Salisbury International Arts Festival is delighted to announce Ageas as its new Principal Sponsor whilst launching a fantastic array of highlight events that will feature in the 2012 Festival.
This new Principal Sponsorship will see the Festival rebranded to become the ‘Ageas Salisbury International Arts Festival’, commencing in 2012.
The two-week long arts Festival will present a wonderful array of events, where classical and world music share the limelight with international theatre, dance, film, visual arts, children’s events, free outdoor events and a full literature programme. The Festival brings the best artists from around the world, commissioning and creating work unique to the region.
Ageas is a leading insurer providing Motor, Household, Travel, Business and Life insurance to around 8 million customers in the UK. Ageas employs over 5,500 people nationally, with almost 800 at its office in Gloucester, over 1,000 in Bournemouth and over 1,000 employees at its head office, twenty five miles from Salisbury in Eastleigh.
Of the new Principal Sponsor Maria Bota, Festival Director said “We are delighted to welcome Ageas as the new Principal Sponsor of what will now be known as the Ageas Salisbury International Arts Festival. They join us at a time when the Festival is on the move. Audiences have doubled over the last three years and the majority of attendees experience the Festival for free through our outdoor events and free installations. Our Principal Sponsor plays a major part in enabling us to sustain the success of the Festival. We are really enjoying working with Ageas”.
Barry Smith, CEO at Ageas UK adds: “We are delighted to be partnering with the Festival team to launch the Ageas Salisbury International Arts Festival. It has been a momentous year for us under a new brand and this sponsorship deal provides us with an excellent platform to raise the profile of the Ageas brand in our local area and internationally through alignment with this world-renowned arts festival. We very much look forward to continuing to work with the Festival team on what will prove to be a very exciting partnership”.
Ageas Salisbury International Arts Festival is also pleased to welcome new sponsors and existing sponsors including Friends Life, who continue their long-term support of the Festival as event sponsors in 2012.
The 2012 Festival programme is inspired by the themes of Brazilian culture, fire and celebration. Highlights launched today include the free opening night, Le Concert de Feu where ever-lasting memories will be made as world-renowned French Company Les Commandos Percu dazzle audiences with magical music and flames in a pyrotechnic extravaganza. The opening night will also play witness to the unveiling of a new sculpture created by QinetiQ’s young aerospace engineering apprentices, who have been working to create a spectacular sculpture since September 2011. QinetiQ, defence and technology experts are one of the areas largest employers and this evening offers the opportunity to see the expertise and creativity of QinetiQ apprentices right at the heart of the Festival.
Ever rich in variety the Festival also comprises a world première composed by the internationally celebrated Jonathan Dove, The Walk from the Garden, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre performing Henry V, extraordinary theatrical juggling by Gandini Juggling and classical music with particular performances celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Celebrations at Salisbury Cathedral.
In 2012, the Festival will also present Fire Garden at Stonehenge for the London 2012 Festival at dusk from Tuesday 10 July to Thursday 12 July. French outdoor alchemistsCompagnie Carabosse will create a magical, glowing fairytale of fire sculptures that dance in the landscape.
Press:
Contact Abi Singleton, Development and Communications
Tickets to the highlight events are available to Festival Friends from Tuesday 6 December and to the general public from Tuesday 13 December 2011. Tickets can be bought online at the Ageas Salisbury International Arts Festival website at www.salisburyfestival.co.uk or by phone Monday – Friday 10am–2pm on 0845 241 9651.
The full festival programme will be announced on Monday 27 February 2012.
Ends
Notes to Editors:
For more information or images please contact Abi Singleton, Ageas Salisbury International Arts Festival - abi@salisburyfestival.co.uk or 01722 332 241
Highlights of the festival programme in 2012 include:
Friday 25 May 9.15pm
Le Concert de Feu
Venue to be confirmed
Free Opening Night
World-renowned French company Les Commandos Percu will bring the magic of music and flames to Salisbury. Prepare to be dazzled by their astonishing precision drumming and beautiful pyrotechnics.
Supported by Salisbury City Council
Friday 25 May evening
QinetiQ Sculpture Unveiling
Venue to be confirmed
Free
Witness QinetiQ and the Festival unveil a spectacular new sculpture for Wiltshire, born from a Festival commission involving QinetiQ aerospace engineering apprentices and local professional artist Charlotte Moreton. Prepare to be inspired and amazed!
Sponsoredby QinetiQ.
Tuesday 29 May to Saturday 2 June 8pm
Matinee performances on Thursday 31 May and Saturday 2 June at 3pm
Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre - Henry V
SalisburyPlayhouse
Evenings: £25, £22, £18, U16s £10 and school bookings £10
Matinees: £19.50, £14.50, £10.50, U16s and school bookings £10
Shakespeare’s Globe presents Henry V, Shakespeare’s masterpiece about the turbulence of war and the art of peace. Directed by the Globe’s acclaimed Artistic Director Dominic Dromgoole, the play celebrates the power of language, bringing to life courts, pubs, ships and battlefields.
Sponsored by Ageas Tuesday 29 May, Wessex Water Thursday 31 May
Wednesday 30 and Thursday 31 May 8.30pm
The Walk from the Garden – WorldPremière.
Festival Commission
Salisbury Cathedral
£22.50, £16.50, £10.50
Inspired by the theme of ‘Paradise Lost’, Jonathan Dove, who is celebrated internationally for his operatic and choral creations, has composed a new piece especially for the Festival. Scored for soprano, tenor, string quartet, organ, timpani, and the Salisbury Festival Chorus and Salisbury Community Choir, the performance explored with Adam and Eve’s journey through the Garden of Eden.
Sponsored by Ageas and the Telegraph Wednesday 30th May
Thursday 31 May 7.30pm
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
City Hall
£26.50, £18.50, £10.50
The OAE's uniquely versatile and pioneering spirit makes every performance memorable. The orchestra will play Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, and Bach’s Suite No. 2 in B minor and Concerto in D minor for 2 violins, alongside music by Johann Adam Hillier, who was writing fifty years before Mozart.
Sponsored by Trethowans
Saturday 2 June 7.30pm
XL – In 40 Parts - Ex Cathedra – Gala Concert celebrating the Festival’s 40th year
Salisbury Cathedral
£40, £30, £22.50, £18.50, £12
In celebration of the Festival’s 40th year, this concert of choral music written in 40 parts will sound sublime in the glorious setting of the Cathedral. Compositions by Tallis and Alec Roth will demonstrate how beautiful new music brushes shoulders with celebrated classic choral works.
Supported by Sir Christopher and Lady Benson and Friends of the Festival
Saturday 2 June 7.30pm
Gandini Juggling – Smashed
City Hall
£17.50, £14.50, £10.50, U16s £10
Smashedis a sensational mix of skill and theatricality inspired by the work of seminal German dance-theatre maker, Pina Bausch. Nine extraordinary performers, eighty apples and crockery galore combine in a darkly humorous journey with a ‘smashing’ finale you will remember.
Wednesday 6 June 7.30pm
Benjamim Taubkin and Morena Nascimento
Birth – European Première
SalisburyPlayhouse
£18, £16
A feast for the eyes and the ears, as two superbly talented performers create an unforgettable dialogue between dance, music, piano and bodies. The piece, called Birth, is the fruit of a powerful collaboration between Morena Nascimento, from Pina Bausch’s extraordinary dance company, and the remarkable Brazilian pianist and composer Benjamim Taubkin.
Saturday 9 June Gates open at 7pm
Party in the Close
Cathedral Close
£17.50, U16s £10.50, U5s free, Family ticket £48 (max 2 adults)
Book by 23 April for early bird discount - £15.50, U16s £8.50, U5s free, Family ticket £45 (max 2 adults)
On the door- £19, U16s £12, under 5s free, Family ticket £50 (max 2 adults)
The climax of the Festival, Party in the Close will be a fantastic evening of live music, entertainment and fireworks in a celebration that all the family can enjoy.
Supported by Salisbury Journal
Tuesday 10 July to Thursday 12 July, evenings
FireGarden at Stonehenge
Stonehenge
Register at www.salisburyfestival.co.uk for event updates and ticket information as it is released.
A magical, sensory experience awaits you as Stonehenge is transformed into a glowing fairytale environment where fire sculptures dance in the landscape, mysterious fiery engines illuminate the stones and flaming fire pots and cascades of candles line the pathways.
The experience promises to be a highlight of the London 2012 Festival, a 12 week UK-wide celebration in the summer of 2012 featuring leading artists from the UK and around the world.