Sir James MacMillan

MacMillan first became internationally recognised after the extraordinary success of The Confession of Isobel Gowdie at the BBC Proms in 1990. His prolific output has since been performed and broadcast around the world. His major works include percussion concerto Veni, Veni, Emmanuel, which has received close to 500 performances, a cello concerto for Mstislav Rostropovich and five symphonies. Recent major works include his Percussion Concerto No.2 for Colin Currie, Violin Concerto No.2 for Nicola Benedetti and his Symphony No.5, written for The Sixteen, which was premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2019 as part of a major feature to celebrate his 60th birthday year. Most recently, several new works for chorus and orchestra have been premiered including his Christmas Oratorio premiered by the London Philharmonic in 2021 and Timotheus, Bacchus and Cecilia, a celebration of the power of music, premiered by the Cincinnati Symphony in 2023.

MacMillan enjoys a successful career as conductor of his own music alongside a range of contemporary and standard repertoire, and is praised for the composer’s insight he brings to each score. He has conducted orchestras such as the Rotterdam Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Danish Radio Symphony, Gothenburg Symphony, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, St Louis Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, BBC Symphony, Tampere Philharmonic, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and NHK Symphony Orchestra. He was Principal Guest Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Chamber Philharmonic until 2013 and Composer/Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic until 2009.

Highlights of the 2024/25 season include the world premiere of MacMillan’s Concerto for Orchestra, co-commissioned by the London Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Auckland Philharmonia and Singapore Symphony. Other world premieres include MacMillan’s new euphonium concerto, Where the Lugar meets the Glaisnock, by David Childs and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by MacMillan; and his Duet for Horn and Piano, performed at Middle Temple Hall. Elsewhere this season, MacMillan conducts the Hungarian National Philharmonic in his Christmas Oratorio, BBC Scottish Symphony in a celebration of Cumnock Tryst composers, Minnesota Orchestra, VocalEssence’s Festival of MacMillan, BBC Singers and Tallinn Chamber Orchestra.  This year’s Stockholm Philharmonic Composer Festival is dedicated to MacMillan, including performances of his Trombone Concerto, Concerto for Orchestra, Violin Concerto No.2 and a variety of chamber works.

MacMillan founded music festival The Cumnock Tryst in October 2014, which takes place annually in his native Ayrshire. In 2024, the Festival celebrate their tenth anniversary and launch their International Summer-School for Composers, directed by MacMillan and open to young composers worldwide.

MacMillan has conducted many of his own works on disc for Chandos, BIS and BMG. A recent highlight is a series on Challenge Records, including MacMillan’s violin concerto A Deep but Dazzling Darkness and percussion concerto Veni, Veni, Emmanuel with Colin Currie and the Netherlands Radio Kamer Filharmonie. His recent release on Harmonia Mundi, conducting Britten Sinfonia in works including his Oboe Concerto, won the 2016 BBC Music Magazine Award. In 2017, The Sixteen’s recording of MacMillan’s Stabat Mater was nominated for a Gramophone Award and won the Diapason d'Or Choral Award.

MacMillan was awarded a CBE in 2004 and a Knighthood in 2015. He was appointed a Fellow of the Ivors Academy in 2024.

The works of Sir James MacMillan are published by Boosey & Hawkes.

2024/25 season / 578 words. Not to be altered without permission.