15 May, 2009

Your Ultimate Festival Experience


Image: Gelabert Azzopardi, Photo: Outumuro.

We’re running a competition to find the Ultmate Festival Experience at Edinburgh International Festival 2009!

Submit your Ultimate Festival Experience in 500 words or less and you’ll go in the draw to win a Festival 09 prize pack comprised of two CD box-sets of Handel's 'Acis and Galatea' Bach's 'Matthew Passion' (provided by Dunedin Consort who perform as part of our Bach at Greyfrairs series), a limited edition Festival 09 Edinburgh Toile cotton bag and a pair of tickets to the music recital event of your choice at Usher Hall or Queen's Hall (subject to ticket availability).

Email your entry along with the subject heading ‘Ultimate Festival Experience’ to marketing@eif.co.uk. The best entries and the winner will be posted here on our Festival Insider Blog.

To get you started, here is an example of an Ultimate Experience at Edinburgh International Festival 2009:

“Why not start your day with some breakfast in the New Town and take a stroll through Princes St Gardens. Next, make your way to the Queen’s Hall for one of the world’s leading classical music recitals from the likes of Hopkinson Smith or the Scottish Ensemble and Tenebrae.

After the performance, explore the cobblestoned streets of the Old Town on your way to the
Collective Gallery in Cockburn Street and the Talbot Rice Gallery at the University of Edinburgh to experience our visual arts exhibition, The Enlightenments.

Next, immerse yourself in the festive buzz of the Royal Mile and admire the city skyline from the top of Castlehill. Head to
The Hub, sit outside in the sun and grab a bite to eat or a drink from the café's delicious summer menu before joining one of our Conversations with Artists or Behind the Scenes talks and workshops led by the artists and companies such as Malcolm Martineau, Andreas Staier or Scottish Ballet.

In the late afternoon, why not head to the
King’s Theatre and catch one of the plays celebrating the works of Irish playwright Brian Friel in our Gate Theatre residency? Alternatively, experience an early evening concert at the ambient Greyfriars Kirk from ensembles such as the European Union Baroque Orchestra or the Dunedin Consort.

In the early evening treat yourself to a meal of fresh Scottish produce at The Hub or one of the many gourmet restaurants around Festival venues. After that experience some of the very best drama, dance, music or opera – the choice is yours! At the
Edinburgh Festival Theatre choose from opera such as Actus Tragicus from Staatsoper Stuttgart and Admeto, re di tessaglia or contemporary dance from Gelabert-Azzopardi Companiya de Dansa. At The Edinburgh Playhouse take your pick from works including Diaspora from TheatreWorks Singapore, The Return of Ulysses from the Royal Ballet of Flanders or New Work choreographed by Michael Clark.

There are also many evening theatre shows at the
Royal Lyceum Theatre including Rona Munro’s The Last Witch and symphonic concerts and recitals at the Usher Hall including soloists such as Sir Willard White and Bryn Terfel.

If you still haven’t satisfied your Festival craving by this stage of the day, head back to
The Hub for our Caledonia Sessions, a series of performances exploring the musical scene in Scotland in the 18th Century, and then have a pint of ale or a wee whiskey at a thriving Festival venue such as the Traverse Theatre.

Finally, collapse into bed and have sweet dreams about your Ultimate Festival Experience. Then wake up early and do it all again – the possibilities are endless!”

14 May, 2009

Festival artist award winners



Sir Charles Mackerras received the 2009 Critics' Award at the prestigious Classical BRIT Awards for his recording of Mozart Symphonies 38 - 41 with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Charles Mackerras will be conducting the SCO at Festival 09 on 26 August at the Usher Hall. For more info on the Classical BRIT award winners, click here.

Festival 08 conductor Valery Gergiev and soprano Susan Bullock also received accolades this week at the 20th Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards for live classical music. For more information on the RPS award winners, click here.

In her speech at the RPS award ceremony the Chair of Arts Council England Dame Liz Forgan advocated introducing children to major works of classical music at an early age with the statement: "Throwing children alive into a boiling vat of great music does them no harm at all!"

07 May, 2009

St Kilda Opera - Island of the Birdmen

In August 1930 the last remaining inhabitants of the island of St Kilda boarded an evacuation boat and set sail for the Scottish mainland. Almost eighty years on, the unique history and culture of the island is celebrated in a spectacular theatrical production.

The production includes traditional Gaelic song, contemporary music, acrobatics and multimedia, including a unique film shot on the island (pictured) by Keith Partridge, director of Touching the Void.

Check out the St Kilda MySpace page for background on the production and amazing pictures from Partridge's film here.
View the St Kilda world heritage site here.
For more info on this Festival 09 production and to purchase tickets click here.

06 May, 2009

Interview with Juliana Engberg, curator of The Enlightenments


Image: Tacita Dean, Presentation Sisters

We've just uploaded an interview with Juliana Engberg, curator of Festival 09's visual arts exhibition series, The Enlightenments.

Against a backdrop of Edinburgh and its philosophical history, the artworks that make up The Enlightenments offer contemporary observations on subjects including religion, philosophy, superstition, architecture, literature, natural history, the cosmos, scepticism, stoicism and social manners.
Stream the interview with Juliana here.

05 May, 2009

Optimism Sydney bound


Image: Optimism, Photo: Garth Oriander

Sydney Festival has announced that Malthouse Melbourne's Optimism, which appears at the Edinburgh International Festival in August, will then head to Sydney for performances in January 2010.

Based on Voltaire's Candide (1759), the witty satire has been transformed into a cutting commentary on the globalised world, with the "no worries" bravura of Australian swagger.

Optimism is brought to life by some of Australia's finest comic actors including Frank Woodley (pictured), who performed a successful solo show in the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and is best known for his work as part of the comedic duo, Lano and Woodley.

For more info and to purchase tickets to Optimism click here.

21 April, 2009

Calling arts education explorers


Image: Il ritorno d'Ulisse. Photo: Johan Jacobs.

This August we are hosting a summer school for arts educators led by several of the world's leading creative pedagogues. We're looking for arts education explorers to join us!

Heiner Goebbels, Anne Bogart and Charles McNeal are among the artists lined up to work with participants in a programme which gives unparalleled access to Festival 09.

Workshops by Handspring Puppet Company, Lee Breuer and Maude Mitchell, Malcolm Martineau and Andreas Staier, alongside performances, events and discussions on topics like Visual Arts and the Enlightenment or Music and the Enlightenment are included in the programme for participants.

For more info, click here.

Technorati Profile

15 April, 2009

Box office update


Image: Judas Maccabaeus, Maccabees by Antonio Ciseri (Lebrecht)

Since our box office opened on 4 April a number of Festival 09 events have already sold out and many also have only a limited availability of tickets remaining. Here is a list of the current sold out and limited availability shows from our box office.

SOLD OUT EVENTS
· The Opening Concert - Judas Maccabaeus (14 Aug)
· Lewis Psalm Singers (15 Aug)
· Scotland Exports the Enlightenment Discussion (16 Aug)
· Behind the Scenes - Royal Ballet of Flanders (22 Aug)
· Behind the Scenes -The Discovery of Breath (24 Aug)
· The Testament of Cresseid (29 Aug)
· The Sixteen (3 Sept)
· Bank of Scotland Fireworks Concert - Ross Theatre (6 Sept)


LIMITED AVAILABILITY EVENTS
· Behind the Scenes series at The Hub (various dates throughout Festival)
· Visual Art and the Enlightenment Discussion (15 Aug)
· Lisa Milne & Malcolm Martineau (17 Aug)
· The Caledonia Sessions - Triplepipes, Lust and Spilt Blood (20 Aug)
· Elisabeth Leonskaja (22 Aug)
· Music and the Enlightenment: Classical and Vernacular Traditions Discussion (23 Aug)
· Bach Collegium Japan (25 Aug)
· The Caledonia Sessions - Robert Burns's Worldly Friends (26 Aug)
· Experimentum Mundi (2 Sept)
· The Dream of Gerontius (5 Sept)


To purchase your Festival 09 tickets, head to eif.co.uk or call our box office on +44 (0)131 473 2000.

07 April, 2009

Festival 2009 Programme Launch


Artists from The Caledonia Sessions perform at our programme launch party. Photo: Peter Sandground.

On 25 March we launched our 2009 programme. To view some photos from our Programme Launch photocall, press conference and party, check out our Flickr gallery here.

06 April, 2009

Director Jonathan Mills introduces Festival 09

Not sure what to book for or looking for some tips on what this year's hot tickets might be? Listen to Festival Director Jonathan Mills introduce Festival 09 in the short video clip below. To view Part 2 and 3 of his Festival introduction, head to our Vimeo site here.

04 April, 2009

2009 Box Office open for business

As of 10.00am today our box office is open for business! Tickets for Edinburgh International Festival 2009 are now on sale through the following channels:

  • online at eif.co.uk
  • by phone on +44 (0)131 473 2000
  • by posting a booking form to Edinburgh International Festival
    (The Hub, Castlehill, Edinburgh UK, EH1 2NE)
  • in person at Hub Tickets, Castlehill, Edinburgh

Follow us on Twitter at eif.co.uk/twitter and and join our Facebook group at eif.co.uk/facebook for the latest updates on ticket availabilities and sold out shows.

03 April, 2009

Anatomy of a Festival: Photo Gallery


Aaron Sillis warming up for a performance of Dorian Gray. Photo: Caroline Douglas.

Performances are the wonderful tip of the iceberg of all the hard work needed to stage a Festival, and are what make it all worthwhile.

Artists spend much of their time in Edinburgh rehearsing in venues or school halls, gyms and other incongruous settings. Technical, production, artist liaison and stage management staff work hard to ensure stages, costumes, lights and instruments are ready both for rehearsals and performances. Local people can become Festival celebrities for a moment and share the plaudits and attention with our international artists. And sometimes there are even moments of stillness and respite from the hectic pace of the Festival and the city.

Last year photographer Caroline Douglas spent three weeks working around the clock, running across the city capturing on film the essence of the 2008 Edinburgh International Festival. This selection of images offers a glimpse under the skin of the Festival and of its very bones.

To view the photo gallery, click here

30 March, 2009

Off with a Bang


Festival Director Jonathan Mills in a Festival 09 themed taxi. Photo: Peter Sandground.

After finalising our extensive programme and putting the finishing touches on our striking brochure, Festival 09 launched with a bang last week. Here is a summary of what the press had to say about the line-up for this summer.

The Herald stated that “Peter Pan and St Kilda, Scottish Ballet and Scotland's last witch are all part of the potent brew unveiled yesterday … The Enlightenment, the development of thought, science and the arts in the 18th century, is at the heart of Mills's third festival.” Read more here.

As published by The Times, “a Faustian orgy staged in an agricultural hall near the airport, a Plasticine figure of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and a staging of a Monteverdi opera featuring giant puppets are among the 180 productions that will seek to conjure up the Age of Enlightenment.” Read more and view The Times Festival Highlights here.

The Financial Times noted: “The Enlightenment – a time of technological developments, philosophical provocations and scientific discoveries – inspired this year’s programme.” Read more here.

According to The Guardian,“The city's intellectual and philosophical history influences this year's programme, including a fiery Faust and a dance piece based on the songs of Bowie, Iggy and Lou Reed.” Read more here and listen to Director Jonathan Mills discuss the programme here.

Charlotte Higgins from The Guardian also commented: “The Scottish Enlightenment is the starting point for an opera-rich 2009 festival … I'm fascinated by the idea of Actus Tragicus from Staatsoper Stuttgart – which uses six Bach cantatas as the basis for a theatrical production.” Read more here.

STV pronounced: “This year's Edinburgh international Festival will celebrate the flowering of intellectual and cultural achievement that took place in the city in the late 18th century.” Read more here.

In Thom Dibdin’s opinion (Edinburgh Evening News), “There's a season of Brian Friel plays from Dublin's Gate Theatre to be looked forward to, however, the most exciting production is the EIF/Traverse co-production The Last Witch … I also imagine that Faust will be the big spectacle." Read more here.

Edinburgh Evening News also stated that “a soundtrack from the Holy Trinity of late-1970s rock will provide one of the biggest attractions of the 2009 Edinburgh International Festival.” Read more, including the Evening News Hot Festival Tickets, here.

According to The Scotsman,“The world premiere of a new play based on the story of Scotland's last executed witch tops the theatre bill … A recital by baritone Bryn Terfel, one of the greatest names in opera, will also be a huge favourite.” Read more here.

The Scotsman concluded:“It is homegrown productions – including a new play by a top Scottish writer and director about the last witch to be executed in this country – which are among the most prominent this year.” Read more here.

According to The Stage, “World premieres of new works from the Traverse Theatre and Scottish Ballet are among the highlights of the programme.” Read more here.

And finally, in the words of Scotland on Sunday, “In three years [Mills] has shown that the one thing we can expect from his programming is the unexpected.” Read more here.

We hope you enjoy browsing through our programme and discovering the marvels of Festival 09. Don’t forget that our box office opens at 10.00am this Saturday 4 April.

eif.co.uk
+44 (0)131 473 2000
The Hub, Castlehill
Edinburgh UK EH1 2NE


20 March, 2009

Festival 09 Programme Launch and Trailer

Today marks the announcement of the programme for Fesival 09.
Watch our 2009 trailer by clicking on the video below. Enjoy!

17 March, 2009

Not long now...

We're excited! Its just over one week until we launch the 2009 programme for the Edinburgh International Festival. In case you don't know, this year's Festival highlights Scotland's influence on some of the world's great artists and artistic endeavours and reflects on that extraordinary moment in Scottish history now considered the foundation of much of modern things - the Scottish Enlightenment.

The programme for 2009 embraces the Scottish Enlightenment and sets it in contemporary and often surprising contexts.

Full programme details available on Wednesday 25 March. Our website goes live from 10.30am. Tickets go on sale to the public on Saturday 4 April, 10.00am.

eif.co.uk
+44 (0) 131 473 2000

The Hub, Castlehill
Edinburgh UK EH1 2NE

14 November, 2008

Share Your Photos Competition - Winner Announced!


This year we gave you the opportunity to show us what talented photographers you are with our ‘Share Your Photos’ competition. We asked people who attended the 2008 Bank of Scotland Fireworks Concert to send in their photographs and our favourite entry would win a pair of tickets to the Ross Theatre to watch the 2009 Concert.

We had an excellent response to the competition, and with over 50 fantastic entries it was hard to pick a winner but after much deliberation we have selected Will Reynolds picture ‘Fireworks Looking West’ (above). Visit the Official Bank of Scotland Fireworks Concert website to view some of the other spectacular entries.