A great concert on Monday!

Well done everyone for a great performance on Monday! I think this must surely have been one of our most successful concerts. Several of us felt that we really raised our game for the occasion, and played all three works better than we had ever done.

 We were delighted to welcome Rosie Townhill as our guest soloist and are grateful to her for taking time off from her busy life as a professional cellist to play with us. For me it was a particularly lovely experience for us to accompany Rosie in her beautiful rendition of Kol Nidrei.

We had the largest audience ever – estimated to be between 80 and 100 guests. Present in the audience was Thursa Sanderson, the CEO of Drake Music Scotland, who agreed to speak briefly about the Charity and the wonderful work they do with disabled people. Her words inspired our audience to donate a total of £323.50, the highest sum we have ever raised for any of our chosen charities! Of course I like to think that the quality of our playing may also have contributed to their generosity! Many thanks to everyone who helped with setting up and clearing away after the concert, and generally making sure the afternoon ran smoothly. 

I hope you all have a lovely summer break wherever you spend it, perhaps enjoying more Schumann and Bruch at some of the forthcoming musical events here in Edinburgh and further afield. I would like to express my thanks to our conductor Vaughan Townhill for the immense amount of hard work he has put in over the past year into making this concert and the two previous ones so successful. I hope he is now enjoying a well deserved rest!

Rehearsals resume in September when we tackle our new programme of Sibelius, Butterworth, and more . We meet again on Monday 14th – I  look forward to seeing you there!

As ever we’re keen to recruit new members – particularly strings. If you are interested in joining us, do please get in touch using our contact form here join us . It would be lovely to have you with us.

Sheila Barker

Chair

Southside Community Orchestra’s Summer Concert will be held on Monday 15th June 2026 at 2:30pm at the Southside Community Centre on Nicolson Street, Edinburgh EH8 9ER. The concert will feature music from Robert and Clara Schumann. Also Kol Nidrei by Max Bruch with Rosie Townhill as our cello soloist.

Admission is free, with a collection for Drake Music Group.

Tea and coffee provided. Join us to hear this amazing concert. All welcome.

We had a very successful spring concert on 23rd March. Following the Prelude and Mazurka from Coppelia by Delibes, the centre piece of our programme was The Land of the Mountain and the Flood by Hamish McCunn, which was very well received by our enthusiastic audience. They also enjoyed the more contemporary Edinburgh Suite by another Scottish composer, Tom Cunningham, with its bluesy style and references to local landmarks such as Arthur Seat and the Meadows. Once again our audience gave generously to our chosen charity, Drake Music, raising over £200 for this worthwhile cause.

Our Spring concert will be on Monday 23rd March 2026 at 2:30pm in Southside Community Centre, Nicolson Street, EH8 9ER. This March we are playing Delibes Prelude and Muzurka from Coppelia; MacCunn The Land of the Mountain and the Flood; and Cunningham Edinburgh Suite.

Thanks to all who attended our Christmas concert.   You obviously loved our playing judging not only from the enthusiastic applause but also your generosity to Drake Music. We collected a total of £241 for the charity, the highest sum raised of our last 4 concerts.  Thank you to everyone who contributed.

Our Christmas Concert will be on Monday 8th December 2025 at 2:30pm in the Southside Community Centre, Nicolson Street, EH8 9ER. This year we are playing Haydn Symphony No 101 “The Clock”; Humperdinck Overture to Hansel and Gretel; and a selection of Christmas Carols.

Admission is free and all are welcome.

Announcing our programme for the Autumn term:

• Haydn: Symphony No 101 “The Clock”
  
• Humperdinck: Overture to Hansel and Gretel

Rehearsals start on Monday 15th September 2025, 1:45 to 3:45 pm in The Southside Community Centre, 117 Nicolson Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9ER.

If you’d like to join us, please get in touch here