National Youth Orchestra of Scotland with Nicola Benedetti: A winning combination in Perth

Fanfares and percussion: the NYOS play an all American programme of Gershwin, Copland and welcome back NYOS alumnus Colin Currie to play Andrew Norman’s Switch.

Music from Vaughan Williams is contrasted with two pieces from Dobrinka Tabakova  in The Scottish Ensemble’s candlelit concert, Ascent. Senior NYOS strings swell the ranks to produce a reflective evening of richness and warmth.

The flagship National Youth Orchestra of Scotland delights the home crowd in a Road to the Proms concert with impressive dance from Romeo and Juliet, the complete Firebird and an astonishing performance of Tchaikovsky’s Second Piano Concerto.  

In a pioneering development, the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland have added a new orchestra to its family which now encompasses eight playing groups. There are now three orchestras providing a full development pathway for talented players aged 8 to 25, starting with the Junior Orchestra, through the new Senior Orchestra and culminating in the flagship National Youth Orchestra of Scotland.

The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra really has the perfect Wagner sound. Their full, vibrant string tone and magnificent pealing brass were fully in evidence in a thrilling rendition of the concert version of the overture from Tannhäuser. Few moments in music are as exciting as the build-up to the Big Tune in this piece, and the orchestra’s performance here was barnstorming yet perfectly accurate.