Royal Scottish National Orchestra & Rory MacDonald
Biography Royal Scottish National Orchestra & Rory MacDonald
Rory Macdonald
stands out as one of the most engaging British conductors of his generation, leading stylish performances of a notably wide range of operatic and symphonic repertoire.
In great demand as operatic conductor, he has conducted new productions for the Royal Opera House, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera and Royal Danish Opera amongst others. Notable highlights have included Peter Grimes (Brisbane Festival), Albert Herring (Glyndebourne), The Turn of the Screw (Vienna Konzerthaus), The Rape of Lucretia (Houston Grand Opera), Carmen (Santa Fe Opera, Canadian Opera Company), Così fan tutte, Le Nozze di Figaro (Oper Frankfurt), Fra Diavolo (Opera di Roma), A Village Romeo and Juliet (Wexford Festival) and The Cunning Little Vixen (Bergen National Opera).
Engagements recently and in seasons beyond include returns to Oper Frankfurt for Le nozze di Figaro and to the Opera Theater of Saint Louis for The Magic Flute, as well as a performance with the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra, the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie, debuts with the Philharmonia and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and a return to the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
On the concert podium highlights include the première performances of works by notable composers including Sir James Macmillan, Carl Vine, Sally Beamish and Geoffrey Gordon, as well as guest engagements with such orchestras as the Royal Concertgebouw, Oslo Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Hallé, BBC Philharmonic and BBC Scottish Symphony amongst many others.
Rory’s discography includes Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy with Nicola Benedetti (Decca), Eric Chisholm’s Piano Concertos with Danny Driver (Hyperion), The Beauty Stone by Arthur Sullivan (Chandos) and Thomas Wilson’s Third and Fourth Symphonies with the RSNO which was released in 2019 on Linn Records to critical acclaim, and similarly with symphonies No2 and 5 in 2020.
The Royal Scottish National Orchestra
is one of Europe's leading orchestras with a rich history stretching back over 125 years. It is one of Scotland's leading cultural institutions, and an orchestra with a variety of work that is almost unparalleled amongst its British peers.
Formed in 1891 as the Scottish Orchestra, the company became the Scottish National Orchestra in 1950, and was awarded Royal Patronage in 1977 by The late Queen Elizabeth II. In 2024, His Majesty The King became the Royal Scottish National Orchestra's Royal Patron.
Throughout its history, the Orchestra has played an integral part in Scotland’s musical life, including performing at the opening ceremony of the Scottish Parliament building in 2004. Many renowned conductors have contributed to its success, including George Szell, Sir John Barbirolli, Walter Susskind, Sir Alexander Gibson, Neeme Järvi, Walter Weller, Alexander Lazarev and Stéphane Denève.
The Orchestra’s artistic team is led by Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård, who was appointed RSNO Music Director in 2018, having previously held the position of Principal Guest Conductor. In March 2024, Austrian-born conductor, composer and musician Patrick Hahn became the Orchestra’s Principal Guest Conductor.
The RSNO is supported by the Scottish Government and is one of the Scottish National Performing Companies. The Orchestra performs across Scotland, including concerts in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Perth and Inverness and appears regularly at the Edinburgh International Festival and the BBC Proms. The RSNO has made recent tours to the USA, China and Europe.
The Orchestra is joined for choral performances by the RSNO Chorus, directed by Stephen Doughty. The RSNO Chorus began as a choir formed in 1843 to perform Handel’s Messiah in full for the first time in Scotland. Today, the RSNO Chorus is one of the most distinguished large symphonic choruses in Britain. The Chorus has performed nearly every work in the standard choral repertoire as well as contemporary works by renowned composers, including John Adams, Howard Shore and James MacMillan.
Formed in 1978 by Jean Kidd, the acclaimed RSNO Youth Chorus (formerly Junior Chorus), under its director Patrick Barrett, also performs regularly alongside the Orchestra. Boasting a membership of over 400 members aged 7 to 18, it has built up a considerable reputation singing under some of the world’s most distinguished conductors and appearing on radio and television.
The RSNO has a worldwide reputation for the quality of its recordings, receiving a 2020 Gramophone Classical Music Award for Chopin’s Piano Concertos (soloist: Benjamin Grosvenor), conducted by Elim Chan, two Diapason d’or awards (Denève/Roussel 2007; Denève/Debussy 2012) and eight GRAMMY Award nominations. Over 200 releases are available, including Thomas Søndergård conducting Strauss (Ein Heldenleben, Der Rosenkavalier Suite) and Prokofiev (Symphonies Nos.1 &5), two discs of African American Voices featuring the music of George Walker, William Levi Dawson, Margaret Bonds and more, conducted by Kellen Gray; the complete symphonies of Sibelius (Gibson), Prokofiev (Järvi), Bruckner (Tintner) and Roussel (Denève), as well as further discs championing the music of William Grant Still (Eisenberg), Xiaogang Ye (Serebrier) and Thomas Wilson (Macdonald).
The RSNO’s Engagement strategy, Music for Life, sees the Orchestra work with schools and community groups, connecting its music with the people of Scotland. Since March 2020, the RSNO has created multiple online Engagement programmes and Digital Seasons, ensuring the RSNO continues to bring world-class music to its audiences in Scotland and around the world on stage and on screen.
