Edinburgh spotlight for Orkney and St Magnus International Festival
Orkney and St Magnus International Festival were at the heart of the Capital’s Hogmanay celebrations on New Year’s Day as part of Scot:Lands – a showcase of the arts and culture from across Scotland.
The festival took over St Giles Cathedral for a four-hour rolling show featuring Gnoss, members of The Mayfield Singers, dancers from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and regular Festival ensemble, the Assembly Project.
The rolling event was seen by several thousand visitors and featured much loved pieces such as Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’s Lullaby for Lucy and Farewell to Stromness alongside extracts from Alasdair Nicolson’s Winterings and music specially created for the event.
As a backdrop to the event the Sails for St Magnus were brought to Edinburgh and hung in St Giles.
Members of the Festival Chorus also took part in the Edinburgh Royal Choral Union performance of the Messiah on January 2.
Initial details of the Festival’s 2017 programme were also released this week. The 41st Festival will feature a strong Norwegian theme and more details are available on the Festival website at www.stmagnusfestival.com
