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A programme of orchestral showpieces are given the John Wilson treatment, although Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances disappoints. 

On her Proms debut, Ariane Matiakh spins tales from The Arabian Nights in two versions, along with the world premiere of a harp concerto inspired by the life of bees. 

Alpesh Chauhan and the BBCSO give a finely judged “Scottish” Symphony, Timothy Ridout plays Sally Beamish's haunting Under the Wing of the Rock and a riotous Orkney Wedding with Sunrise concludes a celebration of Scotland. 

Chloé van Soeterstède led the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in a program of three light works clustered around the Schumann A minor Cello Concerto.

A deep-dive into the world of 14th-century Persian poet, Hafez, and his influence on song across the centuries. 

The Scottish Ensemble with guitarist Sean Shibe perform a thoughtful programme of ancient and modern Christmas-themed music in a candlelit St John’s Kirk.

A fantastic score, wonderful costumes, brilliant dancing and stunning choreography coalesce beautifully in David Nixon’s magical The Little Mermaid for Northern Ballet.

Suffering, forgiveness, and natural brass in a brand new dramatic oratorio

Nestled in the alps, Musikdorf Ernen’s chamber music festival concerts recently began its annual Kammermusik Plus weeks with works that showcased some extraordinary young talents.

For the second time in a week, Birmingham Royal Ballet celebrate Shakespeare with a wonderful evening of dance.

In the penultimate Proms Chamber Music lunchtime concert, the Armida Quartett and viola player Lise Berthaud packed a intense but well-balanced programme in an hour which was like having a perfect three-course lunch.

For the silver jubilee of Ronald Brautigam’s history with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Sally Beamish composed a new piano concerto. Haydn, Mozart, and Elgar complemented the programme.

  Last-minute Beamish replacement is a treat alongside accomplished Gurney and Walton.

The Dutch National Ballet impresses with the world première of a new and large-scale production of The Tempest by resident choreographer Krzysztof Pastor. At Het Musiektheater as part of the 2014 Holland Festival. 

Can you imagine being a concertgoer in the early years of the 18th century, when Corelli, Vivaldi, Bach and Handel were all writing new music and performers were being pushed to find new ways of playing?

Scottish Ensemble, Catriona McKay and Chris Stout in a programme mixing the classical and the Celtic; the composed and the improvised; the individually crafted and the collaboratively collaged.

Britten Sinfonia provide a lunchtime chamber music treat at Wigmore Hall, with music by Sally Beamish, Witold Lutosławski, Mozart and Fauré.

Pre-concert talks need not brim with revelation to be rewarding. Another’s perspective can be enough to alter perception of a programme and resonance thereafter. Such was the case with Dr. Elaine Kelly's talk before this SCO concert entitled “The Pity of War”. Key to reflections on the relationship between war and music was diversity of approach.

The Presteigne Festival has carved out a niche amongst Welsh Festivals (or, indeed, British festivals as a whole) for its largely contemporary programme of work.

Tonight’s programme was a feast of British music, with a Britten flavour, played by the strings of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, joined by virtuosic viola player Lawrence Power, whose prowess is bringing this much-neglected solo instrument into its own.We started with the beautiful Introduction and Allegro for string quartet and string orchestra, written by Edward Elgar in 1905.

In her short introductory remarks at the evening’s outset, Sally Beamish referenced Oscar Wilde’s The Nightingale and the Rose, wherein in the redness of a rose is secured by a nightingale’s pierced heart.

The seemingly endless variety of conducting styles in existence intrigues me. This is particularly striking when one conductor displays three styles, in as many pieces, in a single concert. Joseph Swenson (Conductor Emeritus of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra) began this programme by guiding the SCO through Stravinsky's Concerto in E flat, 'Dumbarton Oaks' (1937).