the concert’s travels to Britain and America, Bartók immerses us in the vibrant folk flavours of central Europe in his Romanian Dances.