Orchestras & Opera Houses
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Formed in 1935, initially based in Edinburgh, then at Broadcasting House, Glasgow, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra has been based at Glasgow’s City Halls since 2006. The BBC SSO is Scotland’s national broadcasting orchestra and performs throughout Scotland, the UK and abroad, most recently touring to Vienna, Salzburg, Tokyo and Osaka (for the inaugural BBC Proms Japan). It maintain
Formed in 1935, initially based in Edinburgh, then at Broadcasting House, Glasgow, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra has been based at Glasgow’s City Halls since 2006. The BBC SSO is Scotland’s national broadcasting orchestra and performs throughout Scotland, the UK and abroad, most recently touring to Vienna, Salzburg, Tokyo and Osaka (for the inaugural BBC Proms Japan). It maintains a busy schedule of broadcasts for BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Television.
It is Scotland’s leading champion of new music and has established strong links with local communities through its thriving learning and engagement programme. It is a partner in ‘Big Noise’, Scotland’s project for social change through music; it plays a major role in the BBC’s Ten Pieces initiative; and has a close association with the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, working across a variety of disciplines with conductors, composers, soloists and orchestral players. Working alongside Associate Artist Lucy Drever, the BBC SSO shares its passion for music in a wide range of settings including families with young children; pupils attending Primary, Secondary and Additional Support Needs schools; and local communities around Scotland.
The orchestra appears regularly at the BBC Proms and the Edinburgh International Festival and is a recipient of a Royal Philharmonic Society Award and of four Gramophone Awards.
Ryan Wigglesworth began his tenure as Chief Conductor in September 2022. One of the foremost composer-conductors of his generation, he has directed a wide range of repertoire with the BBC SSO, including a UK premiere from the orchestra’s Composer-in-Association, Hans Abrahamsen, and works by Olivier Messiaen to mark 30 years since the composer’s death. At the 2023 BBC Proms, Wigglesworth conducted Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and the UK premiere of György Kurtág’s opera Endgame.