‘Musical Postcards from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’ has been a welcome online concert series at a time when the orchestra would normally have been travelling around the country on their summer tour. Launched on June 18 on YouTube, the orchestra promised to connect with communities across Scotland despite not being able to get back on the road quite yet, with a new performance posted on the SCO YouTube channel and Facebook page every Friday at 1pm: ‘For over 40 years, our Scottish Summer Tours have long been a highlight for everyone at the SCO … This summer, we will be sending out a series of musical postcards from our players to you … coming from iconic locations across Scotland.’

And they’ve fulfilled their promise. First off, on June 25, we had sub-principal cellist Su-a Lee at The Kelpies – two, 30-metre-high horse head sculptures – in Helix Park, performing Ae Fond Kiss by Robert Burns, in an arrangement to the Scottish folk song by the late cellist and former SCO member Kevin McCrae. Then we had violinist Aisling O’Dea at Stirling Castle, performing The Edinburgh Minuet by William McGibbon. Next up were cellist Donnie Gillan and viola player Steve King, who visited the harbour at North Berwick to perform the traditional Irish folk song My Lagan Love in an arrangement by King. Violinist Rachel Spencer then played, in the splendid setting of Dunfermline Abbey, a transcription of ‘Os mutorum’ from the Inchcolm Antiphoner – one of the only surviving pieces of Celtic plainchant, and possibly sung at the Abbey in the 14th century.

The penultimate Musical Postcard came from Edinburgh Castle, courtesy of principal double bass player Nikita Naumov who played David Heyes’s A Postcard for Teppo. And finally, to bring the series to an end, principal timpanist Louise Goodwin and sub-principal bassoonist Alison Green visited the V&A in Dundee. Accompanied by a mini drumkit setup, Green ‘unleashed her inner rockstar’, as Goodwin described it, to perform music by percussionist and composer Gene Koshinski – a fun, uplifting finale to a series that has brought so much joy to so many.

For more information, and to watch all the videos, visit sco.org.uk/postcards and youtube.com