National Youth Orchestras of Scotland appoints Catherine Larsen-Maguire as music director

The National Youth Orchestras of Scotland (NYOS) has announced that Catherine Larsen-Maguire will join the orchestras as music director. Larsen-Maguire will take up the newly created post, effective from 2024 for a three-year tenure.

Throughout her tenure, Larsen-Maguire will support the NYOS’s goal of nurturing classical youth music-making in Scotland through NYOS Engage, Ensembles and Futures. She brings to the role her experience of performing with youth ensembles and mentoring their members including players with the Young Israel Philharmonic and Young Euro Classic Ensemble.

NYOS chief executive Kirsteen Davidson Kelly said: ‘Catherine is an exceptional and forward-thinking musician whose professional experience and passion for developing young musicians gives her deep insight into working with youth orchestras. She instantly established a wonderful rapport with the NYOS Symphony Orchestra in Spring 2023, taking the orchestra beyond what seemed possible.’

Born in Manchester, Larsen-Maguire read music at Cambridge University and studied the bassoon at the Royal Academy of Music in London and the Karajan Academy in Berlin. Now based in Berlin and, after ten years as principal bassoonist at the Komische Oper Berlin, she has worked exclusively as a conductor since 2012.

Larsen-Maguire said: ‘As a young musician, I was a member of several youth orchestras, and I know how life-changing this experience can be; the music comes first, but it is about so much more than that. NYOS is a place where young instrumentalists can grow as musicians and people, and where friendships and memories that last a lifetime are created.’