BBC SSO Autumn 2021

• Joana Carneiro conducts the Opening Night of the Autumn 2021 Season, which includes 9 concerts in Glasgow and 2 in Edinburgh.

• Showcase concerts for director/soloists Jörg Widmann and François Leleux

• Ilan Volkov directs the UK Premiere of Lucia Dlugoszewski’s Abyss and Caress with jazz trumpeter Peter Evans.

• Alpesh Chauhan conducts Tchaikovsky and Schoenberg

• Guest soloists include mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill, violinists Pekka Kuusisto and Veronika Eberle, and pianists Garrick Ohlsson and Pavel Kolesnikov

The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra has announced details of its Autumn 2021 concerts for Glasgow and Edinburgh. Starting on Thursday 23 September, the orchestra will give nine concerts at its home in City Halls and two Sunday afternoon concerts at the Usher Hall.

Dominic Parker, Director, BBC SSO said: “We’re so excited to get back playing to live audiences at City Halls and the Usher Hall. If anything has become clear over the past months, it’s that our players need and want an audience more than ever. And from the messages of support we’ve received from audiences, it seems like the feeling is mutual.”

The season opens with Joana Carneiro conducting works by Sibelius and Magnus Lindberg, whose First Violin Concerto is also performed by Pekka Kuusisto in Glasgow. Other guest conductors include Yutaka Sado, Hannu Lintu, David Afkham and Martyn Brabbins. Associate Conductor Alpesh Chauhan directs Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique Symphony in the first of a double bill of Tchaikovsky’s works which sees Pavel Kolesnikov tackle the composer’s Piano Concerto No.1 in the second.

There are two concerts spotlighting the talents of a pair of remarkable wind soloists: Jörg Widmann and François Leleux. Leleux conducts works by Mendelssohn and Louise Farrenc in addition to playing his own arrangements of Mozart opera arias, while Widmann performs his calling card, Con brio and Weber’s First Clarinet Concerto before taking the reins of Schumann’s Second Symphony.

On Thursday 21 October, Principal Guest Conductor Ilan Volkov conducts an evening of music to be recorded for BBC Radio 3’s New Music Show which includes the UK Premiere of Lucia Dlugoszewski’s Abyss and Caress (1975) with New York jazz trumpeter Peter Evans. Free tickets for this recording session will be available by Thurdsay 23 September.

In order to reduce the risk of infection, seating for Glasgow and Edinburgh events this autumn will be partially-distanced with reduced capacities in each venue. Audiences will be required to wear masks as directed by current Scottish Government guidance.

Subscription packages only are now on sale for Glasgow, available at bbc.co.uk/ssosubscriptions

General booking for Glasgow opens on Thursday 2 September.

Both Edinburgh concerts are now on sale at usherhall.co.uk

We hope to announce our concerts in Aberdeen in the coming months, and details of January to May 2022 in November 2021.

The majority of listed concerts will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds, some of them live, and some will be available to watch on BBCiPlayer.