A full orchestra is brought together every spring and autumn, with leader Lucy Cowan and a small core of professional musicians providing inspiration and support for a larger pool of around 70 amateurs drawn from all parts of the Scottish Borders as well as the Lothians, Northumbria and Cumbria.  The orchestra usually includes a number of talented teenagers sitting alongside older and more experienced musicians, including some retired professionals.

Our Spring Concert  in The Tait Hall, Kelso on Saturday 24th April brought together the whole of the SBCO community. A wonderful occasion, kindly reviewed in "The Sothern Reporter" and thoroughly enjoye by all. SBCO gratefully acknowledges the support of Scottish Borders Council for theis event.

   

 Our Autumn 2009 concert was Hawick Town Hall on Sunday 15 November at 3 pm; a concert with a Viennese theme for all the family. It  included a performance from the participants in SBCO's Tuned Percussion Course, which was led by Ben Redman at Hawick High School from September - November.

 

The Spring 2009 concert was in The Victoria Halls in Selkirk on Saturday 23 May at 7.30pm when our patron, the internationally acclaimed cellist, Steven Isserlis was the soloist for the Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1.  Under the baton of James Lowe, the concertopened with Finlandia by Sibelius and in the second half the orchestra played the Symphony No 1 by Borodin.  Tickets, priced £10 for adults, £8 for Friends of SBCO , £6 for students and children free.
SBCO is grateful to Awards for All and to SBC Community Grant Scheme - Our Scottish Borders for their generous support of this concert.


The Autumn 2008 concert was a great success.  It was held in the Volunteer Hall in Duns on Sunday 16 November 2008 and was a celebration of Scottish and Polish music.  Music included Bruch: The Scottish Fantasy with solo violinist, Anna-Liisa Bezrodny, supported by Making Music under The Philip and Dorothy Green Young Concert Artists Award;   MacCunn: Land of the Mountain and the Flood;   Geddes: Dances at Threave;   Lutoslawski: Little Suite;   Szymanowski: Etude  and Auld Lang Syne arr. Neil Butterworth.  This concert also saw the premiere of The Whistler's Ballad, a new composition by Alasdair Nicolson that was performed by the SBCO flute choirs.