International Composer Festival with Sir James MacMillan

James MacMillan, born into a working-class family in western Scotland in 1959, composes music that combines striking emotional power with spiritual concentration. His Scottish heritage also seeps into the music. “If you’ve grown up with traditional Scottish music and dances, it’s almost inevitable that it becomes a part of you,” says MacMillan.

Ahead of the International Composer Festival, we visited James MacMillan in Scotland. Read the interview in the magazine Lyssna (in Swedish) to get to know one of the great composers of our time.

Chief Conductor Ryan Bancroft conducts the festival's opening – and Bancroft has also testified to the crucial impact that James MacMillan's music had on his choice of career. The Swedish Chamber Orchestra guest performs, and the festival concludes with chamber music. The International Composer Festival spans over 30 years of creative work.

Does James MacMillan himself have a listener in mind when he composes?

“That’s an existential question. Who is the music for, and can it communicate? But no, I don’t think of an audience, but I do have an ideal listener in mind. That listener – now, this may sound a bit arrogant – is somewhat like myself. I mean someone who is curious, who thirsts for music they don’t yet know.”