We welcome three outstanding and vividly contrasting ensembles to the 2025 International Festival. Taking up residency during the Festival run in August, these ensembles offer us in-depth and unique perspectives on the inner workings of their collective sound and ambitions. Residencies make time and space for the ensembles to deepen their connection with Edinburgh’s communities – from primary school pupils to our homegrown rising stars.  

The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), founded in 1904 as a pioneer in musician-led ensembles, takes the stage at the Festival for the first time with their new Chief Conductor, Sir Antonio Pappano. Expect performances that pushes the boundaries of orchestral brilliance.

Their residency begins with Beethoven & Shostakovich, a concert co-presented by Festival Director Nicola Bendetti and Pappano. Benedetti and Pappano introduce two monumental symphonies by composers reckoning with mortality and the world around them.  

Then, celebrated soloists Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha and Will Liverman join forces with LSO to perform Ralph Vaughan Williams’s majestic A Sea Symphony. In a programme of striking visions of the 20th century, the LSO also performs Elizabeth Maconchy’s dreamlike Nocturne for Orchestra and Erich Korngold's Violin Concerto, inspired by 1930s Hollywood.  

To round off their residency, Pappano shares his love for Giacomo Puccini’s most heartfelt opera, Suor Angelica. Performed in concert, the opera follows the story of Sister Angelica, whose search for peace is troubled by her past.  

Supported by Edinburgh International Festival Endowment Fund