The 30th annual Ayr Concert Series of six concerts by professional Scottish orchestras opens on Friday, October 28 at 7.30pm, when the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra returns to play in Ayr Town Hall. 

The BBC SSO will be conducted by Nicholas Carter and begin with Ravel’s Le tombeau de Couperin. Barber’s dazzling Violin Concerto follows played by Valeriy Sokolov. In the darkest hours of World War II, the 70-year old Ralph Vaughan Williams offered a vision of peace with his Fifth Symphony. 

From misty opening to visionary finish, it is expansive, eloquent and rapturously beautiful. The concert will be recorded at Ayr for later broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

The concert is arranged for South Ayrshire Council by volunteers from Ayr Arts Guild in a unique partnership between the local authority, the voluntary sector and the Scottish orchestras. 

Tickets costing: Adults £24 Circle, £20 Stalls; Students £5 Stalls; Schoolchildren £3 Stalls, are available from Ayr Gaiety Box Office, Tel: 01292 288 235, open Monday to Saturday 10am-5pm. Best value Season Tickets are currently available.

Michael Hitchon MBE, Treasurer, Ayr Arts Guild, Scottish Charity Number: SC005562.