Tag: Edinburgh International Festival 2025

From the East to Edinburgh: concerts and more from the Aga Khan Music Programme at the 2025 Edinburgh International Festival

The Aga Khan Music Programme (AKMP), one of the most extensive music preservation and education programmes in the world, and the Edinburgh International Festival will collaborate once again in 2025, presenting an inspiring programme that brings together fresh perspectives on devotional Quranic recitation; a groundbreaking melding of visual art, music, movement and improvisation; and a pioneering collaboration between Asian, Middle Eastern and European musicians. 
 
Following its hugely popular series of concerts at the festival last year, audiences in Edinburgh once again have the rare opportunity to hear first-hand from some of the best musicians in the world. 
 
The trio of distinctive performances reflect the fundamental cultural aims described by His Late Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV: ‘To transcend old boundaries of time and place, reminding the world that every individual can respond to art and music, whether it emanates from a different culture or not. For, after all, art is a matter of humanity, just as much as it is a matter of identity.’ 
 
Tanzanian singer and composer Yahya Hussein Abdallah, winner of the 2022 Aga Khan Music Award, and Tunisian-born viola d’amore player Jasser Haj Youssef together weave a rich tapestry of meditative music with Sufi poetry and Eastern literature exploring faith, belief and spirituality. Inspired by the historic meeting between two legendary figures of the Arab musical tradition – Sheikh Mohammad Omran and the violinist Abdo Dagher – this interpretation offers listeners both a devotional experience and a healing ritual (19th August, The Hub). 
 
Visual artist Tazeen Qayyum, accompanied by Aga Khan Master Musicians Feras Charestan (qanun) and Basel Rajoub (saxophone, duclar and percussion), presents a unique live performance titled بھی “here and now”. Tazeen Qayyum creates an intricate calligraphic drawing in real time, inspired by the expressive power of Urdu, Arabic and Farsi, with musical accompaniment blending Middle Eastern rhythms and jazz. This contemplative performance – which acts as a counterforce to the tragedies of our times – invites audiences to slow down, observe and reflect to find a state of harmony and mindfulness (21st August, The Hub). 
 
Ancient traditions meet musical innovation as the Aga Khan Master Musicians join forces with two European musical visionaries, accordionist and vocalist Vincent Peirani and cellist Vincent Ségal. The Aga Khan Master Musicians – a collective of exceptional performers immersed in their individual traditions – include pipa pioneer and International Festival favourite Wu Man, Syrian-born saxophonist Basel Rajoub, qanun master Feras Charestan, and Turkish oud player Yurdal Tokan. This vibrant fusion of ideas and cultures promises a rich blend of sounds and traditions (22nd August, The Hub). 
 
Fairouz Nishanova, Director of the Aga Khan Music Programme, said: “We are delighted to continue and extend our deep-rooted partnership with the Edinburgh International Festival, a rich relationship that is based on our shared values of connecting global audiences through the power of music, and thereby fostering cross-cultural understanding and broad social cohesion.

“We are particularly excited this year to be working with the Festival’s Discovery and Participation team, broadening our reach into Edinburgh’s own local communities and demonstrating our core values of education and enrichment.” 

The AKMP and EIF’s Discovery and Participation team will join together for two significant projects during the 2025 Festival. A Culture Club, devised jointly by EIF and participants from the Edinburgh neighbourhood of Broomhouse, will welcome AKMP artists to the district for a performance, a shared meal and a conversation.

In addition, young musicians aged 8 to 18 who hold one of the Festival’s Young Musician’s Passes will be invited to talk and improvise informally to AKMP musicians and discover more about their traditions and their instruments following the performance on 22 August. Both of these projects encourage direct connections between visiting performers and members of the Edinburgh community, and embody the values of education and connection shared strongly by both organisations. 
 
Since its founding in 2000, the Aga Khan Music Programme, part of the wider Aga Khan Development Network, exists to champion and preserve the diverse musical traditions in regions where Muslims have a significant presence, including Central Asia, the Middle East, South Asia and East Africa.  
 
As well as bringing exceptional musicians to a global stage, the Music Programme also works within a network of schools and development centres to pass the baton to the next generation of young musicians learning the often ancient musical heritage of their community. The Music Programme is also the home of the Aga Khan Music Awards, founded by His Late Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV in 2018 to recognise exceptional creativity, promise and enterprise in music across the world.  

Nicola Benedetti, Edinburgh International Festival Festival Director said: “The Edinburgh International Festival is thrilled to welcome back the Aga Khan Music Programme, whose extraordinary musicians bring a rich tapestry of traditions to our stage.

“Their performances not only celebrate musical excellence but also foster cross-cultural dialogue, aligning perfectly with this year’s International Festival theme, The Truth We Seek. We can’t wait for audiences to experience these powerful and transformative performances in The Hub this August.” 

Listings

19th August 2025, The Hub – Yahya Hussein Abdallah & Jasser Haj Youssef

21st August 2025, The Hub – Canvas of Sound with Tazeen Qayyum

22nd August 2025, The Hub – Master Musicians with Peirani and Segal.

Tickets for all three concerts go on sale on Thursday 27th March at www.eif.co.uk 

Edinburgh International Festival to breaks boundaries in a year exploring ‘The Truth We Seek’

1–24 AUGUST 2025 

eif.co.uk / @edintfest

  • Edinburgh International Festival’s 2025 programme offers opportunities to experience world-class artists in thought-provoking and unconventional ways – including an eight-hour choral extravaganza, a distinctive outdoor promedande dance piece and a circus infused opera. Audiences can also get involved in many Festival performances, from an outdoor mass-singlaong to interactive concerts where the audience chooses the repertoire.
  • The Truth We Seek is the timely theme underpinning the 2025 International Festival, as contemporary reflections on the world are presented alongside time-honoured tales, a place where fact meets faith and fiction.
  • The International Festival is the ultimate destination to experience world-class performances, with an exciting lineup of 133 performances, bringing 7 world premieres, 8 UK and Scottish premieres and 2 European premieres to Edinburgh this year. Programme highlights include the world premiere of a gripping new play by James Graham starring Brian Cox, a new narrative ballet from Scottish Ballet, and Festival debuts from rising classical stars – violinist Maria Dueñas, mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo, and 2024 BBC Young Musician of the Year Ryan Wang.

From 1-24 August 2025, Edinburgh International Festival presents a hand-picked selection of leading international and local artists in the world’s Festival City, with 24 days of world-class opera, dance, music and theatre.  

The 2025 programme is defined by world-class artists bringing audiences and artists closer together in creative and unexpected ways. Audiences can experience an opera incorporating circus performers for a breathtaking fusion of music and acrobatics in Orpheus and Eurydice, a site-specific promenade dance work that transforms Edinburgh’s Old College Quad into a stage for Dance People, and enjoy Bach through a new lens in Breaking Bach, where hip-hop meets 18th-century period instruments. 

Audiences can also actively participate in performances—whether by shaping the repertoire in a real-time Classical Jam or sharing their dreams to inspire Hanni Liang’s piano recital, Dreams. For those seeking deep immersion, eight-hour choral epic The Veil of the Temple invites audiences to sit on beanbags and lose themselves in waves of harmonies, and a choral workshop welcomes amateur singers that will preview a powerful performance at the Festival’s Closing Concert, Mendelssohn’s Elijah. 
 
Now in its third year under Festival Director and celebrated Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti, the 2025 programme welcomes over 1,700 artists from 42 nations to Edinburgh —including 600 from Scotland—across 133 performances. The Truth We Seek is the theme underpinning the 2025 Edinburgh International Festival, inviting audiences to explore their relationship with truth – within themselves, between one another and in understanding our place in the world.  

Ensuring that cost is not a barrier to live performance, over 50,000 tickets (more than half of all tickets available for the 2025 International Festival) are priced at £30 or under. Thousands of free tickets are available for young musicians, NHS staff and community groups, and £10 Affordable Tickets are available for all performances for anyone who needs them. 

Programme highlights include:

  • Two major world premiere productions in UK theatre and dance: Make It Happen, an eye-opening take on the 2008 financial crisis set in Edinburgh, starring Brian Cox (Adam Smith) and Sandy Grierson (Fred Goodwin), written by one of Britain’s most in-demand playwrights, James Graham; and Mary, Queen of Scots, an iconic story of one of Scotland’s most famous women, unconventionally told with choreography by Sophie Laplane that blends classicism with modernity, and costuming that nods to haute couture and punk.
  • In a landmark year for choral music, marking the 60th Anniversary of the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, this renowned chorus of singers from around Scotland performs at the monumental Opening Concert, as well as Vaughan Williams’s Sea Symphony, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah (this year’s grand Closing Concert). The programme also includes the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists performing works by Handel and Bach.
  • This year’s Opening Concert features the aforementioned Edinburgh Festival Chorus, Monteverdi Choir and the National Youth Choir of Scotland, offering a rare chance to hear John Tavener’s The Veil of the Temple in all its eight-hour glory, a colossal universal prayer performed in full for the second time ever in the UK.
  • The International Festival’s opening weekend welcomes all to Princes Street Gardens’ Ross Bandstand for The Big Singalong, a free event led by Stephen Deazley, artistic director of Edinburgh’s Love Music Community Choir. The following day, Norwegian folk ensemble Barokksolistene returns to lead The Ceilidh Sessions, an afternoon of music and storytelling inspired by the Gaelic ceilidh tradition.
  • The most substantial programme of Polish artists in the International Festival’s 78-year history is featured in celebration of the UK/Poland season 2025. Performances include two concerts from one of the Festival’s resident orchestras in 2025, NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra, and a showcase of Polish artists and repertoire from the Wrocław Baroque Ensemble, VOŁOSI, Piotr Anderszewski, Bomsori Kim to 2024’s BBC Young Musician of the Year, Ryan Wang.
  • Operatic works include a fully staged Australian reimagining of Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice featuring acrobatics; the UK premiere of Book of Mountains and Seas from Chinese composer Huang Ruo, puppeteer Basil Twist and Ars Nova Copenhagen, and two operas in concert: Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Chorus and Puccini’s Suor Angelica with the London Symphony Orchestra, with a line-up of international soloists.
  • Residencies bringing leading orchestras to the International Festival for an extended, more sustainable stay that features multiple performances and community engagement. This year, three outstanding orchestras provide distinctive insights into their collective sound and ambitions: Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra 2, Poland’s NFM Leopoldinum, and the London Symphony Orchestra under the direction of new Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano.
  • Intimate morning recitals at The Queen’s Hall feature International Festival debuts from on-the-rise young virtuoso María Dueñas and Canadian mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo, as well as a cohort of exceptional Scottish artists including the Dunedin Consort with John Butt and Scottish percussionist Colin Currie with peerless vocal group The King’s Singers.
  • A wider orchestral programme that stretches the globe to welcome the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, and the NCPA Orchestra from Beijing, with conductor Myung Whun Chung and Bruce Liu as piano soloist. The London Philharmonic Orchestra returns to the International Festival for the first time in a decade under the baton of Edward Gardner with a stunning programme that features pianist Beatrice Rana performing Rachmaninoff’s inspired Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, and Holst’s The Planets, a seven-movement orchestral suite journeying through the cosmos to explore our true place in the universe.
  • Aurora Orchestra makes its International Festival debut with Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony, in the 50th anniversary of the composer’s death. A work that grapples with the pursuit of truth under oppression, audiences are seated on beanbags as Aurora delve into the symphony from the inside out with a conversational presentation in the round, and then in full later that evening, performed entirely from memory.
  • The Scottish premiere of Figures in Extinction from the internationally acclaimed Nederlands Dans Theater, visionary choreographer Crystal Pite and ground-breaking theatre-maker Simon McBurney (Complicité), which confronts powerful truths about humanity’s impact on the world and art’s meaning in the face of mass destruction.
  • A stellar dance offering continues with works that expand the experience for audiences: Maqamat and Omar Rajeh take performance outdoors to Edinburgh University’s College Quad in promenade with Dance People; the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment combine hip hop with Bach in Breaking Bach with choreographer Kim Brandstrup, and an International Festival debut from Australian disabled dancer Dan Daw about identity and kink.
  • Leading theatre-makers exploring truth via the climate emergency, colonialism and politics, with Cliff Cardinal’s take on Shakespeare in As You Like It A Radical Retelling, a spectacular nonverbal work from Belgian theatre collective FC Bergman in Works and Days and a remount of acclaimed play Faustus in Africa!, 30 years after its original premiere, from Handspring Puppet Company and William Kentridge.
  • The Hub, the International Festival’s headquarters on the Royal Mile, brings together a hand-picked variety of global musical styles and traditions, experienced up close in an intimate performance space, including Up Late gigs from artists such as Kathryn Joseph and Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith. In a truly international programme, musicians from 16 countries including Australia, China, Poland, Norway and across East to West Africa come to the home of the Festival. 

READ THE BROCHURE HERE