As Edinburgh’s first resident philharmonic orchestra for almost 90 years prepares to bring its first annual season to a close at the Usher Hall on Sunday 12 October, it is delighted to announce two new key supporters of the orchestra and its vision.
His Grace the Duke of Hamilton is to take the role as first Patron of the orchestra. He commented:
Edinburgh is known for its cultural heritage and diversity, which is why I am delighted to see that it now also has found its own philharmonic orchestra in Capella Edina. I commend Luis’s mission of bringing people together through music and think it is needed nowadays more than ever before and thus, am glad to have been asked to be the patron of Capella Edina.
The orchestra today also announces its Honorary President Sir Thomas Allen. The established star of opera houses around the world, commented:
I am delighted to have been asked to become Honorary President of Capella Edina. I travelled as a schoolboy to Edinburgh from County Durham, to hear concerts in the Festival in the early ‘60s. There, I still remember, I heard, Carlo Maria Giulini in the Usher Hall. Heady days, and heady experiences. Imagine the thrill of working with Maestro Giulini less than ten years later in that same hall. You can imagine then the pleasure it gives me to be associated once more with the great city and with the arrival of a new orchestra.
These new associations mark the continued development of this new orchestra and its relationship with the city and with the music sector.
Its 2026 season will be announced shortly, but audiences can catch still join the final event of Capella Edina’s first season at 3pm on Sunday 12 October in the Usher Hall.
The afternoon concert entitled Enigma presents Elgar’s famous Enigma Variations, preceded by shorter riddles including Arthur Bliss’s playful work, A Knot of Riddles with Scottish baritone Arthur Bruce joining the orchestra, and Alexandre Desplat’s evocative Suite from The Imitation Game, the haunting musical tribute to the genius of Alan Turing heard in the 2014 feature film.
Bringing more beautiful film music to the concert hall, from the same year, The Theory of Everything brought us the story of another famous scientist, Stephen Hawking with a Golden Globe winning film score by Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson, heard here in a Suite.
Capella Edina’s composer in residence, James Clay has his third work for the orchestra premiered, Afterland, a work for string orchestra, organ and timpani. It is dedicated to Alan Turing and uses God Save the King, the first music recording ever produced by a computer used by Alan Turing.
Riddles have fascinated humankind for centuries – and none more enduringly than Edward Elgar’s Enigma Variations. “The Enigma I will not explain,” he once wrote about this work which portrays friendship, love, and deep personal reflection.
From thunderous brass to intimate strings, crowned by the voice of the Usher Hall’s majestic organ Elgar’s Enigma promises an incredible finish to Capella Edina’s first season.