Symphonic Pride: We Have Always Been Here with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

Symphonic Pride: We Have Always Been Here

with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

A joyful, feel-everything celebration of LGBTQ+ artists from Tchaikovsky to Chappell Roan

Leonard Bernstein   Overture to ‘On the Town’ (1945) (c.6 mins)

Elena Kats-Chernin   Rainbow Promise (2025) (c.7 mins)

Francis Poulenc   Sinfonietta (1947) (c.29 mins)

interval (20 minutes)

Jennifer Higdon   blue cathedral (2000) (c.16 mins)

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky   Selections from ‘Swan Lake’ (1876) (c.25 mins)

Chappell Roan   Pink Pony Club, arranged for orchestra (2020) (c.4 mins)

Jessica Cottis conductor

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

Just days after Glasgow Pride March, the BBC SSO presents Symphonic Pride: We Have Always Been Here, a joyful, feel-everything celebration of LGBTQ+ artists whose creativity has shaped orchestral music across the centuries.

From the pulse-raising Romantic intensity of Tchaikovsky to a full-orchestra ‘Pink Pony Club’ moment, it's a ride through big feelings, bigger personalities, and unapologetically expressive symphonic music.

At the concert's heart is Tchaikovsky's ‘Swan Lake’ — arguably the most famous ballet score ever written — whose themes of hidden identity and impossible love continue to resonate with the LGBTQ+ community today. Its reach extends far beyond the stage: from the emotionally charged finale of ‘Billy Elliot’ (2000) to Matthew Bourne's groundbreaking all-male reinterpretation that reshaped expectations of gender in dance.

Three sailors, 24 hours and a city in full swing: the concert kicks off with Bernstein’s On the Town, bursting with energy, attitude and unmistakable New York swagger. Created by a celebrated team of collaborators (including West Side Story director and choreographer Jerome Robbins), it remains one of America’s great musicals — a vibrant celebration of youth, desire and living in the moment.

The BBC SSO gives the UK premiere of Elena Kats-Chernin's ‘Rainbow Promise’ — recently commissioned by BBC Radio 3 and celebrating the legalisation of same-sex marriage in the UK in 2013 — capturing, in the composer's words, "pure celebration and joy". Poulenc's ‘Sinfonietta’ brings irresistible charm and mischief from a composer once described as "half monk, half rascal", while Jennifer Higdon's ‘blue cathedral’ offers a soaring meditation on potential and journey, transporting audiences through a glass cathedral in the sky.

And rounding things off? Chappell Roan's ‘Pink Pony Club’, reimagined for full symphony orchestra. Glittery, euphoric, and completely over the top… exactly as it should be!

Recorded for future broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland and presented by Grant Stott.