We are thrilled to share this year’s festival programme with you and, as ever, we have got some exciting and unusual events lined up!
Last year we celebrated our final endangered instrument, the double bass, but we felt more of a celebration was needed of the five amazing instruments we have featured since 2017!
We are delighted to welcome Nicholas Daniel (oboe), Garth Knox (viola), Ben Goldscheider (horn), Emily Hultmark (bassoon) and Elise Dabrowski (double bass) to this year’s festival to form the first ever Endangered Instrument Ensemble for which we have commissioned four new works, as well as to celebrate their instruments in solo and duo concerts.
If you play any of the above instruments you can also join our Endangered Instrument Orchestra which will rehearse and perform on the final day of the festival. Our programme also features the return of Breton piper, Erwan Keravec whose pipes quartet, SONNEURS, make their UK debut, as well as a host of new commissions from UK composers including James MacMillan, Laura Bowler and Ian Wilson, and Franco-Lebanese composer Zad Moultaka, who is writing for the combined forces of France’s Percussions Claviers de Lyon and Scotland’s Red Note Ensemble.
We will introduce you to new and upcoming composers through our spotlight gigs, and look out for details of a collaboration with our friends, DanceLive, Aberdeen’s contemporary dance festival. And that’s only half of it!
We look forward to seeing you in October.
Fiona Robertson, Director of sound
What's coming up
WEDNESDAY 26 OCTOBER
5PM | The Anatomy Rooms | Room to Breathe: Nevis Ensemble & iPadLab
7PM | Cowdray Hall | Aber Dîn: Red Note Ensemble & Percussions Claviers de Lyons
9PM | The Anatomy Rooms | Late night soundsession: Red Note Ensemble Noisy Nights
THURSDAY 27 OCTOBER
11AM | The Lemon Tree | Children's concert: Nevis Ensemble - LIMITED AVAILABILITY
12.45PM | Cowdray Hall | Mirrors: Garth Knox (viola) & Elise Dabrowski (double bass)
3PM | Cowdray Hall | Spotlight gig: Kerp
6PM | The Lemon Tree | Ben Goldscheider (horn) and Pete Stollery (electronics)
7.30PM | Phoenix Centre, Newton Dee Village | Le Ballon Rouge: Percussions Claviers de Lyons
8PM | The Blue Lamp | Trish Clowes & MY IRIS
9PM | The Anatomy Rooms | Late night soundsession: Fiona Soe Paing / Sand, Silt, Flint (album preview)
FRIDAY 28 OCTOBER
1.10PM | St Machar's Cathedral | Katherine Williams (soprano) & Ben Marsden (piano)
3PM | Cowdray Hall | Spotlight gig: Terre
5PM | The Anatomy Rooms | Walk on by performance with local musicians & SONNEURS
6PM | The Lemon Tree | SONNEURS
7.45PM | King's Pavilion, University of Aberdeen | Listening: Nicholas Daniel (oboe) & Emily Hultmark (bassoon)
9PM | The Anatomy Rooms | Late night soundsession: Jonty Harrison (electronics)
SATURDAY 29 OCTOBER
10.30AM | The Anatomy Rooms | Composers' Day
10.30AM | Aberdeen Maritime Museum | Promenade Concert
1PM | Cowdray Hall | Any Enemy
3PM | Aberdeen Art Gallery| Spotlight gig: Con Anima chamber choir
5.30PM | The Lemon Tree | Goebbels/Radigue/Glass: Erwan Keravec (bagpipes)
7.30PM | Queen's Cross Church | Endangered Instrument Ensemble: Garth Knox (viola), Elise Dabrowski (double bass), Nicholas Daniel (oboe), Emily Hultmark (bassoon), Ben Goldscheider (horn)
9PM | The Anatomy Rooms | Late night soundsession
SUNDAY 30 OCTOBER
10AM | King's Pavilion, University of Aberdeen | Endangered Instrument Orchestra Day
11AM | The Anatomy Rooms | Spotlight gig: Stephanie Lamprea (voice) and Fiona Winning (viola)
1PM | Cowdray Hall | Totemic: Nathan Sherman (viola) & Alex Petcu (percussion)
3.30PM | King's Pavilion, University of Aberdeen | Endangered Instrument Orchestra
5PM | Queen's Cross Church | Maxwell Quartet & Alasdair Beatson (piano)
UPDATE: Due to the recent closure of the Belmont Filmhouse, our late night soundsessions will now take place at the Anatomy Rooms. Thanks for your understanding.
