Ryan Wigglesworth makes BBC Scottish SO move
English conductor to take over at Glasgow-based orchestra a er the BBC Proms
The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra has announced that Ryan Wigglesworth is to be its next chief conductor. He will begin in his new post in Glasgow in the autumn, taking over from current incumbent Thomas Dausgaard, who will be leading the ensemble through the summer and the BBC Proms season.
In appointing Wigglesworth, 42, the BBC SSO will in e ect be getting three musicians for the price of one in that, as well as being a leading conductor, he is also an acclaimed pianist and composer – in fact, in May he will be performing two of those roles when he plays Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 12 with the orchestra before conducting it in Sibelius’s Symphony No. 4. It will be by no means the first time he has collaborated with the BBC SSO, as he has conducted them on several occasions in both Glasgow and at the Aldeburgh Ferstival, and has recorded composers ranging from Mozart to Betsy Jolas with them for Radio 3 broadcasts.
‘In Ryan, the BBC SSO has found a very special conductor,’ says the orchestra’s
leader, Laura Samuel. ‘His inclusive approach to every aspect of music making is refreshing and hugely inspiring for us all.’
A former organ scholar of New College, Oxford, Wigglesworth was principal guest conductor of the Hallé Orchestra from 2015-18, and in 2019 founded the Knussen Chamber Orchestra (named a er composer Oliver Knussen) which made its debut at the BBC Proms the same year. His position at the very heart of the contemporary music scene – his recording of Birtwistle’s Night’s Black
Bird with the Hallé won the BBC Music Magazine Premiere Recording of the
Year in 2012 – makes him the ideal fit for the BBC SSO, which has earned itself a glowing reputation as a commissioner and performer of new works, not least under former chief conductor Ilan Volkov, who founded and still runs the orchestra’s Tectonics Festival at Glasgow’s City Halls.
‘I look forward to making this beautiful and vibrant city my musical home,’ says Wigglesworth about his own move to Glasgow, ‘and to connecting with all of our audiences across Scotland in the coming seasons.’
‘His inclusive approach to music making is refreshing and inspiring’