Adventures in new music
As we get back to normal levels of funding post-COVID, we’re returning to programming events over two long weekends during the festival.
Across the two weekends there will be the usual array of experimental and boundary-pushing works and concerts, challenging and surprising the listener, but in the first weekend there will be more events aimed at our local community: more rural events, children’s concerts and opportunities to take part.
We know that tastes differ and we want to show you a diverse range of what’s out there. This year’s offering includes diving into the world of beavers, listening to ice, and getting up very early to experience the dawn in music.
Be adventurous, find the event that intrigues you, and come and join us on our journey of discovery!
It is a great pleasure to welcome back so many of the friends we have made over the years including our Associate Ensemble Red Note, composer Brian Irvine and Aberdeenshire’s very own new music ensemble, Any Enemy. I am also pleased to announce that our collaborations with European musicians continue this year with the French musicians taking part in the Legato project, the Irish ensemble, Stone Drawn Circles, and the return of Danish accordionist extraordinare, Andreas Borregaard.
This year we will feature no fewer than 28 world premieres including the World Premiere of Tansy Davies’ Lost Science and Electra Perivolaris’ song cycle, ISOLA. We will also continue to provide vital support for young and emerging composers giving them a platform to showcase their work through our strand of spotlight gigs and we will feature pieces created through four special development programmes, one with Red Note, one with Any Enemy, one with Con Anima Chamber Choir and the other through the Legato international project.
Three contrasting installations will form the backdrop for musical performances (all world premieres) in the 2025 festival. Rising composer Electra Perivolaris’ song cycle, ISOLA, will be performed in the setting of an exhibition of photographs of Greek and Scottish Islands taken by her father John; Karen Power’s evocative polar soundings – a multichannel installation based on specialised field recordings made in her decade long visits to the Arctic and Antarctica - is the setting for her new composition for violist Katherine Wren; and composer Dave Maric’s work for piano and percussion, performed by 2025 RPS Young Artist award winners GBSR Duo, will be set within his immersive multimedia installation inspired by beavers.
Participation is always at the heart of what we do, engaging people with new music. Our two Delia Derbyshire workshops will give youngsters the chance to follow in the footsteps of the musicians of the Radiophonic Workshop, and all musicians, whatever their instrument, age and ability are invited to come and join in the joyfully chaotic Totally Made Up Orchestra.
Fiona Robertson, Director
