Friday 3 August: Five Telegrams opens Edinburgh International Festival
Edinburgh International Festival is encouraging young people from North Edinburgh to share in the opening night excitement of a groundbreaking perormance. Free tickets are available for ‘Five Telegrams‘ at The Usher Hall – and free transport to and from the event is available through North Edinburgh Arts too!
The 2018 International Festival season bursts into life on 3 August with a spectacular free outdoor digital performance celebrating Scotland’s Year of Young People and reflecting on the centenary of the end of the Great War.
Inspired by themes of communication including telegrams sent by young soldiers in 1918, Five Telegrams weaves a newly commissioned orchestral score, projected digital artworks and live participation together to consider themes of machines and codes, censorship, propaganda and reconciliation – ideas that resonate powerfully in contemporary life.
Working closely with 59 Productions, Scottish composer Anna Meredith has crafted a new work for orchestra based on material found in the Imperial War Museum. Meredith is a composer, producer and performer whose genre-defying works span the worlds of classical, pop and electronic music.
Having created three previous epic opening performances, 59 Productions are well known to International Festival audiences. Over the past decade they have used innovative new technologies to reimagine concert performance, theatre, opera and exhibitions. Five Telegrams will be led by Richard Slaney, who was responsible for the hugely successful The Harmonium Project at the 2015 International Festival.
Five Telegrams is an historic partnership that will see two great festivals working closely together. The project will open both the International Festival outside the Usher Hall on 3 August and the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall on 13 July. This joint production marks the first time the International Festival and the Proms have worked together in this way.
With additional contributions from young people in Edinburgh and working in partnership with Edinburgh College of Art, and as part of 14–18 NOW, the UK’s arts programme for the First World War centenary, Five Telegrams is a truly collaborative event.
Five Telegrams promises to be one of those unforgettable ‘I was there’ events – and young people from North Edinburgh can be part of the audience. To find out how you can enjoy the Five Telegrams spectacular, contact: marketing@northedinburgharts.co.uk or telephone 315 2151.
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