At the Scottish Chamber Orchestra we learnt quite early on that there was a very, very different audience for new and challenging repertoire than for the old war-horses. Now, no one loves the old war-horses more than I do. But to do good new music, and to really try and find the pieces that will become part of the standard repertoire in some decades' time: that is really exciting for me! And, in Scotland particularly, there is an eager audience for that. Moreover we realised that the audience for that was large enough to cater to specifically. So we don't mix and match the repertoire any more.

Alongside traditional repertoire (a recent season has included a running thread about The Romantic Century featuring Brahms and Mendelssohn) the Scottish Chamber Orchestra promotes its separate contemporary concerts. The one Swensen just completed was a typical case in point:

It was an all 20^th and 21^st century programme, including works by Penderecki, Pärt, Rehnqvist and Britten. Incidentally, the Rehnqvist was a world premiere and a huge success.