BBC SSO at Edinburgh International Festival 2026 EIF: Brass Fanfare - A Tribute to John Wallace

Join brass players from across Scotland in tribute to inspirational trumpeter, composer and educator John Wallace.

Brass players from three of Scotland’s top orchestras join forces with The Wallace Collection ensemble, as well as young players from RCS Junior Conservatoire and StAMP, in tribute to late Scottish trumpeter John Wallace.

Dedicating his life to music education, Wallace was principal of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland for 12 years. He advocated for free instrumental tuition across Scotland, while continuing to perform in The Wallace Collection, which he founded in 1986.

The concert includes two movements from his Symphony for Brass Band. In this large-scale work – fifty years in the making – Wallace pays tribute to the landscape and history of his native Fife and some of the memorable characters he encountered there.

Also on the programme is Elgar Howarth’s brilliant 1977 arrangement for brass and percussion of Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Mussorgsky based each movement on an artwork by his friend Viktor Hartmann, vividly depicting both real and fairytale subjects from a bustling French market to the imposing Great Gate of Kyiv.

Enjoy this concert from the comfort of a beanbag in the Stalls or opt for a seat in the Grand Circle.