SCOTLAND’S musical talent is “extraordinary”, according to the director of one of the world’s most famous festivals.
The Irish head of Edinburgh International Festival told the Sunday National that this year’s programme was “a testimony of the creative diversity of Scottish talent” and the country’s “global cultural influence”.
Fergus Linehan (above) said musical talent in Scotland in particular was “phenomenal”.
“For a country of its size it is widely disproportionate – it is pretty extraordinary,” he said.
Along with expertise in electronic music, trad and popular music there are “at least 10” of the most important classical music soloists in the world, according to Linehan. They include violinist Nicola Benedetti, pianist Steven Osborne and mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill.
Around 400 Scottish artists will appear at the event this year, spanning classical, folk and popular music, theatre, spoken word and dance.
In a “huge” programming shift there will be more trad Scots represented than ever before. While fewer international artists will appear because of the pandemic, Linehan said the reason for the inclusion of more Scots trad musicians was the result of a decision to represent more of the genre rather than to fill up space.
“Before Covid we had decided we wanted to engage a lot more with trad Scottish music and we had a big programme for 2020 that was cancelled,” he said. “It is a big turnaround that is a huge programming shift and nothing to do with the current circumstances.”
While many of the events will be held outdoors when the festival returns in August, Linehan said he was hopeful they would pave the way for more live events.
It will be the first time many artists have performed live since the pandemic hit and the first time many members of the audience will attend a live event. Some performances will still be streamed online, potentially reaching a wider audience than normal, and live events will strictly adhere to Covid safety measures.
“We need to make sure we are incredibly careful and that everyone is safe and feels safe but we are delighted to be pioneering the return of live performance in Scotland with our programme of over 170 performances, including 21 full-length shows available online,” said Linehan.
Inverness-born fiddle player and composer Duncan Chisholm, Glasgow instrumental folk band Rura, Gaelic supergroup Daimh and all-female Scottish-English collective Kinnaris Quintet will appear at the festival. Off the back of their virtual tour in support of music venues affected by the pandemic, Glasgow band Breabach will bring their double bagpipes, Gaelic vocals and step dancing to Edinburgh, while popular instrumental trad trio Talisk promise one of their characteristically high energy productions.
FOLK quartet Fara will play fiddle-led trad-based music, with inspiration taken from the landscape, community and culture of their native Orkney. Also on the fiddle, Jenna Reid, one of Shetland’s finest and most accomplished modern-day fiddlers, will perform with pianist Harris Playfair and left-field ensemble and recent collaborators Mr McFall’s Chamber. Karine Polwart will return to the International Festival after her triumphant Scottish Songbook performance in 2018, and Scottish folk singer and songwriter Siobhan Miller will play traditional songs as part of a quartet.
Following the release of his new compilation collection Holm, multi-disciplinary artist and composer Erland Cooper will perform music from his lauded Orkney trilogy: Solan Goose, Sule Skerry and Hether Blether. Meanwhile, Glasgow-based four-piece Tide Lines will showcase their trademark anthemic folk rock, rooted firmly in the Highlands, and Edinburgh’s award-winning literary collective and arts production house Neu! Reekie! will stage one of their signature cross-culture experiences.
SAY Award winner Anna Meredith will return to Edinburgh after Five Telegrams, the outstanding 2018 International Festival opening event, to perform music from her second album FIBS. Fellow SAY Award-winning artist Kathryn Joseph also joins the bill, with haunting ballads from her debut Bones You Have Thrown Me and Blood I’ve Spilled and the acclaimed follow-up From When I Wake the Want Is.
The programme also includes West Lothian indie heroes The Snuts, whose debut album became the first by a Scottish band to top the Official Album chart in 14 years.
BENEDETTI and actor Alan Cumming will also appear and the National Theatre of Scotland, Dunedin Consort, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Royal Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Curious Seed will be represented.
International artists include Malian actress, musician and social activist Fatoumata Diawara, widely regarded as the voice of young African womanhood, who will perform her first international festival show tackling subjects such as the pain of emigration, the struggles of African women and life under the rule of religious fundamentalists. There will also be a performance by friends and collaborators Ballake Sissoko & Vincent Segal: the Malian master of the kora and the French cellist with a background in trip-hop. Another virtuoso kora player, Sona Jobarteh, from the West African Griot dynasties, joins the bill with her powerful mix of music and political activism.
General booking opens on June 11. A full line-up and information on individual concerts can be found at www.eif.co.uk/music
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