SCO Chorus
The Scottish Chamber Orchestra Chorus, under the direction of Gregory Batsleer since 2009, has built a reputation as one of Scotland’s most vibrant and versatile choirs. Widely regarded as one of the finest orchestral choruses in the UK, it celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2021.
Members enjoy the unique opportunity of performing with one of the world’s leading chamber orchestras, working with international conductors including Maxim Emelyanychev, Andrew Manze, Harry Christophers, Richard Egarr, Vaclav Luks and Sir James MacMillan.
The Chorus appears regularly with the Orchestra in Scotland’s major cities. Recent concerts have covered a wide range of music including Bach Mass in B minor, Brahms Requiem, Stravinsky Mass, Haydn Creation, a rare performance of Vaughan Williams Flos Campi and the premiere of The Years by Anna Clyne, SCO Associate Composer 2019-2022. The world premiere of Sir James MacMillan’s Composed in August was a highlight of the 2023-24 Season.
The SCO Chorus also performs a capella, both digital and live, in music ranging from Thomas Tallis to new work by Anna Clyne and Jay Capperauld. Its annual Christmas concerts have established themselves as a Season highlight; the Chorus also enjoys appearing on the SCO’s Summer Tour.
Other notable out-of-Season appearances have included critically-acclaimed performances with the SCO at the BBC Proms in Handel’s Jephtha in 2019 and in Mendelssohn's Elijah in 2023. The Chorus appeared in a semi-staged performance of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the 2023 Edinburgh International Festival, resulting in an immediate re-invitation for Così fan tutte in 2024.
Our Young Singers' Programme was established in 2015 to nurture and develop aspiring young singers. It is designed for young people with a high level of choral experience and ambitions to further their singing with a world-class ensemble.
The SCO Chorus Young Singers' Programme is kindly supported by the Baird Educational Trust.
The SCO Chorus, tightly rehearsed by chorus director Gregory Batsleer, brought the whole piece to life, alert to every nuance in their beautifully enunciated text, their sound perfectly balanced and topped with a golden soprano line. A revelatory evening.
“Surely the finest choir of their size operating north of Hadrian’s Wall, renowned for their energy, their precision and sheer musical communicativeness”
MEMBERS
Sopranos
Kirstin Anderson, Naomi Black, Nancy Burns, Joanna Burns, Maria Campbell*, Morven Chisholm, Mairi Day, Joanne Dunwell, Lucy Forde, Emily Gifford, Nicola Henderson, Emily Kemp*, Katie McGlew, Jenny Nex, Ciara O'Neill*, Annike Petin, Kotryna Starkutė, Alison Williams.
Altos
Shona Banks, Dinah Bourne, Sarah Campbell, Gill Cloke, Judith Colman, Liberty Emeny, Anne Gallacher, Jennie Gardner, Claire Goodenough, Holly Gowen*, Anne Grindley, Caroline Hahn, Fiona Haldane, Lorna Htet-Khin, Melissa Humphreys, Rachel Kemp, Elaine McAdam, Elizabeth McColl, Hilde McKenna, Charlotte Perkins, Jan Raitt, Linda Ruxton.
Tenors
Matthew Andrews, Andrew Carvel, Ben Evans*, Colin French, Peter Hanman, Theodore Hill, Fraser Macdonald*, Keith Main, David Nelson, Michael Scanlon, Paul Vaughan.
Basses
Conrad Boyle*, Mathew Brown, Gavin Easton, Luke Francis*, Robin Hiley, Hugh Hillyard-Parker, Richard Hyder, Donald MacLeod, Sandy Matheson, Richard Murphy, Kenneth Murray, Douglas Nicholson, Jason Orringe, David Paterson, Fraser Riddell, Peter Silver, Stephen Todd, Roderick Wylie.
*Young Singers' Programme
SING WITH THE SCO CHORUS
The Chorus is made up of around 70 singers from all walks of life. Typically performing with around 50 singers, we meet regularly for rehearsals in central Edinburgh. To find out more, please contact our Chorus Manager.
The excerpts below are from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra & SCO Chorus'
BBC Proms 2019 performance of Handel's 'Jephtha' conducted by Richard Egarr.
Many thanks to BBC Proms and BBC Radio 3 for their permission.
YOUNG SINGERS' PROGRAMME
Our Young Singers' Programme aims to nurture and develop aspiring young singers. It is designed for young people (aged 18 - 23) with a high level of singing/choral experience and ambitions to further their singing with a world-class ensemble.
Read more here.
Watch our digital performances
Enjoy the SCO Chorus' recent digital performance of Henry Purcell's Hear My Prayer, O Lord with a BSL interpretation of the choral anthem by Zoë McWhinney. Filmed at Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh, in 2021.
The SCO Chorus have seldom sung better: their blend was rich and resonant, their rhythms crisp and bracing, their ensemble impeccable, and they paced themselves carefully across Haydn’s ever more exuberant songs of celebration. Quite simply an evening of musical joy …
“There was spirited support from the SCO Chorus too, the men in particular achieving spine-tingling beauty in the priestly choruses”
A B minor Mass to remember … the SCO Chorus on incisive form … crystal-clear enunciation and an uncanny mix of balanced blend and individual character in their voices.
This is the sort of performance The Sixteen or the Tallis Scholars – both masters of this art – would have been delighted with, and that’s no exaggeration.
Thus the concert began and ended in a cloud of harmonies, tapping into the mystery of the season, and confirming again how capable the chorus are of turning this concert into something truly magical.
... stars of the show were the SCO Chorus ... with singing that was strongly defined, expertly balanced and joyfully buoyant...
... [SCO Chorus] really does set the gold standard for ensemble singing round these parts.
This has to be one of the best performances ever from an amateur choir... No doubt this splendid group's inspirational chorus master Gregory Batsleer is partly to thank.
The SCO Chorus, trained to within an inch of their life by Gregory Batsleer, sang this music with truth and thrilling conviction.