BBC SSO 2025/26 Season - Aberdeen, Edinburgh & Glasgow

90 YEARS OF BOLD, MUSICAL ADVENTURES

The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (BBC SSO) has announced its 90th Anniversary Season across Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow from September 2025 to May 2026.

Audiences in the concert hall and on BBC radio can expect a bumper season of big-hearted blockbusters, collaborations with the UK’s leading choirs—including the BBC Singers—and music inspired by the orchestra’s founding era and milestones across its nine decade history.

2025/26 DIGITAL SEASON BROCHURES

Glasgow brochure is available here
Aberdeen brochure is available here
Edinburgh brochure is available here

2025/26 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

• Big-hearted blockbusters by Sibelius, Tchaikovsky and Debussy, plus all three of Rachmaninov’s symphonies and Piano Concertos Nos 2 & 3
• In his fourth season as Chief Conductor, Ryan Wigglesworth conducts the BBC SSO’s 90th Anniversary Concert featuring pianist Sir Stephen Hough, the National Youth Choir of Scotland and composer Ayanna Witter-Johnson
• Delyana Lazarova begins her tenure as Principal Guest Conductor, joined by pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason for the “Everest of piano concertos”, Rachmaninov’s Third
• Conductor Emeritus Sir Donald Runnicles directs Mahler’s ‘Resurrection’ Symphony with soprano Jennifer Davis, mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill and the Edinburgh Festival Chorus
• Choral collaborations with the BBC Singers, Edinburgh Festival Chorus, National Youth Choir of Scotland and RCS Chamber Choir
• World premieres including BBC commissions by Philip Dutton and Ayanna-Witter Johnson. Plus, Ryan Wigglesworth’s own tribute to the BBC SSO’s former Leader Laura Samuel
• Classical meets Jazz at SWG3– singer/cellist and composer Ayanna-Witter Johnson joins Mercury Prize nominee Fergus McCreadie for a celebration of Scottish Jazz-Classical heroes
• Bride of Frankenstein (1935) – a landmark of Hollywood’s Golden Age lives again! The BBC SSO performs Franz Waxman’s classic score from the orchestra’s founding year
• The Music & Meditation Podcast: LIVE – the BBC’s breakthrough podcast is recorded with the BBC SSO in front of a live audience at the Old Fruitmarket
• Live broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds, with select performances also available on BBC Radio Scotland and BBC iPlayer

CELEBRATING 90 YEARS OF BBC SSO

The BBC SSO’s 90th anniversary season offers many electrifying musical experiences, taking inspiration from the orchestra’s 1935 founding and key milestones across its nine-decade history.

The orchestra performs all three of Rachmaninov’s symphonies. Ryan Wigglesworth opens his fourth season as Chief Conductor with Rachmaninov’s jazz-influence Third Symphony and pairs it with two very different journeys of the soul—Schumann’s Violin Concerto, performed by 24-year-old virtuoso Daniel Lozakovich, and Wigglesworth’s own tribute to the orchestra’s former Leader Laura Samuel, titled ‘for Laura, after Bach’.

Conductor Martyn Brabbins pairs Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony with Sir James MacMillan’s The Confession of Isobel Gowdie—a landmark BBC commission premiered at the 1990 BBC Proms. Plus, a hidden gem is revived by soloist Stephanie Gonley: a Violin Concerto by Ian Whyte, the BBC SSO’s Founder and Principal Conductor from 1946 to 1960.

There’s also a nod to composer Jean Sibelius, whose music has long shaped the orchestra’s identity—from a wartime telegram of support from the composer, to Osmo Vänskä’s revelatory 1997 symphony cycle, The Sibelius Experience. In October 2025, Ludovic Morlot returns to conduct Sibelius’s Second Symphony and pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja plays Mozart.

NEW PRINCIPAL GUEST CONDUCTOR

For her debut concerts as Principal Guest Conductor, Delyana Lazarova leads programmes in Aberdeen and Glasgow. In November 2025, pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason tackles Rachmaninov’s Third—the “Everest of piano concertos”—in a programme that also includes works by Debussy, Barber and Jessie Montgomery. Lazarova returns in March 2026 to conduct music by Tchaikovsky and Lutosławski. In Aberdeen, Esther Yoo performs Mozart’s Violin Concerto No.5, while the “vivacious” (The Scotsman) Duo Jatekok return to Glasgow for Mendelssohn’s Concerto for Two Pianos in A-Flat Major, first performed in the UK by the BBC SSO in 1967.

Delyana Lazarova says: “I'm thrilled to bring to the BBC SSO and audiences across Scotland programmes filled with music that’s deeply personal to me—some beloved and familiar, some unjustly forgotten, and others written only yesterday. My goal is to take listeners on a musical journey, weaving lesser-known works into a meaningful context so they feel not just intriguing, but essential—pieces we’ll want to return to again and again.”

BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN

Released in 1935, the classic film Bride of Frankenstein featured Franz Waxman’s iconic score, composed after his escape from the real-world terror of Nazi Germany and hailed as a defining sound of Hollywood horror. On 6 November 2025, the Bride lives again as film score expert Ben Palmer conducts the BBC SSO in a live film screening at the City Halls in Glasgow.

CHORAL COLLABORATIONS

Collaborations with the UK’s leading choirs are central to the celebrations. The BBC Singers—winner of the Royal Philharmonic Award’s Ensemble Award 2024—return to Glasgow for the 2025/26 Closing Night, performing Bruckner’s Ave Maria and the world premiere of a revised version of Ryan Wigglesworth Magnificat, sung by its dedicatee Sophie Bevan.

In March 2026, Conductor Emeritus Sir Donald Runnicles assembles the Edinburgh Festival Chorus and two world-class vocalists—soprano Jennifer Davis and mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill—for Mahler’s monumental Symphony No.2 ‘Resurrection’ at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall.

For the 90th Anniversary Concert, the National Youth Choir of Scotland and a stellar team of soloists join forces with the BBC SSO for Michael Tippett’s powerful A Child of our Time and Creative Partner Ilan Volkov is joined by the RCS Chamber Choir for a programme of French flavour, including Debussy’s Nocturnes and rare gems by Elsa Barraine and Maurice Ohana. Chief Conductor Ryan Wigglesworth also directs concert performances in Glasgow and Edinburgh of Debussy’s opera Pelléas et Mélisande, featuring first-rate soloists and the RCS Chamber Choir.

CLASSICAL MEETS JAZZ AT GLASGOW’S SWG3

On 26 April 2026, the BBC SSO performs for the first time in the Galvanizers at Glasgow’s SWG3 as singer/cellist and composer Ayanna Witter-Johnson delves into the rich interplay of jazz and classical music. Alongside Mercury Prize nominee Fergus McCreadie, Ayanna celebrates Scottish jazz legends—past and present —and explores the profound influence of jazz on her unique voice. The orchestra will also perform a BBC commission by Witter-Johnson at its 90th Anniversary Concert on 4 December, followed by a post-concert event in the Old Fruitmarket.

THE MUSIC & MEDITATION PODCAST: LIVE

For the first time, the BBC’s breakthrough The Music & Meditation Podcast will be recorded with the BBC SSO in front of a live audience at the Old Fruitmarket in Glasgow. Audiences are invited to step away from the noise of everyday life and enjoy live classical music, gentle breathwork and guided meditation with presenter Izzy Judd and Sunday Times bestselling Scottish poet and meditation guide Donna Ashworth. This event lasts approx. 75 minutes and features popular classics such as Debussy’s Clair de Lune, as well as an exclusive premiere of a BBC commission.

AFTERNOON PERFORMANCES

From the delicate hues of Japanese-inspired music to Prokofiev’s spellbinding portrayal of star-crossed lovers, each Afternoon Performance in Glasgow (Thursdays & Sundays) has a thrilling musical story to discover. A spotlight on BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists continues in the Sunday series (cellist Sterling Elliot, violinist Hana Chang and accordionist Ryan Corbett), and there are more world-class soloists on Thursday afternoons, including violist Lawrence Power, soprano Claire Booth and cellist Alban Gerhardt. In April 2026, guest conductor Elim Chan is joined by two world-class singers with an unrivalled sense of theatre—mezzo soprano Alice Coote and baritone Gábor Bretz—for Bartók’s one-act opera Bluebeard’s Castle. Music by Shostakovich and Britten complete this programme, performed in both Glasgow and Aberdeen.

CHRISTMAS CONCERTS ACROSS SCOTLAND

The BBC SSO’s festive feast of movie music, Christmas at The Movies, is back by popular demand on the weekend before Christmas. Singer Jamie MacDougall hosts performances at Glasgow’s City Halls (20 Dec) and Edinburgh’s Usher Hall (21 Dec).

The orchestra presents not one but two Christmas concerts in Glasgow in the 2025/26 Season. Like a soothing mug of hot chocolate on a chilly night, Christmas Classics is a heartwarming evening filled with yuletide carols, timeless orchestral pieces and festive classics as exhilarating as a midnight sleigh ride. Singer Jamie MacDougall also brings a sparkle to these festivities in Glasgow (18 Dec) and Aberdeen (19 Dec).

Dominic Parker, BBC SSO Director, says: “For nine decades, the red ‘on-air’ light has shone brightly over the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, guiding the orchestra since its first live radio broadcast on 3 December 1935. In this 90th anniversary season, we invite audiences to celebrate not only the orchestra’s rich musical legacy but also the vibrant community that has grown around us—from players, conductors and composers to our dedicated audiences who listen on BBC Radio 3 and Radio Scotland and in concert halls across the world. I hope that new and loyal audiences will enjoy the remarkable variety of music that is programmed across this milestone year."

The majority of concerts will be recorded for BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio Scotland with many broadcast live, and some filmed to watch for free on BBC iPlayer across the season.

2025/26 DIGITAL SEASON BROCHURES

Glasgow brochure is available here
Aberdeen brochure is available here
Edinburgh brochure is available here

Browse concerts online via "Tickets & Concerts" at the top of this webpage.

BOOKING INFORMATION

Multibuy and Single ticket booking is open in Aberdeen and Edinburgh from Thursday 17 April, 10am.

Multibuy booking for the Glasgow Thursday Night Series opened to the general public on Tuesday 22 April 2025, 10am

General booking for Glasgow (including Afternoon Performances) opens Thursday 15 May, 10am