Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO)

The Royal Scottish National Orchestra is one of Europe's leading symphony orchestras. Formed in 1891 as the Scottish Orchestra, the company became the Scottish National Orchestra in 1950, and was awarded Royal Patronage by the Her Majesty the Queen in 1991. Throughout its proud history, the Orchestra has played an important part in Scotland's musical life, including performing at the opening ceremony of the Scottish Parliament building in 2004. It performs at least once a week at the Royal Concert Hall.

Stéphane Denève became Music Director in September 2005, a partnership which enjoys great acclaim, at home and abroad. In September 2010 Christian Kluxen joined the RSNO as Assistant Conductor.

Among the many renowned conductors who have held the post of Music Director over the years are Walter Susskind, Sir Alexander Gibson, Max Bruch, Sir John Barbilrolli, Neeme Järvi (who continues as Conductor Laureate), and Walter Weller and Alexander Lazarev who both hold Conductor Emeritus positions.

For choral performances the Orchestra is joined by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus, Chorus Director Timothy Dean, one of the most distinguished large symphonic choruses in Britain, and the acclaimed RSNO Junior Chorus, Chorus Director Christopher Bell.

The RSNO always attracts the world's best soloists, and among the hundreds who have appeared with the orchestra since its inception are, Daniel Barenboim, Jacqueline du Pré, Alfred Brendel, Luciano Pavarotti, Dame Felicity Lott, Marc-André Hamelin, Nicola Benedetti, Lisa Milne, Christopher Maltman, Jennifer Larmore and Frank Peter Zimmermann. Foreign tours have included trips to Spain, Germany, Austria, Croatia and Paris, Israel, Australia and Hong Kong, and the ensemble has a worldwide reputation for the quality of its recordings (over 200 of them) and has been nominated for eight Grammy awards in the last seven years. 

RSNO

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