TAKING place outside the Usher Hall on August 3, the opening event of the Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) will see contemporary composer Anna Meredith, winner of the 2016 Scottish Album of the Year, team up with Tony Award-winning artists 59 Productions, co-producers of the BBC Proms, and 250 young people from across Scotland.
The young people, aged 16 to 26, will be in a choir led by Stephen Deazley, artistic director of Love Music Community Choir, and their efforts form a major part of the free outdoor event – which will also feature large-scale illuminations projected on to the Usher Hall.
From production to promotion, the young people are currently playing a key role in realising the event, which is officially called the Edinburgh International Festival’s Standard Life Aberdeen Opening Event: Five Telegrams, after the communications which formally ended the conflict.
Five Telegrams also marks a historic partnership between the BBC Proms and the EIF, and a performance of the work will also open the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall on July 13.
Each will incorporate significant local elements.
In Edinburgh, the event will feature costumes and designs by 35 second year and third year students from Edinburgh College of Art. The students are working in collaboration with Meredith and others on the team to produce work which reflects the event’s drive to connect the voices of today’s young people with those who gave their lives or lost their youth to the First World War.
Kathryn Weaving, an Edinburgh College of Art student who is also the wardrobe assistant for EIF opening event said: “Already I’ve learnt a lot from working with the rest of the team, and it’ll be really interesting to see what’s involved in producing an event of this size.
“As a student, having a paid opportunity to work on such a high profile event with experienced professionals really is invaluable, and the skills I’m gaining will be incredibly useful in my career.”
August 3, Usher Hall, 10.30pm, free but ticketed. Tickets: bit.ly/5Telegrams
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