Music: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, Op. 64
I. Andante- Allegro con anima
II. Andante cantabile con alcuna licenza
III. Valse: Allegro moderato

Conductor: Thomas Søndergård
Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård is the Music Director of the Minnesota Orchestra, as well as the Music Director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, following six seasons as their Principal Guest Conductor. Between 2012 and 2018, he served as Principal Conductor of BBC National Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW), after stepping down as Principal Conductor and Musical Advisor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra.

He has appeared with many notable orchestras in leading European centres, such as Berlin (including Berliner Philharmoniker, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin), Munich (Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunk), Zurich (Tonhalle Orchester Zurich), Leipzig (Gewandhausorchester), Paris (Orchestre National de France), London (London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, London Symphony and Philharmonia Orchestra), Amsterdam and Rotterdam (Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic) and is a familiar figure in Scandinavia, with such orchestras as Oslo Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony, Danish National Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony, Finnish Radio Symphony and Helsinki Philharmonic. North American appearances to date have included the symphony orchestras of New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Baltimore, St Louis, Toronto, Atlanta, Montreal, Vancouver, Houston and Seattle. He has also made highly successful tours to China, Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

With the Minnesota Orchestra in 2025/26, Thomas leads a diverse range of programmes, including the continuation of their Nordic Composers Festival and projects with leading soloists such as Joyce DiDonato, Yo-Yo Ma & Kirill Gerstein. In addition to their Scotland series and recording projects, highlights with the RSNO include leading the closing concert of the 2025 Edinburgh International Festival and extensive tours of Europe & China. Guest conducting for this season will include returns to the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Philharmonia Orchestra, Danish National Symphony, Finnish Radio Symphony & Oslo Philharmonic, alongside debuting with the Orquestra Sinfònica de Barcelona. Thomas will also sit on the jury of the 2025 London Symphony Orchestra Donatella Flick Conducting Competition.

Violinist: Siqing Lu
Siqing Lu is one of the foremost and influential Chinese violinists today. As the first Asian violinist to win the esteemed International Paganini Violin Competition, Mr. Lu performs regularly worldwide with major orchestras and leading conductors, and regularly gives recitals and appears with the China Trio which he founded in 2011 on the world’s great concert stages and at the most prestigious festivals.

Highlights of recent years including being honored as Artistic Ambassador of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, as well as being appointed the first Chinese soloist-in-residence of MSO for the 2019-2020 season. Performances as guest soloist with the NCPA Orchestra at the Abu Dhabi Music Festival, the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra at the Bangkok International Dance and Music Festival, the China National Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House, as well as the Qingdao Symphony Orchestra on their first ever South American tour. In addition, Mr. Lu’s acclaimed recital series, The Legend of Magic Bow: Siqing Lu Violin Recital, has taken him to over a hundred cities throughout China and around the world.

Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Awarded royal patronage by Her Late Majesty The Queen in 1977, its special status in the UK’s cultural life was cemented in 2007 when it was recognised as one of Scotland’s five National Performing Companies, supported by the Scottish Government.

Led by Music Director Thomas Søndergård, 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 tours internationally, most recently visiting China and Europe.

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. In recent years, the RSNO has cultivated an international reputation for world-class film, television and videogame soundtrack recording. The Orchestra has recorded for BAFTA-winning series Silo (Apple TV) and worked with the likes of GRAMMY Award-winning composer Lorne Balfe on Life on Our Planet (Netflix). Other notable titles include Nuremberg (Sony Pictures), Now You See Me: Now You Don’t (Lionsgate), Horizon: An American Saga (Warner Bros) and Star Wars Outlaws (Ubisoft). The Orchestra records at its bespoke in-house facility in Glasgow. 

The RSNO believes that music can enrich lives and aims to inspire, educate and entertain people throughout Scotland and beyond with its performances, recordings and engagement programmes. Supporting schools, families, young professionals and wider communities, the RSNO delivers high quality initiatives for all ages and abilities. Recent additions to the RSNO’s engagement offering have included an expansion of its singing strand to encompass Chorus Academies in Dundee and Glasgow, a lunchtime Workplace Choir and a Buggy Choir, in addition to the established and highly respected RSNO Youth Choruses and RSNO Chorus. The community choruses are designed with the benefits of group singing for health and wellbeing at their core and are open to all.