Scotland’s internationally acclaimed orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra - who has its home at The Queen's Hall - today reveals the dynamic young conductor Maxim Emelyanychev as its next Principal Conductor.
Maxim Emelyanychev will take up the post in September 2019. During his first season – which will be announced in March 2019 – he is expected to conduct five weeks with the Orchestra.
In March this year, Scottish Chamber Orchestra audiences had a chance to see Maxim Emelyanychev in action after he stepped in at short notice to conduct the Orchestra playing Schubert’s ‘Great’ C Major Symphony and Dvořák’s Violin Concerto. The response from players, audiences and critics was unanimous in its praise.
(SCO Principal Cello Philip Higham)“Maxim Emelyanychev is truly exceptional with a brilliant mind, and has an incredibly mature understanding of not just music, but crucially, how to get a chamber orchestra of this level to use all of its very best attributes. The prospect of Maxim as Principal Conductor is hugely exciting for the SCO and I look forward to all the music-making ahead with him.”
About Maxim Emelyanychev
Now aged just 29, Maxim made his conducting debut at 12 and has since worked with many Russian and international orchestras. He is an outstanding representative of the younger generation of Russian conductors, studying conducting and and piano in Nizhny Novgorod and then with Gennady Rozhdestvensky in Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory.
His prizes include a Gramophone Award 2017, together with Joyce DiDonato and Il Pomo d’Oro, for their album In War & Peace (Warner/Erato), and the Golden Mask theatre prize as harpsichordist in a production of Le nozze di Figaro in Perm, conducted by Theodor Currentzis and recorded by Sony Classical.
About the Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Formed in 1974, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra is one of Scotland’s five National Performing Arts Companies and one of the country’s foremost cultural ambassadors.In addition to performances throughout Scotland, the SCO has toured throughout Europe, USA, the Far East and India. The Orchestra produces the Virgin Money Fireworks Concert which has closed the International Festival since 1982, and makes a significant contribution to Scottish life beyond the concert platform, working in schools, universities, hospitals, care homes, places of work and community centres through the SCO Creative Learning programme.
The 2018 Edinburgh International Festival, in which the SCO performs six concerts, marks Robin Ticciati’s final appearances as Principal Conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, a position he has held since 2009.Together, Ticciati and SCO have made successful recordings of works by Haydn, Schumann, Berlioz and Wagner.Their superb recent album of Brahms Symphonies (Linn) has been internationally acclaimed.
The Orchestra enjoys close relationships with many leading composers and has commissioned more than 150 new works, including pieces by Peter Maxwell Davies, Sir James MacMillan and SCO Associate Composer Martin Suckling.
The SCO has strong relationships with many eminent guest conductors including Principal Guest Conductor Emmanuel Krivine, Conductor Emeritus Joseph Swensen, Richard Egarr, Andrew Manze, John Storgårds and, featured in the 2018-19 Season, François Leleux.
The Scottish Chamber Orchestra receives funding from the Scottish Government.