A day at Cambo Estate – SCO supporters’ coach trip to the East Neuk Festival

Friday 29 June marked the day that SCO Patrons and supporters made their annual coach trip over to the East Neuk Festival to join in the festivities. Adam James, Fundraising Coordinator, accompanied the coach parties for a day at Cambo Estate. He writes...

I arrived in Glasgow at noon, ready to welcome our day-trippers and make sure everyone caught the coach. Cambo Estate is about 9 miles from St Andrews, nestled between Kingsbarn and Crail. Our journey there took about two hours, and despite the wet weather everybody was in great spirits. Even better, as we got to Cambo House the rain (momentarily) stopped and the skies cleared in perfect time for us to take our guided tour around Cambo’s beautiful gardens, famous for their snowdrops.

The guided tour led us back to Cambo House and the spectacular drawing room where we were treated to the first of the day’s concerts. This was a special treat for us: a private concert available only to members of the SCO coach party, performed by the award-winning Pure Brass - a young, vibrant brass quintet. The concert’s programme offered a wonderful and diverse repertoire enriched by personable, fun introductions by each of the players.

After our concert, we had some time to mingle and visit the Estate’s gift shop before we sat down to a tasty two-course dinner in the dining room, which offered delightful views over the gardens. After dessert (a fresh fruit pavlova) and a leisurely glass of wine, it was time to head back to the coach to be taken to Cambo Barn, East Neuk Festival’s potato barn conversion, for the day’s final concert.

The Barn Storming: Fire and Water concert was magnificent. It featured the SCO Strings with Alexander Janiczek as violin soloist and director, as well as SCO Brass with James Lowe conducting, and offered a powerful and tantalising programme. The location, acoustics and atmospheric effects all added to this exceptional concert of Barber’s Adagio for Strings, Pärt’s Arbos and Fratres for Strings and Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony in C minor Op. 110a. At moments breathtaking, with the Orchestra on top form, we really felt as if we were experiencing something truly special and unique. It finished our day with a bang!

Heading home, the coach was buzzing with praise for both the concerts, continued dinner conversations and talk of snowdrops. Another fine trip to the East Neuk Festival: can’t wait till next year!

	Adam at Cambo Barn

	The audience enjoys the concert.

If you want to make sure that you are sent information about next year’s East Neuk coach trip and any other trips organised by the SCO, please be sure to contact Adam James on 0131 478 8344 or email adam.james@sco.org.uk, and he will make sure that you are on the mailing list.

Photos © Svend Brown