Red Note Ensemble
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Scotland's New Music Ensemble Red Note Ensemble is Scotland’s contemporary music ensemble. https://youtu.be/CKx2Xdstz9Y
We develop, perform, present and find new audiences for new music within Scotland, the UK and internationally. The ensemble was founded in 2008 by Scottish cellist Robert Irvine, and is directed by John Harris (Chief Executive and Artistic Co-Director) and Robert Irvine (Artistic Co-Director). The Ensemble performs the established classics of contemporary music, commissions new music, develops the work of new and emerging composers from around the world, and finds new spaces and new ways of performing and presenting contemporary music to attract new audiences both within Scotland and elsewhere. Red Note’s performing ensemble is drawn from the deep talent pool of Scottish new music expertise, and counts amongst its players some of the very finest performers working in the UK today. Red Note’s busy schedule comprises tours, site-specific work and cross-artform collaborations on large and small scales, locally and internationally, and a highly-developed access, engagement and participation programme. Red Note is Associate Contemporary Ensemble at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, an Associate Company of the Traverse Theatre Edinburgh, and Associate Ensemble of the sound Festival Aberdeen.
“Red Note Ensemble’s blistering account of three radical masterpieces….a magnificent achievement in dazzling venue” David Kettle, The Scotsman
“Red Note Ensemble is a Scottish success story.” Anna Picard, The Times
“Red Note Ensemble, superb Scottish specialists in the contemporary, deliver ever piece with precision and relish.” BBC Music Magazine
“(Red Note’s pianist) Simon Smith knocked off outrageously
Please contact us if you would like find out more about our work, who we are and what we do.
JUST BRING OPEN EARS.
Noisy Nights is an evening of brand new music, performed live for the very first time.
Three brilliant players, one room full of curious people and eight short pieces:
• Ynyr Pritchard ‘hauntingly delicate like a sigh’
• Alejandro Ariza ‘PITCH, PLEASE’
• Daniel Quigley ‘Bealach Mo Mhuinitr’
• Will Frampton ‘Circle Limit’
• Feargus Hetherington ‘Jackson Po***ck _ Number 18’
• Kenneth Li ‘In Semisoporem’
• Archie Wallace ‘Fractured Fragments’
• Oli Cairns ‘earthenware’
You don’t need to know what you’re listening for. You don’t need to know anything about contemporary music. Just come along and see what happens.
And if you’re feeling brave, there’s the 10-Minute Composer Challenge, where a musical idea created on the night could be brought to life by our players before the evening is over.
Noisy Nights
Drygate, Glasgow
Tuesday 29 September
7.30pm
FREE – Booking essential
Red Note is a PRS Foundation Talent Development Network Partner supported by PPL.
17/09/2026
WE CANNOT WAIT FOR THE TUBAS.
This Saturday, 100 tuba players descend on Amisfield Walled Garden for Anthony Braxton’s extraordinary Composition No. 19 (For 100 Tubas).
We’ve been talking about this one for a while. Now it’s almost time to hear what happens when 100 individual players come together as one huge, shifting musical landscape.
We’ll also be joined by four Red Note trumpeters, with the music unfolding across the garden as the evening moves towards dusk.
John Harris, Red Note Artistic Director and founder, has written about the back story of the project for The tracing how this extraordinary piece of music made its way from Anthony Braxton’s archive to Amisfield Walled Garden.
Click the link in our bio to read.
And yes, it’s SOLD OUT.
But if you’re lucky to have a ticket, we’ll see you in the garden.
Two weeks to go!
In two weeks, Almanac: Part 2 (Songflight) comes to Logie Coldstone Hall.
Here, composer Thomas Butler talks about the wider Almanac project, its connection to Scotland’s natural world, and the inspiration behind Songflight, the second work in this four-part journey through the seasons.
Expect bats, field recordings, live music, electronics and a guided bat watch with NatureScot.
Logie Coldstone Hall
Saturday 26 September, 6.45pm
£15 / £10 (FREE Under 26)
Tickets via link in bio
16/09/2026
From pipistrelle bats and many, many tubas to new composers, open calls and premieres, our autumn season takes new music into gardens, halls, pubs and unexpected places across Scotland.
Swipe through for the highlights, and come join us.
Links for tickets in our bio.
15/09/2026
From pipistrelle bats and many, many tubas to new composers, open calls and premieres, our autumn season takes new music into gardens, halls, pubs and unexpected places across Scotland.
Swipe through for the highlights, and come join us.
Links for tickets in our bio.
07/09/2026
LAST-MINUTE SPACES HAVE OPENED UP!
A few places have just become available for 100 Tubas at Lammermuir Festival.
On 19 September, 100 tuba players will fill Amisfield Walled Garden with the extraordinary sound of Anthony Braxton’s Composition No. 19 (For 100 Tubas), alongside Marco Blaauw and four trumpet players from Red Note Ensemble.
We’re delighted to be able to open up a small number of last-minute spaces for players who missed out the first time around.
CLICK THE LINK IN OUR BIO
19 September
Amisfield Walled Garden
RED NOTE FACTORY WEEKEND
17 & 18 October 2026 | Glasgow
Want to get stuck into contemporary music, improvisation and creative music-making?
Factory Weekend is a free weekend for classical musicians aged 18–28 to experiment, collaborate and develop new skills alongside Red Note musicians.
Expect:
• Improvisation + devising
• Open scores + new music
• Rhythm games + creative exercises
• Playing alongside Red Note musicians
• Discussions, advice + making your own work
• Coffee, snacks and a few new friends along the way
No previous experience in contemporary music needed. Just bring your curiosity and enthusiasm.
Open to orchestral instruments, classical guitar and saxophone. Sorry, no pianists or singers this time.
Weir Hall, Scottish Opera, Glasgow
FREE
Limited travel bursaries available for UK-based participants outside Glasgow
Apply by Wednesday 30 September, 12pm.
Apply via the link in bio.
JUST BRING OPEN EARS.
Noisy Nights is an evening of brand new music, performed live for the very first time.
Eight short pieces. Three brilliant players. One room full of curious people.
Some will be strange.
Some beautiful.
Some loud.
Some quiet.
Some might completely surprise you.
You don’t need to know what you’re listening for. You don’t need to know anything about contemporary music.
Just come along and see what happens.
And if you’re feeling brave, there’s the 10-Minute Composer Challenge, where a musical idea created on the night could be brought to life by our players before the evening is over.
Noisy Nights
📍 Drygate, Glasgow
📅 Tuesday 29 September
🕢 7.30pm
🎟️ FREE | Booking essential
Just bring open ears.
Red Note is a PRS Foundation Talent Development Network Partner supported by PPL.
Click here to claim your Sponsored Listing.
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Address
1 Summerhall Place
Edinburgh
EH91PL
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