Leading independent Scottish arts festival, Perth Festival of the Arts, has launched a 10-day ‘online festival’ from May 20–29, broadcasting from the ‘Fair City’ of Perth.
Scotland’s ancient capital for five centuries, Perth is today home to one of the longest-standing arts festivals in the country. Now in its 49th year, the Festival is ready to showcase the city’s stunning range of modern and historic cultural venues to audiences around the world through bespoke concerts starring the most celebrated artists in the UK.
Featuring orchestral, choral and ensemble concerts, jazz, indie/ rock, folk, drama, literature, film and the visual arts, the online programme has retained all the richness and diversity of a ‘live’ year. Over twenty concerts and events will broadcast online, with an ‘as live’ performance feel, creating an intimacy with the audience as they watch from home.
The festival’s Classical Concert Series includes eight concerts including the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Nicola Benedetti, The Sixteen, The Gesualdo Six, Isata Kanneh-Mason and Sitkovesty Trio.
Opening the Online Festival on 20th May is Scottish Ensemble – a pioneering string orchestra based in Glasgow, regularly performing across Scotland, the UK and the globe. This special concert filmed at the Byre at Inchyra, a beautifully restored rustic barn in Perthshire, is a celebration of the arrival of summer with uplifting and joyful music. Audiences will be taken on a journey through the Balkans, Central Europe, the Americas, Scandinavia and back to Scotland once more.
Festival-goers can pick up a ‘series pass’ which gives access to the full classical run,
The Festival also looks forward to launching a brand new national music series SCOTLAND TRENDING which features Scotland’s rising stars in music. Artists include the exuberant jazz-funk-folk collective Fat-Suit and one of the most exciting young groups in European jazz, Fergus McCreadie Trio. The late-night sessions will broadcast online from May 24-29.
The Scottish Ensemble (Photo: Hugh Carswell)
Other highlights include a special one-off gig curated by award-winning Perthshire musicians, Ross Ainslie and Ali Hutton (Radio 2 Folk Awards – Best Duo 2017). The duo return to the heart of Perthshire to perform music from their highly acclaimed ‘Symbiosis’ album series, joined by their band consisting of some of Scotland’s top Folk musicians.
Ross & Ali will also be premiering special collaborations with other Perthshire bred musicians. On the literature and music front, harpist, singer and composer Esther Swift celebrates local poets and composers, including two new works commissioned by the Edwin Morgan Trust to mark his centenary year.
Tickets including ‘early bird passes’ are now on sale via www.perthfestival.co.uk
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