East Neuk Festival unveils 2019 programme

The popular festival, which promises to surprise and delight as it fills the hidden corners of the coastal area of the East Neuk in Fife with music, will run from Wednesday, June 26, to Sunday, June 30.

Festival director Svend McEwan-Brown said: “ENF is all about relationships – we love when our favourite musicians return, collaborate and take new directions at the festival.

“This year we are honoured that so many will be presenting special projects unique to us or for the first time.

“Experimenting is a risky business and we are proud that artists of such stature trust us to support them as they do it.

“I believe that the excitement this generates is one of the most important attractions of the festival, and one of the most important contributions we can make to the artistic life of the country.”

Now in its 15th year, ENF continues to be both local and international, and to pursue three key areas of activity, all of which culminate in the festival programme.

Its core programme welcomes the finest artists from across the globe and creates opportunities for them to create unique and ambitious projects in beautiful and intimate locations across the fishing villages and towns of East Neuk’s picturesque coastline.

In 2019, old friends make welcome returns including pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja, the Pavel Haas and Belcea String Quartets, John Wallace with the Tullis Russell Mills Band and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

New faces also perform at the festival for the first time, including percussionist Colin Currie, pianist/composer Huw Watkins, harpist Catrin Finch and kora player Seckou Keita.

The festival supports young artists through its ENF Retreat programme by championing young artists both within its own programme and elsewhere. This year violinist Benjamin Baker and viola player Diyang Mei feature in three concerts.

ENF also commissions annual Big Projects – work from leading composers for performance by amateur and professional musicians side by side. Graeme Leak will create this new work in 2019.

Music by Fife composer The Earl of Kellie launches the carefully curated programme spanning the 17th to 21st Centuries. ENF 2019 sees masterpieces from Bach, Dvořák, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Brahms and Haydn nestled amongst works by Britten, Halvorsen, Jörg Widmann, Helen Grime, Steve Reich, and the world premiere of a new work by Huw Watkins performed by the composer on the piano alongside percussionist Colin Currie.

Unique collaborations remain a mainstay of the festival with artists coming together to create one-of-a-kind musical experiences that can be heard nowhere else.

Pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja, the Pavel Haas Quartet and Belcea String Quartet join forces to present a series of five concerts – solo, quartet, quintet and octet.

Three ENF regulars appear with their new bespoke ensembles created especially for the festival – Alec Frank-Gemmill and Alexander Janiczek’s Camerata Janiczek perform Mozart and Handel concerti on period instruments, and Peter Whelan’s handpicked Ensemble Marsyas of wind players from all over Europe promises a magnificent performance of Mozart’s Serenade for 13 Winds.

Intimate music making lies at the heart of ENF across the widest range of styles and traditions including the music of Erik Satie paired with the hot jazz of Stéphane Grappelli in a special concert from pianist Euan Stevenson and the Tim Kliphuis Trio, and a late-night performance of Senegalese music by kora master Seckou Keita.

As part of their three-concert residency at the festival, Keita also joins Welsh harpist Catrin Finch for a concert featuring material from their award-winning latest album, SOAR, and Finch closes her stay in East Neuk with a solo recital of music of Debussy, Bach and Piazzolla.

ENF is firmly rooted in its local area and 2019 features ambitious projects to celebrate and explore the East Neuk’s history and heritage and draw community participants to perform.

The Drying Green is a large-scale art installation inspired by the communal drying greens of yesteryear – many of which can still be seen in the villages of East Neuk – set within the beautiful grounds of the National Trust for Scotland’s Kellie Castle.

It culminates in an afternoon of family activities and pop up performances from the Tullis Russell Mills Band.

ENF also continues its tradition of bringing together professional artists with amateur and local musicians. Renowned Scottish percussionist Colin Currie will team up with massed percussionists of the East Neuk to perform a set of sea interludes created by Graeme Leak, reflecting the craggy coastline of the local area.

Returning for its fifth year, the ENF Retreat runs from June 23-28.

Two past Retreatants who have gone on to establish internationally celebrated careers since their time at the Retreat – violinist Benjamin Baker and violist Diyang Mei – return to the festival to take part in three concerts in the main festival programme.

Music is always carefully matched to every venue at ENF and following the successful launch of The Bowhouse as an ENF venue over the last two years, the festival presents a full series of concerts at the converted barn located in Anstruther.

Beyond the performances, ENF also offers ways for audiences to get closer to the music and in two special talks, the music critic of The Times, Richard Morrison, discusses the future of music education with John Wallace and asks members of the Belcea and Pavel Haas Quartets for the inside story of what life is like as a member of the world’s top quartets.

For full details of the East Neuk Festival programme, visit East Neuk Festival