Bassoons, opera and the North...
The 2017 soundfestival saw the beginning of a five-year focus on 'endangered instruments. 2017 shone a spotlight on the bassoon, an often overlooked but incredibly versatile instrument with new commissions, performances and workshops featuring prominent bassoonists including Pascal Gallois, Peter Whelan and Lesley Wilson.
soundfestival 2017 also saw a 3-day series of events in partnership with the University of Aberdeen exploring if there is such a thing as a ‘northern’ sound. Over the 3 days we saw and heard the diversity of vivid contemporary music by composers and performers from a wide range of northern lands – Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Scotland and Sweden.
Revisiting the genre of opera soundfestival restaged Belongings, a co-commission from sound and London’s Tête à Tête; The Opera Festival, which was premiered on the sleeper from Aberdeen to London earlier in the summer. A number short operas also popped up in unsual settings around Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen.
Other highlights included: In Place from composer Colin Riley who has been collaborating with a number of writers to explore a sense of place in the British Isles, how it informs our identity and shapes our language and dialects, forming a set of songs for vocalist and ensemble which crosses art-form boundaries; as well as late night events at Belmont Filmhouse; and many FREE events including a popular family friendly promenade concert at Aberdeen Maritime Museum.
