Showing posts with label Edinburgh International Festival. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Edinburgh International Festival. Show all posts

Tuesday 25 August 2015

EIF Music & Arts & Stories at Edinburgh International festival




Trading Stories: Walls Coming Down

Or are they? At Celtic Connections festival Glasgow certainly the orchestras mix with folk musicians. Good example Nicola Benedetti and Shetland fiddler Ali Bain, composer and accordionist Phil Cunningham along with the Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis  - composed together for Benedetti's Scottish album and the results were magnificent. Joni Mitchell cites Debussy as a big influence on her music. So we might say this is nothing new. Alex Ross (American music critic) writes that classical music for stuffed shirts is not how it should be. 

This year the new director of the EIF, Edinburgh International festival, Fergus Linehan, aims to be more inclusive and to expand the music program with more contemporary composers in the main festival.

*Wave Movements -  28th August, The Hub, Compositions from - Bryce Dessner of The National, and Richard Reed Perry of Arcade Fire. Along with the images of Hiroslu Sugimoto's 1980s seascape film. 

*Sufjan Stevens -  30th August, The Playhouse (also an oboe player)
*Franz Ferdinand & Sparks (FFS) - 24th August, Festival Theatre
*Idlewild - 17th August, Assembly Rooms
 
*Magner's Summer Nights - Ross bandstand Princes Street gardens - headlined with the Flaming Lips, Waterboys, James

*Musicians at EIBF, Edinburgh International Book festival 2015, will include talks by -
 Edwyn Collins, Tracy Thorn, Stuart David, Viv Albertine.  

PLUS - Writing Across Boundaries, 5.30 28th August , Edinburgh International book festival 2015.
*Theatre
Traverse - A Girl is a Half-formed Thing
Shakespeare in the Gardens

*Free Fringe - large scale busking!

One of the top aspects of EF is the way it embraces all the arts - enjoys challenging expectations and confronting unknown boundaries. 
Many musicians write; many painters compose; many songwriters paint (Dylan, Joni are supreme examples).  And the many ways that the different artistic expressions can compliment each other.

Perhaps festivals and Edinburgh Fringe are about the vocies of grassroots artists, where we all can have an artists voice.  

Edinburgh Festival is one of the oldest and the worlds largest gathering of all the arts.

http://www.eif.co.uk/ 

Friday 27 June 2014

Scottish Festivals ...



Scottish Festivals ...
Seek to engage, challenge, entertain and to ensure quality of standard, musicianship, writing, diversity, colour and more.


*East Neuk classical music festival 10th Edition – 27th June – 6th July   
Situated in intimate venues on the coastal villages of Fife, with German pianist Christian Zacharias and with trios, sopranos and chamber groups. This year will celebrate the 19th century Viennese composer Franz Schubert.  http://www.eastneukfestival.com/

 

*Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival – 18th – 27th July
This year with Van Morrison and Jool Holland, as well as renowned jazz artists from across the world.  Edinburgh Jazz Festival was set up in 1978 by banjo-player and guitarist, Mike Hart. Mike's initial focus was on traditional jazz and a host of events taking place for free admission in pubs. There is a Princes Street parade, The Mardi Gras in the Grassmarket and Jazz On A Summers Day in Princes Street Gardens which are free events. Regular visitors are Buddy Tate, Warren Vache, The Black Eagles Jazz Band and the Hot Antic Jazz Band. The Festival's artistic policy has been to concentrate on musical excellence (rather than the "star system") and to champion spontaneous creativity: music making on the spot in Edinburgh. These have been developed with the production of a wide range of new music, the establishment of the Edinburgh Jazz Festival Orchestra, and an on-going commitment to supporting Scottish musicians to realise creative ideas, and to link with international musicians.  http://www.edinburghjazzfestival.com/


*Edinburgh International Festival- August 2014
The Big One! The oldest arts festival.
Edinburgh buzzes for the month of August when some locals leave and others enjoy watching for the good reviews and for the next big shows.

For the visitor it is worth walking around (faster often than by bus) from the Under Belly beside George Square and the university, down past to the Royal mile where there are many shows on display (very busy at the weekends) – then down the mound worth it for the spectacular vista from Edinburgh’s castle and gardens and on past the Art galleries (where there are often packed crowds for the fire eating street performers and jugglers). Take a left turn down Princes Street and into parallel George Street and before long you see the white tents of Edinburgh’s book festival where many world famous authors descend for the two middle weeks and by contrast offers a place for reflection and more considered entertainment. .

Flyers, colour and spectacle are everywhere on the streets in a vast celebration. As the festival offers every type of arts, I find it interesting to see the crossovers between the arts. To find music such as Nile Rogers who gave a highly interesting and spontaneous talk at the book festival, with dance exploring new mediums and expression through mime, visuals and illusion such as the show Leo.

Edinburgh Fringe. 1 – 25 August. There is everything to sample here with over around 3,000 shows.
The Fringe developed from the main festival, particularly expanding into comedy, such as Cambridge footlights where many well known comedians first got their big break. Nearly any available space is used over the city.  https://www.edfringe.com/

Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) 9 – 25 August. The world’s largest book festival began in 1983 and is held at Charlotte Square, Edinburgh’s westend, with children’s events and a wide diversity of novelists, journalists, economists, scientists, poets, musicians, historians, and politicians. The festival includes debates and evening Unbound shows.  https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/

Edinburgh International Art Festival, 31 July – 31 August. http://edinburghartfestival.com/

Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) 8 – 21 August.  The main event and the world’s oldest festival. It focuses on the high brow and world class theatre, opera, dance and music. The festival is all embracing. 
http://www.eif.co.uk/ 

Thursday 4 October 2007

Edinburgh International Festival 2007

Ah how does it feel – another year has passed – and the EIF is here again. I have put in my order for warm sunny days. On a dull Tuesday I ventured rather late in the day up the High Street and I met John Kielty, writer, actor, musician, leaning in the St Giles doorway. John is now shuttling between San Francisco and Edinburgh the past year. The Martians performed their cover songs and the designer and the producer of their musical the Sundowe are there. John's lyrics in a show at the Underbelly are nominated for a Lyric Fringe award. The good news is that John is doing one of his ghost tours on Thursday evening. The Martians are so much fun!

‘INTERPOL’ gig at the Corn Exchange with Macabee supporting who were also good, although they kept us waiting an hour rudely. Very hot, sweaty venue with light coloured walls ( used to be a slaughter house!) They were powerfully dynamic and full of energy with strong harmonies and interweaving rhythms, recommend them.
The sun’s here! and the Martians busking on the High Street. This is the weather I expect for my festival visits, it makes all the difference. I went to the Andy Warhol exhibition at the mound.

I took the Ghost tour to Greyfriars Bobby’s graveyard and the Covenanters Grave where there are many buried and you can feel the passage of time. The spooky dark graveyard has inspired many writers including John and he quoted from his Sundowe musical which was about the dead rising in Edinburgh. In this dark eerie place you can feel their very presence and their lost voices. 

Friday - I went to see the play - A History of Scotland in 60 Minutes. It was highly entertaining.
I spent time at the Book Festival, which is quiet after the High Street madness. Later we took one of the rickshaws down to the Traverse theatre behind the castle! Fribo gig at the Acoustic Centre who are an innovative mix of Norwegian and Scottish traditions.

Saturday - I went to the C venue where Oxford students do their shows and I saw Out of the Blue, which was an  entertaining show.  I had lunch in the café and enjoyed the young costumed artists having fun with their shows.  I read of an Irish fiddle player who did his show ‘Around the World on 80 quid’ with no advance PR or venue. Travelling the world he got involved with drugs and ended up on a beach with no violin and thought to himself, what’s the point? Then he decided he could play anything at hand.  He played a few sold out shows in Ireland and people said to him – ‘Why not play the Edinburgh Festival?’
While there are many fun things such as the Speigel tent and more, a festival needs to evolve and Edinburgh has been going since the 40s! More streets available for new musicians to perform – say blocked of streets near Princes street with a central place to buy their cds – similar to Montreal’s Blues and Jazz festival. The sun casts late rays across the High Street blinding anyone walking towards the castle. Playing any festival is a buzz, there’s that exaggerated feel to it all and the heightened senses - the odd street performers and people of every nation brought together in a melting pot- from Australian scouts to north Americana Indians. Here’s hoping for sun and fun shows next year. See you there 2008!  THE  SUNDOWE musical plays in Eden Court Inverness Nov 2007 - before touring.