MEDIA COVERAGE
After interviewing most of the island's population, writing 2,000 words and
then painfully honing it down to 1,000, Jonathan Lennie's piece on the
Classic Fair Isle festival finally appeared at about 400 rather jaunty
words.
Together with a photograph of some of the Fair Isle children it can be found
in the Weekend section of The Times of Sat Aug 17.
An
online version can be read here - a link to The Times Online for which
you may have to register (free).
PRESS RELEASES
Friday 16th August
(also printed in The Shetland Times)
FAIR ISLE is gearing itself up for its second major festival of music this
summer.
A remote island with a population of
around 70 folk is perhaps not the most obvious place you would expect to
find a week long festival of classical music, but that is what
will
be happening from 19th to
25th August, when Classic Fair Isle will be arranging events and workshops
around the island, culminating in the performance of a specially
commissioned piece of music by Shetland composer Alastair Stout:
Classic Fair Isle commissioned
Alastair to write a piece of music which would promote Fair Isle, its
history, its natural beauty and its contemporary culture:
Given Days -
Sounds of Fair Isle was
the result, a work for amateur and professional musicians and singers. `
"Given Days" refers to those rare days of fine, calm weather, when folk take
a rest from
the routine of their daily chores, and enjoy just being
in a
place as lovely as Fair Isle.
The Fair Isle choir, directed by
Lise
Sinclair, has been
busy
rehearsing its parts for some
months, and they are looking forward to the week ahead. "We're really
pleased with the piece," said
Lise, "it's
exciting choral music and we're looking forward with great trepidation to
seeing how it all comes together next week." The choir will be supported by
Yell baritone Andy Ross, and by Members of the
Lerwick
Choral Society.
Alastair, who is
currently working in America, will be rehearsing and directing the
work
on Fair Isle for the week,
and he will be accompanied by a quartet from Chroma, a professional ensemble
with an impressive performance history. They will be playing during "Given
Days" (alongside a Fair Isle folk band), and will also be providing
workshops during the week.
Other attractions include a piano
recital by Neil Georgeson, a
"Vivaldi
Gloria from Scratch", and a lecture from special guest, Orkney composer
Peter Maxwell Davies, who is also the patron of the event.
The project is the result of some
determined fund raising by the islanders, and
is
supported by a number of agencies,
including the National Lottery Awards for All scheme, Shetland Arts Trust,
the SIC community development department. the, Esmée
Fairbairn Trust, and others. The organisers are also grateful to the
Dunrossness Community Council, and to local businesses for
their
support.
Accommodation is available for those
who want to join in the week's activities,
(phone
Betty Best on 01595 760209
for details) and although the planes
are
likely to be pretty busy, there is
still some room on the ferry:
For those who cannot make it into Fair
Isle, there will be an opportunity to see
Given Days -
Sounds of
Fair Isle
in
Lerwick
on Sunday, 25th August when all the musicians and singers
will be performing at the Town Hall at 730pm. In addition to Alastair's new
work, there will be works by James MacMillan, Peter Maxwell Davies and
Purcell, performed by the Chroma String Quartet.
Tickets cost £6/£4 concessions and can
be obtained from the Shetland Arts Trust office at Pitt Lane,
tel.
01595 694001, or can be bought at the door on the night,
subject to availability.
The tiny island of Fair Isle is gearing up
for a major cultural event later on this August. A specially commissioned
piece of music, “Given Days – Sounds of Fair Isle”, by Shetland composer
Alastair Stout, is due to be premiered on the island, with Orkney-based
composer Peter Maxwell Davies in attendance.
Two years ago a group of islanders got
together to form “Classic Fair Isle”, dedicated to the encouragement and
promotion of classical music on the island. Given that promoting classical
music in Shetland as a whole is a pretty daunting task, the group has set
itself a major challenge on an island with a population of about seventy,
accessible only by ferry or light aircraft. Classic Fair Isle decided that
their remoteness should not mean compromising on quality, and members set
about developing an exciting and innovative project. Alastair Stout, who
has family links with Fair Isle, was commissioned to write a new work based
on the history, folklore and contemporary culture of Fair Isle.
Encouraged and assisted by Shetland Arts
Trust, the group started serious fund raising, and two years on, the project
is ready to roll. The composer has written a stunning and exhilarating
piece of music, which is intended for amateur and professional musicians and
singers working together. Fair Isle has more than its fair share of gifted
musicians and singers, but the project will be enhanced by the involvement
of the Chroma Quartet, who will be visiting the island for the first time to
work alongside the composer and the islanders.
Alastair Stout has been playing the organ
since the age of ten, and composing since the age of twelve. A graduate of
the Guildhall, and holding a PhD in composition from the Royal Holloway, he
has had over twenty organ works published and performed in cathedrals
throughout the UK. His portfolio includes a range of works from solo to
orchestral (including vocal), and they have been performed in major venues
such as the Royal Festival Hall and the Wigmore Hall. He is currently
Organist and Director of Music at Cornopolis United Methodist Church,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
“Given Days”, which is in three movements,
is based on a hymn tune written by him, called “Glimster”. (“Glimster” is
the call sign of the MV Good Shepherd, the small ferry which provides a
lifeline service to Fair Isle). The first movement introduces the island,
as though the listener was approaching on the ferry, with the island
gradually revealing itself on the horizon. The second and third movements
are structured around the seasons, and their influence on the shape of life
on Fair Isle. The text is a mixture of new work by librettist Jonathan
Lennie (who has collaborated with Alastair Stout on previous commissions),
by Shetland poets and by the residents of Fair Isle (especially the
children). The title is a Shetland expression which refers to rare days of
calm, peaceful weather, in a place where wilder climatic conditions more
often prevail. On “given days”, islanders can break from their usual daily
toil, and just enjoy being in one of the loveliest places in Britain.
If you want to be on Fair Isle for the
premiere of this work on Friday 23 August, you had better book travel and
accommodation quickly – extra planes and boats have been arranged, and the
island is prepared for an influx of visitors. (If you can’t quite make it
as far as Fair Isle, there will be a second performance at the Lerwick Town
Hall on Sunday 25 August). But get to this most enticing of islands if you
possibly can – you will be rewarded not only by experiencing a unique
musical event, but by the natural beauty of its landscape and the warm
welcome of its residents.
More information can be obtained by
contacting Betty Best, Classic Fair Isle Co-ordinator on 01595 760209, or
Kathy Hubbard at Shetland Arts Trust, 01595 694001.
Ends
Contact: Kathy Hubbard, Projects Manager,
Shetland Arts Trust
Tel. 01595 694001
