Pride themed concert first by major Scottish orchestra to celebrate 'centuries of LGBTQ+ artists'

Now the first Pride-themed concert by a professional orchestra in Scotland is to be held in Glasgow by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (SSO).

Concert Symphonic Pride: We Have Always Been Here, will play a range of music from a full orchestral version of Roan's Pink Pony Club to Tchaikovsky's famous ballet score, Swan Lake, which has themes of hidden identity and “impossible love”.

Tchaikovsky’s sexuality was repressed by the Russian state, with passages of letters written by the composer referring to sexual desire for men originally deleted before publication.

The reach of the iconic ballet has been felt beyond the stage from the emotionally charged finale of Billy Elliot to Matthew Bourne’s groundbreaking, all-male reinterpretation that reshaped expectations of gender in dance.

Meanwhile, the SSO will also perform Leonard Bernstein’s overture for musical On the Town. Created by a celebrated team of collaborators, including West Side Story director and choreographer Jerome Robbins, the BBC SSO said it remains a “vibrant celebration of youth, desire and living in the moment”.

The concert will also see the UK premiere of Elena Kats-Chernin's Rainbow Promise, an expressive work commissioned for BBC Radio 3's 25 for 2025 which celebrates the legalisation of same-sex marriage in the UK in 2013. The Australian composer describes the music as capturing "pure celebration and joy”, with the occasional darker chord offering a glimpse of the historical struggle behind a hard-won milestone.

A Sinfonietta, written by composer Francis Poulenc in 1947 to mark the first anniversary of the BBC's Third Programme - now Radio 3 - will also be performed. Poulenc was considered one of the first openly gay composers in classical music.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Higdon's blue cathedral, premiered in 2000, offers a meditation on potential and the progression of journeys, as audiences are transported through a glass cathedral in the sky.

Finally, a performance of Pink Pony Club, billed as “glittery, euphoric and completely over the top”, will finish the concert.

Conductor Jessica Cottis said: “I’m so excited to be on the BBC SSO podium for this uplifting celebration of identity and belonging, and to be back in the city where I began my conducting career and first worked with this trailblazing orchestra.

“Our programme brings together familiar music heard afresh alongside powerful new compositions, each with its own inspiring story of resilience and celebration. It’s going to be bold, vibrant and impossible not to enjoy!”

The concert will take place on Wednesday 22 July at Glasgow City Halls, just days after Glasgow Pride.

It will also be broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland, presented by Grant Stott.