Edinburgh International Festival Lights Up the City
Edinburgh International Festival unveils My Light Shines On, a series of video works and light installations across Scotland’s capital, and reveals digital line-up of Scottish Artists!
Article Source: Edinburgh International Festival
Last Updated: 4 August 2020 10:22
Edinburgh International Festival, the world’s leading performing arts festival, today unveils My Light Shines On – a series of video works and light installations across Scotland’s capital to mark the beginning of the festival season and celebrate the enduring spirit of the Festival City.
Through a series of digital commissions, the Edinburgh International Festival is partnering with Scottish artists and national arts companies, spanning the worlds of theatre, music and dance, to film original performances in venues including the Edinburgh Festival Theatre, The King’s Theatre, Leith Theatre, The Hub, Usher Hall and The Queen’s Hall. All films premiere on Edinburgh International Festival’s YouTube channel on Saturday 8 August at 9:30pm.
The films include a personal love letter to Scottish theatre from the National Theatre of Scotland, directed by award-winning filmmaker Hope Dickson Leach and co-conceived with National Theatre of Scotland Artistic Director Jackie Wylie and dramaturg Philip Howard, along with Scottish Opera’s modern-day interpretation of Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Telephone, starring Soraya Mafi and Jonathan McGovern, filmed in the bar of the King’s Theatre.
The Royal Scottish National Orchestra features mezzo soprano Karen Cargill in a recorded performance led by Music Director Thomas Søndergård in his International Festival debut. The Orchestra performs a rich programme in celebration of Mahler’s 160th birthday. A series of films from Scottish Ballet includes new work from emerging choreographer Nicholas Shoesmith, as well as a revival of acclaimed American choreographer Helen Pickett’s Trace. The Scottish Chamber Orchestra presents Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto with acclaimed pianist Paul Lewis in celebration of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth.
My Light Shines On also features an outdoor light installation in which Edinburgh’s festival venues, including the Usher Hall, Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Bristo Square and the Castle Esplanade, are illuminated by hundreds of beams of light, reaching up into the night sky. Each venue will also be lit from within by glowing lanterns, which shine and pulse behind closed doors, celebrating the people and artists who play a key role in the festival community. Scottish lighting designers Kate Bonney and Simon Hayes have been commissioned to design the project.
As the beacons of light are visible from across the city, Edinburgh residents are encouraged to view the spectacle from their windows or a high vantage point, staying within government distancing guidelines and without gathering in crowds.
On Saturday 8 August 9:30pm, a one-hour gala film hosted by journalist and TV presenter Kirsty Wark and cellist Su-a Lee previews the My Light Shines On activity. This specially commissioned production is premiered on BBC Scotland TV and the International Festival’s YouTube channel to mark what would have been the opening of the 2020 festival. The film features famous faces from festivals across the years, and collaborations with Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh International Book Festival and The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, showcasing Edinburgh role’s as the Festival City.
Other artists featured in the International Festival’s digital offering include violist Laurence Power with the world premiere of a composition by Esa-Pekka Salonen, West African supergroup Les Amazones D’Afrique, Declan, a reimagined version of Traverse Theatre’s multi-award-winning Mouthpiece, contemporary folk music group Breabach, a collaboration of pioneering folk performers led by fiddler Aidan O’Rourke and Glasgow indie rock musician Honeyblood.
From 10–28 August the activity continues with a chamber music soundscape in Princes Street Gardens each lunchtime from Monday to Friday. Each 40-minute specially recorded chamber music performance will be audible throughout the gardens, allowing socially distanced audiences to enjoy the music whilst having a picnic or taking a walk. Artists will include Mark Padmore, Angela Hewitt, Dunedin Consort and the Hebrides Ensemble. Videos of the full concert series, recorded behind closed doors in The Hub, will be released on the Edinburgh International Festival YouTube channel. Highlights from the concert series will be broadcast on Classic FM in a special edition of The Classic FM Concert with John Suchet and streamed on the station’s Facebook page. Classic FM is the UK’s most popular classical music station and has the highest Facebook following in UK radio.
The Edinburgh Festival Chorus features in the International Festival’s summer activity with a brand-new recording of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. From their own homes, over 120 chorus members have rehearsed and recorded their parts for two movements of Orff’s iconic masterpiece. The recordings and videos have been mixed together until the unmistakable grandeur of ‘O Fortuna’ and hopeful energy of ‘Ecce Gratum’ are recreated in all their richness. The two films premiere on Edinburgh International Festival’s YouTube channel on 8 August.
Highlights from the Festival’s archives are celebrated by a series of five Usher Hall concerts including Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra’s Verdi Requiem and Cleveland Orchestra with Franz Welser-Möst and Joela Jones. These will sit alongside 15 concerts from The Queen’s Hall between 10–28 August on BBC Radio 3 as part of BBC Arts Culture in Quarantine. The Queen’s Hall Series includes pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja, mezzo soprano Sarah Connolly, Trio Zimmermann and Les Vents Français. Full details can be found on the Festival’s website.
Additionally, Edinburgh International Festival is holding Artists in the Age of Covid – a range of digital conversations for the global performing arts industry, hosted virtually between 8–15 August. This series, in partnership with The Edinburgh International Culture Summit, seeks to explore the challenges and opportunities for the performing arts in a post-COVID world. International creatives discuss subjects ranging from the power dynamics exposed by coronavirus, to the relationship between organisations and communities, to artists reimagining the future and collaborations between different artforms to create work suitable for present conditions. Participating speakers include Chief Executive of Eden Court James Mackenzie-Blackman, curator of Glasgow’s After the Pandemic Summer School Graham Hogg, Artistic Director of Melbourne Arts House Emily Sexton, poet and novelist Jenni Fagan and Chief Conductor of Antwerp Symphony Orchestra Elim Chan.
The International Festival is partnering with all Edinburgh’s August festivals to create Faces of Edinburgh Festivals, a collection of portraits and interviews that shine a light on the people who help to transform Edinburgh into the Festival City every summer. This rich pool of stories about the individuals who bring the festivals to life, from performers and technical staff to taxi drivers and business owners, will be on display on posters across the city and on the Festivals Edinburgh website.
The Festival’s Learning and Engagement work continues throughout the summer, including a new partnership with Hermitage Park Primary School to provide an outdoor stage for learning, play and creative exploration. This structure will help to the school to embed outdoor creative arts in the curriculum and deliver a solution to the social distancing challenges facing schools as they re-open.
Additional events appearing in association with the Festival’s summer activity include Night Walk for Edinburgh by Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller which sold-out its premiere at last year’s International Festival and now can be safely experienced through its own mobile app, while Edinburgh Art Festival revives Peter Liversidge’s 2013 Flags for Edinburgh, placing flags reading ‘HELLO’ at venues around the city, including at The Hub.
In The New Real, The Edinburgh Futures Institute commissions two digital installations – Mechanized Cacophony from Anna Ridler and Caroline Sinders and Zizi – A Virtual Show from Jake Elwes – that reflect on humanity’s journey into the new real and how we make sense of differing realities. The New Real launches online on 17 October 2020.
Edinburgh International Festival also platforms a work from Festivals for Compassion, in which festivals around Europe come together in recognition of the severe difficulties they collectively face in the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Double bassist Nikita Naumov performs a specially composed solo from Greek-Dutch pianist Calliope Tsoupaki, available on the International Festival’s YouTube channel and the Festivals for Compassion website.
On 25 September, The Portal, a new podcast from Martin Green, Wils Wilson and David Greig, follows the story of lovers Etteridge and Angela. This audio tale of love, music, drugs and deceit features an original score from Martin Green – fresh from winning an Ivor Novello Award for Aeons – with contributions from James Holden (WARP/Border Community) and BBC Folk Award-winner Brìghde Chaimbeul. The Portal will be available on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Spotify and Google.
Sponsored Links
Latest Renfrewshire News
Gnoss release stirring new single Emily ahead of international festival run
Acclaimed Scottish folk four-piece Gnoss are back with a brand-new single ‘Emily’ set for release on Friday 25th July!
READ MORE
Local treasures revealed ahead of Archaeology Day at the National Museum of Rural Life
Treasure Trove Scotland are inviting members of the public to bring their finds to be assessed as part of a family-friendly Archaeology Day at the National Museum of Rural Life.
READ MORE
Renfrew set to welcome top Scottish pipers and drummers
Renfrew's Robertson Park will host Scotland's top piping talent once again as the Renfrew Pipe Band Competition returns to the town on Saturday 19th July.
READ MORE
Dinosaur Day at Dobbies
Children attending Dobbies Little Seedlings Club will get the chance to travel back hundreds of millions of years to learn about prehistoric plants and talk about their favourite dinosaurs!
READ MORE
Winter Connections programme boasts success for third year
Thousands of people across Renfrewshire have benefitted from Winter Connections running for a third year.
READ MORE
Summer long celebration of the 90s and britpop launched
PubLife, a UK-wide summer celebration of the '90s will take place in over 500 pubs, including 7 in Scotland.
READ MORE
Family days out just got better with free entry for kids at Scone Palace
This summer, as school holidays get underway, families are invited to enjoy a day out at Scone Palace with their Kids Go Free promotion.
READ MORE
Scone Palace International Horse Trials
The inaugural Scone Palace International Horse Trials will take place from 21st–24th August 2025 in the stunning grounds of Scone Palace and Perth Racecourse.
READ MORE
Major donation of Scottish artworks boosts Renfrewshire civic collection
A magnificent collection of artworks has been donated to Renfrewshire's civic collection by Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, in memory of her late husband, John Shaw.
READ MORE
Renfrewshire launches Summer of Fun free activity programme
The new free summer activities programme for Renfrewshire children, young people and families is now available.
READ MORE
Countdown begins: The AJ Bell Great Scottish Run returns to Glasgow in October
Scotland's greatest running event, the AJ Bell Great Scottish Run, will return to Glasgow on Sunday 5th October and they want everyone to 'Be Your Greatest'.
READ MORE
Thousands turn out to celebrate Sma Shot Day 2025
Thousands turned out to enjoy a day of fantastic live entertainment at Paisley's annual Sma' Shot Day celebrations on Saturday!
READ MORE
BTS fans take the spotlight in latest K Pop documentary heading to Vue
BTS Army: Forever We Are Young, a brand-new documentary celebrating the fans that helped catapult 21st century pop icons BTS into global stardom comes to Vue.
READ MORE
Jason Manford to play Paisley Town Hall as part of tour
Comedian, actor, singer and presenter is latest big name to announce date at venue.
READ MORE
SAY Award opens submissions for eligible albums
Scotland’s national music prize – the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award – has opened submissions for 2025’s £20,000 prize.
READ MORE
Set sail for Paisley and enjoy a swashbuckling adventure on the high seas!
Ahoy there mateys! The Pirates of Paisley is this year's must visit FREE summer brick adventure!
READ MORE
Paisley Town Hall bells mark Imagination Library becoming permanent
Much loved reading programme, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library in Renfrewshire, celebrated becoming permanent with bell chimes.
READ MORE
Great value summer holiday activities at Dobbies Garden Centres
This summer, gather the whole family and head to Dobbies Garden Centres for a day of fun-filled activities that will keep costs down.
READ MORE
Crowds celebrate the summer at Barshaw Gala Day
Thousands turned out to celebrate summer at Barshaw Park on Saturday for Barshaw Gala Day.
READ MORE
FREE family festival at Loch Lomond Shores returns on 5th and 6th July
Summerfest, the FREE family festival at Loch Lomond Shores, is back on the 5th and 6th of July with lots of things to see and do!
READ MORE
Grab your free reusable cup!
Fancy grabbing a free reusable takeaway cup and then getting a discount on your next drink from some of our local cafes?
READ MORE
Thorn Athletic and Inchinnan Development Trust to create brand new artificial pitches in Renfrewshire
Two major community sports projects in Renfrewshire are set to benefit from a significant funding boost.
READ MORE
Earlybird tickets drive buzz for 2026 Scottish Caravan, Motorhome & Holiday Home Show
The biggest show of its kind in Scotland returns with Earlybird tickets and a give-away with headline sponsor Border Caravans!
READ MORE
July events at Dobbies Garden Centres
Check out July at Dobbies with it's Little Seedlings Club on rainforests and Grow How on pest control and healthy gardens!
READ MORE
Refurbished play park is a big success with local pupils
Pupils from Auchenlodment Primary School in Johnstone gave their refurbished play park a big thumbs up after it underwent a major upgrade earlier this year.
READ MORE
Historic Environment Scotland calls for public stories for national wellbeing exhibition
Historic Environment Scotland is calling for people across the country to connect with heritage to boost their wellbeing as a part of a national campaign, Historic Places, Breathing Spaces.
READ MORE
Clan Wrestling returns to Braehead Arena with former WWE Champions
After their first event in March, Clash of the Clans, Clan Wrestling makes its return to Braehead Arena on Saturday 6th September for its second event!
READ MORE
Renfrewshire invited to honour Armed Forces community
The Armed Forces Day flag will be raised outside Renfrewshire House on Friday in a short service to mark Armed Forces Day.
READ MORE
Works set to be undertaken to restore historic Kilbarchan Steeple buildings
Councillors have agreed a £350,000 contract to carry out repairs to the historic Kilbarchan Steeple Buildings.
READ MORE
Scottish Bar and Pub Awards 2025 adds two new categories and voting deadline extended!
Scotland's hospitality industry and customers have spoken, and the Scottish Bar and Pub Awards 2025 has listened!
READ MORESponsored Links
Sponsored Links