Salisbury International Arts Festival announces highlights for 2008
At a reception at Salisbury Guildhall on Monday 3 December, Salisbury International Arts Festival announced five events set to feature in its 2008 programme. The Festival, which will take place from 23 May – 8 June 2008 and next year celebrates 35 years, is always eagerly anticipated and the assembled crowd were keen to hear what the programme promised.
Festival Director Jo Metcalf, whose four year tenure ends after the 2008 Festival, said: “When I arrived in Salisbury I had a vision for the four Festivals I would curate. I called this Festival series RESONATE and over the past three years I’ve explored the way festivals have the power to touch people through a shared experience. The 2008 programme is the culmination of this vision with the theme of REJOICE, as it celebrates the joy and impact on artists and audiences alike, through performance in a festival.
Our cultural focus this year is Africa and what better continent to focus on for the diversity of cultural heritage and capacity for celebration. Our environmental focus is on vegetation and we have a burgeoning number of events for the green and green fingered out there. And our artistic focus is on song and yes, following on from Salisbury Reads and Salisbury Salsa, we’ll be getting Salisbury singing this time!”
The shows announced were:
Shakespeare’s Globe presents Romeo and Juliet
Thursday 29 May – Sunday 1 June
6.30pm Wilton House Grounds
£15.50 (£10.50 under 16s)
Proudly sponsored by Friends Provident
Globe actors are coming back to Wilton House, some 400 years after Shakespeare’s players were first welcomed by the Pembroke family, to present the tragic tale of star-crossed lovers – Romeo and Juliet.
In Shakespeare’s time actors often toured plays to country houses, inns and town halls all over the UK. The players regularly left London; sometimes due to playhouse closure to prevent the spread of plague or according to government bans, sometimes simply to extend the life of a new play.
Now, this 21st century adaptation sees the stunning grounds of Wilton House become the backdrop for what is undoubtedly one of the world’s most famous plays.
The King’s Singers – Gala Opening
Saturday 24 May
7.30pm Wilton Church
£35 £20 (includes a glass of wine during the interval)
Opening the Festival this year are The King’s Singers who have been delighting audiences around the world with their charm, wit, and incomparable musicianship since forming at Kings College Cambridge in 1968. Now in their 40th anniversary year they have chosen Salisbury as one of their few UK concerts for 2008. Don’t miss this opportunity to see, as The London Times put it, an ensemble that is "still unmatched for their musicality and sheer ability to entertain" as they present a mixed repertoire which includes Thomas Tallis, Francis Poulenc and their Close Harmony Selection, for which they are famous.
Confluences Part III– The Traveller
Saturday 31 May
7.15pm Salisbury Cathedral
£20 £16 £12
World Premiere
The Traveller is the third piece in the four year Festival commission Confluences - a collaborative work (between Vikram Seth and Alec Roth) described by The Times as “the Rolls and Royce of the Arts World.”
This new work, which is scored for tenor (Mark Padmore), violin (Philippe Honoré), chorus and orchestra (Britten Sinfonia) takes its inspiration from India and in addition to writing six new poems, Vikram Seth will translate more than twenty Indian texts from a rich variety of sources to create a work themed on the ages of man.
“Some partnerships have stardust sprinkled on them.” Richard Morrison, The Times on A New Song June 2007
Acoustic Triangle
Saturday 31 May
9.45pm Salisbury Cathedral
£10 (or £5 if also buying for The Traveller)
Malcolm Creese, Tim Garland and BBC New Generation Artist Gwilym Simcock are Acoustic Triangle – an original and accomplished trio whose un-amplified music is at its exquisite best in a setting like Salisbury Cathedral.
Citing a wide variety of influences - from ancient themes and folk styles through impressionism to jazz and the avant-garde, Acoustic Triangle's performances feature beautifully-crafted original compositions, spontaneous improvisation and thrilling interaction between the players.
Rainbow Choir – The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace
Friday 6 June
7.30pm Salisbury Cathedral
£28 £25 £18 £15 £10
Proudly Presented by South African Airways
Musical Director: Fiona Clarke
Rainbow Orchestra
Salisbury Community Choir
Fezeka High School Choir – Cape Town, South Africa
Imam: Imran Golding
Soloists: Soprano: Helen Groves
Alto: Alexandra Gibson
Tenor: Mark Dobell
Bass: Phumelele Tsewu
Hundreds of voices combine to form a mass choir as Salisbury Community Choir and children from Gugulethu township in South Africa unite to fill Salisbury Cathedral with song in this unique event.
Performing Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace and John Rutter’s Distant Land (Prayer for Freedom) and traditional African songs, the choirs come together to rejoice - not only in hope for the future but also in the power of song in the present.
The culmination of years of planning, this inspiring performance will transcend boundaries and offer an opportunity to celebrate humanity and diversity in this extraordinary meditation on the notion of peace.
Ends