Latest news with #EdinburghFestivalChorus
The Independent
13-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Edinburgh Festival highlights to include theatre premiere starring Brian Cox
This year's Edinburgh International Festival offers a wide range of performances across multiples genres. Featuring more than 1,700 artists from 42 countries, including 600 from Scotland, the festival line-up has something for fans of all sectors of the arts. Highlights include a world premiere of theatre production Make it Happen, based on Scotland's role in the 2008 financial crisis. It stars Brian Cox and Sandy Grierson, and was written by renowned playwright James Graham. A ballet telling the story of Mary, Queen of Scots will also feature, with choreography by Sophie Laplane which blends classicism with modernity. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, a renowned assortment of singers from around the country, which will perform the festival's opening concert as well as Vaughan Williams's Sea Symphony, Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, and Mendelssohn's Elijah. The Big Singalong will take place from the Ross Bandstand in Princes Street Gardens, and will be free to attend. It will be led by Stephen Deazley, Edinburgh's Love Music Community Choir director. Norwegian folk group Barokksolistene will return to the festival to lead The Ceilidh Sessions, an afternoon of music and storytelling inspired by Gaelic ceilidhs. There are more Polish artists at this year's festival than ever before, including a concert by the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra, and a showcase of artists from the Wroclaw Baroque Ensemble. Key operatic works include a staged Australian reimagining of Gluck's Orpheus And Eurydice, and the UK premiere of Book Of Mountains And Seas by Chinese composer Huang Ruo. For the first time, a dementia-friendly concert will feature at the festival. The performance by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in association with Alzheimer Scotland aims to allow those who have dementia to enjoy a performance in a relaxed and flexible environment. Culture Secretary Angus Robertson said: 'The Edinburgh International Festival has stood as a global celebration of the performing arts and their power to bridge cultural and national differences since 1947. 'That role is as relevant as ever, so I very much welcome the festival's commitment to affordability and accessibility in this year's programme. 'The international festival is where it all began for Edinburgh's festivals, so whether you are coming from near or far, I encourage everyone to enjoy the best of what Scotland and the world has to offer, across the genres of classical and contemporary music, dance, theatre and visual art. 'The Scottish Government's Expo fund is designed to help showcase Scottish artists and our festivals to the world, and I'm very proud to continue that support with £80,000 for this year's international festival.' Dana MacLeod, Creative Scotland's executive director of arts, communities and inclusion, said: 'Congratulations to the international festival team for this imaginative programme, which brings important conversations by world-leading artists and extraordinary creative experiences for audiences to the capital city. 'Borne out of a belief in the power of the arts to connect and provide hope in a divided world, the international festival's original ethos remains true today, with international and homegrown talent presenting stimulating work, reflecting and celebrating the world we inhabit. 'A long-time supporter, Creative Scotland is happy to have been able to confirm a funding commitment to the international festival for the next three years.'
BBC News
13-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Eight hour show to open Edinburgh International Festival
An eight-hour choral extravaganza of a universal prayer is to open the Edinburgh International Festival at the Usher Tavener's The Veil of the Temple will be performed by Edinburgh Festival Chorus, Monteverdi Choir and the National Youth Choir of highlights include opera incorporating circus performers for a fusion of music and acrobatics in Orpheus And Eurydice, and Breaking Bach - where hip-hop meets 18th-century period star Brian Cox also returns to the Scottish stage for the first time in a decade in Make It Happen - a satirical play exploring Scotland's role in the global financial crash of 2008. Cox will play pioneering Scottish economist and philosopher Adam Smith in the work by playwright James Graham. The programme this year is tied to the theme of "truth".It will see more than 1,700 artists from 42 nations, including 600 from Scotland, take to the stage in Edinburgh from 1 - 24 Ballet's Mary, Queen of Scots is a major new production from choreographer Sophie Laplane and co-creator James Bonas that draws on the complex relationship between Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I of England.A choral workshop with amateur singers is also set for the festival's closing concert, Mendelssohn's director Nicola Benedetti said the arts were in a position where they could separate fact from said: "The arts are at an advantage with a problem like that, because what we're trying to get across is that talking about truth versus when you're talking about fact." Violinist Benedetti, who was made an MBE in 2013 for her services to music and charity, said the opening show was one to said: "It's a concert that's going to be an eight-hour performance with 250 singers featuring our festival chorus, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year."There'll be an incredible exploration into the essence of truth from perspectives around the world, looking at how all religions actually speak a common, universal truth, so it's breaking down some of that disharmony."
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Edinburgh Festival highlights to include theatre premiere starring Brian Cox
This year's Edinburgh International Festival offers a wide range of performances across multiples genres. Featuring more than 1,700 artists from 42 countries, including 600 from Scotland, the festival line-up has something for fans of all sectors of the arts. Highlights include a world premiere of theatre production Make it Happen, based on Scotland's role in the 2008 financial crisis. It stars Brian Cox and Sandy Grierson, and was written by renowned playwright James Graham. A ballet telling the story of Mary, Queen of Scots will also feature, with choreography by Sophie Laplane which blends classicism with modernity. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, a renowned assortment of singers from around the country, which will perform the festival's opening concert as well as Vaughan Williams's Sea Symphony, Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, and Mendelssohn's Elijah. The Big Singalong will take place from the Ross Bandstand in Princes Street Gardens, and will be free to attend. It will be led by Stephen Deazley, Edinburgh's Love Music Community Choir director. Norwegian folk group Barokksolistene will return to the festival to lead The Ceilidh Sessions, an afternoon of music and storytelling inspired by Gaelic ceilidhs. There are more Polish artists at this year's festival than ever before, including a concert by the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra, and a showcase of artists from the Wroclaw Baroque Ensemble. Key operatic works include a staged Australian reimagining of Gluck's Orpheus And Eurydice, and the UK premiere of Book Of Mountains And Seas by Chinese composer Huang Ruo. For the first time, a dementia-friendly concert will feature at the festival. The performance by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in association with Alzheimer Scotland aims to allow those who have dementia to enjoy a performance in a relaxed and flexible environment. Culture Secretary Angus Robertson said: 'The Edinburgh International Festival has stood as a global celebration of the performing arts and their power to bridge cultural and national differences since 1947. 'That role is as relevant as ever, so I very much welcome the festival's commitment to affordability and accessibility in this year's programme. 'The international festival is where it all began for Edinburgh's festivals, so whether you are coming from near or far, I encourage everyone to enjoy the best of what Scotland and the world has to offer, across the genres of classical and contemporary music, dance, theatre and visual art. 'The Scottish Government's Expo fund is designed to help showcase Scottish artists and our festivals to the world, and I'm very proud to continue that support with £80,000 for this year's international festival.' Dana MacLeod, Creative Scotland's executive director of arts, communities and inclusion, said: 'Congratulations to the international festival team for this imaginative programme, which brings important conversations by world-leading artists and extraordinary creative experiences for audiences to the capital city. 'Borne out of a belief in the power of the arts to connect and provide hope in a divided world, the international festival's original ethos remains true today, with international and homegrown talent presenting stimulating work, reflecting and celebrating the world we inhabit. 'A long-time supporter, Creative Scotland is happy to have been able to confirm a funding commitment to the international festival for the next three years.'
