Round-up 2010

Here are links to some of the 2010 SMF- and Magfest-related items on the Internet:

HiArts' Morag Macinnes on the Jonsmas Foy

Four-star review from the Guardian

Telegraph review

Alan Plater obituary in the Guardian

orquil's photostream on Flickr has a lot of photos from the festival

The BBC SSO blog has several posts: 1, 2, 3, 4

Scotsman review

Orkney chant has a couple of posts: 1, 2

Classics Unwrapped on Radio Scotland

Potty about Poetry - Simon Armitage

News from Poland

The Herald review

Glenys Hughes and Alasdair Nicolson at the end of this year's Festival.

Circulous at Magfest

Four shows by Circulous brought the festivities to an end.

The gentle artistry of Acrojou's German Wheel contrasted with the slapstick ballroom dancing of Stickleback Plasticus and the high speed whirling of the Skating Willers. Get the Shoe combined martial arts with spectacular juggling whilst Fraser Cooper brilliantly and gently made use of children and adults from the audience. Bruce Airhead's act was amazing and entertaining but left you wondering why and how he came up with the idea.

A great bunch of people brought together for these four shows only by Magfest regular, Charlie Holland but sadly, once again, the circus has left town.

More pics at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/album.php?aid=2059673&id=1069925290

Photos from BBC SSO

Click here to see some photos posted on Facebook by the BBC SSO.

Sorry there's been much less action on the blog this Festival. I was struck down with flu, and our main contributor seems to be AWOL (both from this blog and from Twitter). Anyway, my thanks to Les for some great observations and excellent photos. Has it been a good Festival? I'd love to hear what you've thought of it in the comments here, or send me a longer piece if you want it published as a separate article.

The Table at Magfest

A darkened room. Four men enter and sit round a table. Not just any table, but a sophisticated musical instrument from which they coax an astonishing range of sounds and moods. The men are Polish group, Karbido and 'The Table' has one more showing tonight in the old Jewson's shed.

Compelling and dramatic stuff.

Magfest

Mentally and physically exhausted but two great nights of Magfest in Jewsons Shed with the Bester Quartet from Crakow and Andy Cant. I say Andy Cant, but it was a cast of dozens with our stage proving just big enough for Kirkwall City Pipe Band, Liberty, Billy Jolly and Mixemup.

A small hiccup with heating (again). With a northerly gale blowing directly onto our front door and a huge drop in outside temperature, the heating system struggled to cope, but it has improved as the weather warmed slightly. Still wrap up warm. Midsummer in Orkney eh?

The Bester Quartet were more cool than cold. A wonderful Klezmer band from Crakow, they displayed breathtaking musicianship and are clearly well-respected by the other Polish musicians around the venue. Precise and controlled, with the stage smoke swirling in the wind, the atmosphere was tremendous.

Andy's show was a much less minimalist event: even featuring guest appearances by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and Nicola Benedetti. Sadly they were unavoidably detained at the last minute, but their stand-ins performed magnificently. There was plenty of audience participation and Andy was ably supported by his two backing bands: KCPB and Liberty. This was home-grown entertainment of the highest order.

The BBC turned up on Saturday to film Andy for a BBC2 Series to be screened in October.

More Photos Here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2059673&id=1069925290&l=5f6616aa11

Sunday will be spent setting-up for The Table. More sometime.

Magfest 2010

Four days to go till Andy Cant's concert launches Magfest 2010. Over the last fortnight we've been busy converting the old Timber Store at Jewsons (left) into a venue.

We've been removing a century of dust and building staging and raked seating. Today the lighting goes in and we'll report on the transformation tomorrow.

Andy's concert sold out almost immediately, but there are still some tickets for klezmer band, the Bester Quartet at the weekend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0pZsADul8k

Le Jongleur de Notre Dame Podcast from The Hebrides Ensemble

A podcast (a link to this was tweeted the other day by The Hebrides Ensemble) which looks forward to the Peter Maxwell Davies music theatre piece in this year's Festival:

"In this preview podcast, we speak to virtuoso circus juggler Chris Patfield about his role in Le Jongleur de Notre Dame and play you clips of the music. We’ll also hear from Hebrides Ensemble’s artistic director, Will Conway."

SMF2010 brochure launch

As more than one person said last night at the 2010 Festival brochure launch at the St Magnus Centre, Kirkwall: "It cannot be a year since we last did this!" Be that as it may, the brochure is out. As usual, festival supporters will receive theirs in the post, and Orkney residents through their letterbox - copies are also available at all good Orkney leaflet stands, and from the St Magnus Festival Office, Victoria St, Kirkwall.

It's time for all of us to start working out which tickets to order (and to promise ourselves, once again, that we will be early-bird patrons, getting those orders in to the SMF Office before 4 April). One of my favourite things at this time of year is carrying the brochure around, and agonising over what to see this year. Although Glenys Hughes, Festival Director, assures us again this year that it is just possible to see everything on offer, most of us have to acknowledge (with varying degrees of reluctance) that there will be other trivial commitments in Festival week (like sleeping, eating, working, family life, work, rehearsing and performing, as appropriate). There are so many things to do and see in the Festival these days that (even though ticket prices offer fantastic value compared with any similar event in Scotland, the UK or the world) financial reality is about the only hope of balancing a desire to do everything, with likely energy levels in June!

Choosing will be no easier than normal, as was clear when Glenys presented some of the highlights and themes planned for this, the last Festival before she hands over the Director's ...erm... baton to Alasdair Nicolson and Tanya McGill:

• events bringing Polska! Year (presenting the best of Polish arts and culture in the UK) to a conclusion during SMF 2010
• celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of Fryderyc Chopin
• a BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra residency (I wonder if they will share their experiences at SMF online, like the RNSO did last year on their blog and twitter feed?)
• a Hebrides Ensemble residency throughout the Festival, with involvement in the Orkney Conducting Course, running simultaneously with the Festival
• as in the previous 2 Festivals, there will be another music theatre piece by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, this time Le Jongleur de Notre Dame
• appearances by violinist Nicola Benedetti
• vocal ensemble I Fagiolini, with renaissance and contemporary music
• events as usual in many parts of Orkney, with visiting and local artists collaborating to present performances in Stromness, Deerness, Lamb's Holm (The Italian Chapel), Eday, Stronsay, Hoy (Gable End Theatre), Westray and others
• 7 concerts will be broadcast by BBC Radio 3
• the Festival will open with The Doctor and the Devils, a screenplay based on the story of Burke and Hare in 1830s Edinburgh, by Dylan Thomas; specially adapted by Vivia Leslie as a Festival community production, with music by Alasdair Nicolson (to transfer to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 9-15 August, Venue 45)
• Martyn Brabbins will conduct the BBC SSO and Festival Chorus on the Sunday evening, the Chorus this year with a record-breaking 140 singers
• the Orkney Schools Orchestra are collaborating with the BBC SSO in Side by Side, with young Orkney musicians integrated with, and playing alongside, BBC SSO members

I have not even mentioned the excitement of MagFest UP CLOSE, and their plan to build an entire temporary theatre, or the literature and visual arts strands of the Festival. Hopefully others will have something to say about them on the blog soon!

With the involvement of the Orkney Traditional Music Project, performers for the Johnsmas Foy, local bands playing in the Festival Club, the Festival Chorus, the Orkney Schools Orchestra, and local actors and technical crew in the community theatre production Orkney residents (as has been the case at the St Magnus Festival for over 30 years, and this year at least 400 of us) have the chance to work collaboratively with world-class visiting artistes in June: that all this has kept going (and developed as it has) has been thanks to the vision and hard work of Glenys and her predecessors, supported by Angela Henderson, George Rendall, and hundreds and hundreds of volunteers in Orkney (and by an impressive and bewildering array of sponsors, all of whom can be seen on the back cover of the brochure). Each of us who has been involved along the way owes each of them an enormous debt of gratitude.

What do other island communities do at midsummer?

Festival Chorus begins rehearsals for Poulenc's Gloria

Rehearsals bagan on Monday for this year's performance, which will be in the Pickaquoy Centre on 20 June: Gloria, by Francis Poulenc , with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Martyn Brabbins. This will be the 31st appearance in the Festival by the Chorus, which has also presented a December charity concert some years. Usually there are about 130 singers in the Chorus, drawn from all parts of the Orkney mainland and linked islands (and occasionally one or 2 from the other islands).

Rehearsals are on Mondays at 7.30pm, at the King Street Halls, Kirkwall.

Are you singing in the Chorus this year? Why not let us know how it's going, by leaving a comment here, or on the St Magnus Festival friends Facebook wall? Alternatively, use the #stmagfest hash tag in twitter to update us with what is happening (but not when you should be looking at the conductor, or hitting that high/low note, please!!)

New Festival Manager appointed, as the Chorus starts rehearsals for the 31st time

Tanya McGill will be the new Festival Manager from July 2010, working alongside Festival Administrator, Angela Henderson, in the Festival's Kirkwall office. With Alasdair Nicolson, the newly appointed Artistic Director, the continuity of the Festival's staffing is assured, as Glenys Hughes steps down from her long-standing role after this year's Festival.

Tanya has worked as cultural co-ordinator manager for Orkney Islands Council since Janueary 2008, previous roles she has had include:

• Northern Ireland Development Manager for the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA)
• Development Manager and Lottery Director for the Arts Council of Northern Ireland

The other exciting development this week is the annual appeal for singers to take part in the Festival Chorus this year. The Chorus has performed in the festival on 30 previous occasions, as well as producing a December charity concert some years. This year's performance will be in the Pickaquoy Centre on 20 June: Gloria, by Francis Poulenc , with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Martyn Brabbins.

Usually there are about 130 singers in the Chorus, drawn from all parts of the Orkney mainland and linked islands (and occasionally one or 2 from the other islands). Rehearsals this year start at 7.30pm on Monday 15 February, at the King Street Halls, Kirkwall.

Alasdair Nicolson to be new artistic director of SMF

Composer, performer and animateur Alasdair Nicolson has been appointed (from among an international field of 65 candidates) as the new artistic director of the Festival, when Glenys Hughes stands down after the 2010 festival. As The Orcadian reports, he is already the director of the St Magnus Composers’ Course which runs alongside the Festival.

• Alasdair Nicolcson appointed director of St Magnus Festival (Scottish Music Centre)
  
• Alasdair Nicolson's website
• New St Magnus Festival artistic director appointed (The Orcadian newspaper - scroll down to find the piece)