A framework for all young musicians in Scotland: I chat to conductor Catherine Larsen-Maguire, the music director of the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland

Catherine Larsen Maguire (Photo: Miguel Barreto)

The British conductor Catherine Larsen-Maguire was recently announced as the music director of the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland (NYOS), a new post that sees her leading the orchestras from 2024 for a three-year tenure. Born in Manchester and now based in Berlin, Catherine read music at Cambridge, followed by studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London and the Karajan Academy in Berlin. She turned her focus exclusively to conducting in 2012 following a successful career as a bassoonist, which included 10 years as principal at the Komische Oper Berlin.

Catherine describes the role as a fantastic opportunity for her and hopefully for the organisation. NYOS has a relatively new CEO, Kirsteen Davidson Kelly who has been in post for around 18 months, and she has been restructuring the organisation. Catherine first conducted the senior orchestra in 2017 but plans to return had to be put on hold because of COVID, then in April this year she conducted the senior orchestra in a fantastic account of Mahler's Symphony No. 7. Following these performances, Kirsteen Davidson Kelly had the idea of having someone as music director who took an overview of the whole organisation.

NYOS involves training ensembles (short, non-auditioned, summer courses for young people aged 9 to 14), the NYOS Development Orchestra (for aspiring orchestral musicians aged 11-18), NYOS LAB (a new creative project designed to explore improvised and co-created approaches to ensemble music-making), NYOS Symphony Orchestra (the flagship ensemble, for performers age 14 to 22, Grade 8+ music or equivalent) and NYOS Camerata (the showcase pre-professional chamber ensemble).