In March ’02 Mr McFall’s Chamber performed a mixed programme, again in the Queens Hall, which included premieres of new works by Phil Bancroft (the programme also featured his brother Tom on drums), and Matilda Brown. The programme also included two sequences of animations by students from Edinburgh College of Art with live musical accompaniment played and composed by members of Mr McFall’s Chamber (see Times review).

In May Mr McFall’s Chamber were featured on Morning Performance on Radio 3, as part of a week of programmes focusing on the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and its splinter groups. The broadcasts included pieces recorded on Mull by the string quartet from Mr McFalls - recordings of pieces written by teenagers there under the direction of composer-in-residence Karen Wimhurst - as well as pieces from a recorded concert on April 22nd.

June saw McFall returning to the West End Festival in Glasgow.

In October ’02 the group gave the British premiere of Giya Kancheli’s “Exil” with Susan Hamilton, soprano, as part of the Edinburgh Contemporary Arts Trust season, and as part of the Dialogues Festival. They gave further performances for Dialogues, and at the Arches in Glasgow, and the Bongo Club in Edinburgh.

In January ’03 they featured in a South Bank Show on ITV about the composer James MacMillan, and in February gave a Radio 3 lunchtime concert of music by Astor Piazzolla.

In February also they gave the world premiere of Cecilia McDowall’s “Dance The Dark Streets”, and of Matilda Brown’s “Awake In Shadows”, and collaborated with video artist John McGeoch of Arts In Motion in concerts at the Queens Hall, Edinburgh, and at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow.

In September ’03 the group toured the Highlands for two weeks with memorable concerts in Tobermory, Cromarty, Inverness, Aultbea and Findhorn, winding up with two performances for the Wester Ross festival in Ullapool and Applecross.

In March ’04 the group were in residence in Shetland, touring schools and performing in the Garrison Theatre, courtesy of the Islesburgh Trust the the Shetland Arts Trust. Three new works by Matilda Brown were premiered, along with new paintings by Colin Lawson which were skilfully projected by video artist John McGeoch during the show. Other highlights were Max Martin on clarinet in Eddied Daniel’s “Solfeggietto Metamorphosis”, as well as a wonderfull new arrangement of John Taylor’s “Rosslyn” by Ian Gardiner, which featured, in particular, Alison Mitchell, our guest flautist. This programme was repeated in the Cottier Theatre, Glasgow, on April 4th and in the Queens Hall on April 5th.

In May Mr McFall’s Chamber toured with Phil Bancroft, Phil Alexander and Chick Lyall, performing a number of new works by these three. The tour finished with a performance at the Queens Hall. The tour featured, again, video work by John McGeoch and Arts In Motion.

In June the group performed at the St Magnus Festival on Orkney, where they gave three programmes – firstly Ken Dempster’s “Peer Gynt”, a community opera; secondly Giya Kancheli’s “Exil” with Susan Hamilton, soprano; and lastly a mixed programme of Piazzolla, King Crimson, Weather Report etc.

In March ’05 the group were resident at Dartington College in Devon for three days, and then played at Bush Hall, Shepherd’s Bush, London and in Saffron Walden. See “reviews” for reviews of the Bush Hall gig. In April the group repeated the programme (which included the premiere of a piece the group commissioned from Scottish composer Ken Dempster) at the Arches, Glasgow, and the Bongo Club, Edinburgh.

In August ’05 the group gave a late-night DVD launch performance at the Queens Hall as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. This was largely a regathering of those who had performed with us in the spring of ’04, and of the material which features on the DVD “Live at the Queens Hall”. Also the group performed a Tippett centenary concert with the Dunedin Consort in St Mary’s Cathedral.

January ’06 saw the group perform a set of music by Martyn Bennett at Celtic Connections – a performance which they repeated in the Queens Hall in October ’06. This included Martyn Bennett’s rediscovered “Piece for String Quartet, percussion and Scottish Smallpipes in C”.

May ’06 saw a performance at the Bongo Club as part of a revived “None Of The Above” series. This featured Taylor Wilson in songs from Jacques Brel, Kurt Weill, Goldfrapp and Cole Porter, as well as a number of instrumental items by Latin American composers – including a number from Cuba.

October, as well as the Martyn Bennett concert at the Queens Hall mentioned above, saw the quartet accompanying Michael Marra at the last ever Bongo Club “None Of The Above” (see review)