Edinburgh Chamber Orchestra

Edinburgh Chamber Orchestra, established in the early 1930s, is one of the oldest amateur orchestras in Scotland. We meet every Wednesday evening in Morningside United Church, led by our conductor Alberto Massimo. We play around five concerts per year at venues around Edinburgh.

The core of the orchestra is strings only, though we regularly play concerts with brass and woodwind. Our repertoire includes chamber music standards, such as Handel's Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and Bach's Brandenburg concertos, but in recent years we have also played works by Boyce, Brahms, Chopin, Puccini and Vaughan Williams, as well as premiering work by new composers.

The social aspect of the orchestra is very important to us. Many of our members have played with us for a number of years but we are also very open to newcomers. We have players of all ages and a range of nationalities. As well as catching up during our weekly coffee breaks, we have an annual Christmas party and a summer concert at Crichton Collegiate Church with afternoon tea.

Many premiers of music for strings have been performed by the ECO as it continues to foster young musicians and composers.

We also bring live music to many rural areas.