Edinburgh International Festival
Encyclopedia
The Edinburgh International Festival is a festival of performing arts
Performing arts
The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...

 that takes place in the city of Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, over three weeks from around the middle of August. By invitation from the Festival Director, the International Festival brings top class performers of music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

 (especially classical music), theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

, opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 and dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....

 from around the world to perform. The festival also hosts a series of visual art exhibitions, talks and workshops.

History

The first International Festival (and the first Edinburgh Festival Fringe, although it wasn't known as such until the following year) took place between 22 August and 11 September 1947, in the wake of the end of the Second World War, with an optimistic remit to "provide a platform for the flowering of the human spirit" and enrich the cultural life of Scotland, Britain and Europe.
The founders of the Festival included Rudolf Bing, the General Manager of Glyndebourne Opera Festival, Henry Harvey Wood
Harvey Wood (arts figure)
Harvey Wood was a Scottish literary and artistic figure best known as a founder of the Edinburgh International Festival. He also published critical editions of works by Robert Henryson and John Marston as well as a book on Scottish literature. Wood established a branch of the British Council in...

, the Head of the British Council
British Council
The British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland...

 in Scotland, Sidney Newman, Reid Professor of Music at Edinburgh University, and a group of civic leaders from the City of Edinburgh, in particular the Lord Provost Sir John Falconer. Bing, the moving spirit behind the enterprise, had looked at several English cities before settling on Edinburgh.
The Festival has since taken place every August.

Today

In 1999, the Edinburgh International Festival moved to a permanent home in The Hub
The Hub (Edinburgh)
The Hub, at the top of Edinburgh's Royal Mile, is the home of the Edinburgh International Festival, and a central source of information on all the Edinburgh Festivals. Its gothic spire - the highest point in central Edinburgh - towers over the surrounding buildings, including the adjacent castle...

, formerly 'The Highland Tolbooth' - an architecturally remarkable building a couple of minutes' walk from Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear...

, originally built as a church and General Assembly Hall
Assembly Hall
An assembly hall is traditionally a building used for the purposes of holding deliberative assemblies. An example is the Assembly Hall where the general assembly of the state of Mississippi was held. Some Christian denominations call their meeting places or places of worship, assembly halls, such...

 for the Church of Scotland. Its gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....

 spire is the highest point in central Edinburgh, and can be seen for many miles around.

Every year the Festival showcases three exhilarating weeks of the very best in international music, theatre, opera and dance.

Festival 2011 explores the mysterious and allure of the east which have fascinated and inspired western artists for centuries. The programme offers the chance to immerse yourself in the beauty, traditions and philosophies of these unique cultures.

Some of the finest artists from China, Korea, Taiwan, India, Vietnam and Japan will present their distinctive performances; and, as modern perceptions of east and west continue to shift, the Festival’s series of talks and debates examines how the dynamic between the two is changing within the global landscape.

Festival venues

The principal venues of the Festival are:
  • Usher Hall
    Usher Hall
    Usher Hall is a concert hall, situated on Lothian Road, in the west end of Edinburgh, Scotland. It has hosted concerts and events since its construction in 1914 and can hold approximately 2,900 people in its recently restored auditorium, which is well loved by performers due to its acoustics...

     (capacity 2,300)
  • Festival Theatre
    Edinburgh Festival Theatre
    The Edinburgh Festival Theatre is a performing arts venue located on Nicolson Street in Edinburgh Scotland used primarily for performances of opera and ballet, large-scale musical events, and touring groups. After its most recent renovation in 1994, it seats 1,915...

     (1,800), primarily used for opera and ballet productions.
  • The Edinburgh Playhouse (2,900)
  • Royal Lyceum Theatre
    Royal Lyceum Theatre
    The Royal Lyceum Theatre is a 658 seat theatre in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, named after the Theatre Royal Lyceum and English Opera House, the residence at the time of legendary Shakespearean actor Henry Irving. It was built in 1883 by architect C. J. Phipps at a cost of UK£17,000 on behalf...

     (650)
  • The Queen's Hall
    The Queen's Hall
    The Queen's Hall is a 900-capacity music venue, situated on Clerk Street in Edinburgh, Scotland. Originally built in 1823 as Hope Park Chapel, it was converted to its current role in 1979 and was formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 6 July 1979....

     (920)
  • The Hub
    The Hub (Edinburgh)
    The Hub, at the top of Edinburgh's Royal Mile, is the home of the Edinburgh International Festival, and a central source of information on all the Edinburgh Festivals. Its gothic spire - the highest point in central Edinburgh - towers over the surrounding buildings, including the adjacent castle...

     (420)

Festival directors

  • 1947 - 1949: Sir Rudolf Bing
  • 1950 - 1955: Sir Ian Bruce Hope Hunter
    Ian Hunter (impresario)
    Sir Ian Bruce Hope Hunter was a British impresario of classical music. Known as ‘Mr. Festival’ to many in the arts world, Hunter was one of the most important figures in a post-World War II cultural renaissance in the United Kingdom...

  • 1956 - 1960: Robert Noel Ponsonby
  • 1961 - 1965: George Henry Hubert Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood
    George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood
    George Henry Hubert Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood, KBE AM , styled The Hon. George Lascelles before 1929 and Viscount Lascelles between 1929 and 1947, was the elder son of the 6th Earl of Harewood , and Princess Mary, Princess Royal, the only daughter of King George V of the United Kingdom and...

  • 1966 - 1978: Peter Diamand
  • 1979 - 1983: Sir John Richard Gray Drummond
    John Drummond (arts administrator)
    Sir John Richard Gray Drummond CBE was an English arts administrator who spent most of his career at the BBC. He was the son of a master mariner in the British India line and an Australian lieder singer....

  • 1984 - 1991: Frank Dunlop
    Frank Dunlop (director)
    Frank Dunlop is a British theatre director.-Early life:Dunlop was born in Leeds, England to Charles Norman Dunlop and Mary Aarons...

  • 1992 - 2006: Sir Brian McMaster
  • From October 2006–present: Jonathan Mills

Other Festivals in Edinburgh

About ten other festivals are held in Edinburgh at about the same time as the International Festival. Collectively, the entire group is referred to as the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...

. Most notable of these is the Edinburgh Fringe
Edinburgh Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world’s largest arts festival. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place annually in Scotland's capital, in the month of August...

, which started as an offshoot of the International Festival and has since grown to be the world's largest arts festival.

Further reading

  • Miller, E., The Edinburgh International Festival, 1947 - 1996, Scolar Press, Aldershot, 1996
  • Bruce, G., Festival in the North: Story of the Edinburgh International Festival of the Arts, Hale, 1975

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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