Macmillan’s birthday celebrated by SCO

THE 60th birthday of Sir James Macmillan, the Scottish composer, is to be celebrated in two concerts this week.

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) will play the concerts at the Queens Hall in Edinburgh on 21 February, and at the City Halls, Glasgow, on 22 February.

The concerts will include Part’s Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten, as well as two works by Sir James: Veni, Veni Emmanuel and Seven Last Words from the

Cross.

Colin Currie will perform the percussion and Sir James will also conduct as guest conductor.

The SCO said: “The partnership between Sir James Macmillan and the SCO goes back decades and has resulted in many remarkable new works.

“None has taken the world so much by storm as the percussion concerto Veni, Veni, Emmanuel.

“It has been performed hundreds of times since its 1992 premiere and remains a thrilling experience live: a superb, celebratory highlight for this 60th Birthday Concert.

“Seven Last Words from the Cross is no less of a tour de force: a vivid, shocking and heartbreaking depiction of the crucifixion.” www.sco.org.uk