RCS Symphony Orchestra

The RCS Symphony Orchestra open their new academic year at The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland on Friday 23 October, with guest conductor Karen Ní Bhroin taking the podium. It's their first concert of the term, and it's already sold out.

The first half is built around a bit of secret history. Grażyna Bacewicz wrote her Overture in 1943, in secret, during the German occupation of Poland. It's a piece that comes with a story attached, and it sets the tone for the rest of the evening. The orchestra also marks ten years since the death of Peter Maxwell Davies — known to most as Max — with Orkney Wedding with Sunrise. It's performed with a solo bagpiper, a nod to the Orkney landscape where the composer lived and died.

There's a student hand on the baton too: MA conducting student Buğra Yüzügüldü conducts John Adams' Short Ride in a Fast Machine, a high-energy opener that does exactly what the title suggests. After the interval, the programme closes with Dvořák's Symphony No.8, a big, melodic work that brings the whole thing home.

It's a varied bill that moves from the hidden history of occupied Poland to the bagpipes of the Northern Isles, and then on to the wide-screen sound of Dvořák. The concert starts at 19:30 and runs for an hour and a half. Tickets range from £5 to £20, and the venue is at 100 Renfrew Street, Glasgow G2 3DB.