Tag: The Truth We Seek theme

In Search of Truth: Edinburgh International Festival unites artists and audiences

2025 THEME – THE TRUTH WE SEEK

  • The 2025 Edinburgh International Festival begins today with the first of more than 133 performances: the ultimate destination to experience world-class artists across music, theatre, opera and dance in creative and unconventional ways in Edinburgh this August.
  • Exploring the theme The Truth We Seek, more than 2,000 internationally renowned artists from across 42 nations, including a third of artists based in Scotland, will perform.
  • Upcoming highlights include: the world premiere of theatre blockbuster Make It Happen from James Graham, monumental 8-hour choral work The Veil of the Temple, an Australian reimagining of opera Orpheus and Eurydice featuring acrobatics, and the Scottish premiere of Nederlands Dans Theater, Simon McBurney and Crystal Pite’s Figures in Extinction.
  • To ensure that cost isn’t a barrier to cultural discovery, half the tickets for the 2025 International Festival will be sold at £30 or less, and £10 tickets have been made available for every performance across the programme. Tickets can be purchased from www.eif.co.uk.  

THE CURTAIN rises today on the 2025 Edinburgh International Festival, welcoming over 2000 artists from 42 countries to Edinburgh for a 24-day global celebration of world-class performing arts. 

The third year under Festival Director and celebrated Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti, this year’s International Festival welcomes audiences to explore opera, music, theatre and dance through the lens of the theme The Truth We Seek, a journey into the elusive nature of truth in our personal and public lives.

This year’s programme invites audiences to experience bold, thought-provoking performances in fresh and unconventional ways. The opening weekend features large-scale participatory events The Big Singalong and The Ceilidh Sessions, celebrating the collective joy of singing and dancing outdoors in Princes Street Gardens, set against the iconic backdrop of Edinburgh Castle.

Elsewhere, the historic Old College Quad becomes the stage for the world premiere of Dance People, an outdoor dance performance, and a classic opera is reimagined with a twist in Orpheus and Eurydice, bringing together world-class musicians and performers with breathtaking acrobatics from Australia’s Circa.

The 2025 programme also opens up barriers to cultural discovery: more than 50,000 tickets are priced at £30 or less, £10 Affordable Tickets have been made available to all performances, and wide-reaching initiatives offer free tickets to NHS workers, young people and community groups to a range of Festival performances. 

Stand-out performances across the International Festival include: 

Make It Happen (1–9 August, Festival Theatre) 
The world premiere of a gripping new drama by James Graham, tackling the 2008 financial crisis in Edinburgh. Starring Brian Cox as Adam Smith and Sandy Grierson as Fred Goodwin, this timely co-production with the National Theatre of Scotland and Dundee Rep reframes the collapse of global markets through a distinctly Scottish lens.  

Opening Concert: The Veil of the Temple (2 August, Usher Hall) 
A spiritual epic: over 250 singers from the Edinburgh Festival Chorus, Monteverdi Choir and National Youth Choir of Scotland perform John Tavener’s The Veil of the Temple in its complete eight-hour form with the audience seated on beanbags. This year also marks the first performance in the Festival Chorus’s 60th anniversary year.  

Dance People (7–10 August, Old College Quad) 
Lebanese choreographer Omar Rajeh and Maqamat company present an open-air activation of dance, movement and activism. Performed outdoors in the heart of the city, it dissolves the lines between performance and real life. 

Orpheus and Eurydice (13-16 August, Edinburgh Playhouse) 
A highlight of the 2025 Festival’s opera programme, a fully staged Australian reimagining of Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice fuses together circus, acrobatics and world-class opera, in its European premiere.  

Figures in Extinction (22-24 August, Festival Theatre) 
Nederlands Dans Theater present the Scottish Premiere of Figures in Extinction in collaboration with Crystal Pite and Simon McBurney, confronting the hard truths about humanity’s impact on the world and art’s meaning in the face of mass destruction.  

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 and informal performance space, including Up Late gigs from Alabaster DePlume (8 August) and Kathryn Joseph (9 August), and an interactive concert from Hanni Liang (7 August) inviting audience members to share their dreams, with a live response created on the piano. 

Events for families include Art of Listening for Families interactive workshops (4-9 August, Church Hill Theatre Studio), The Ceilidh Sessions (4 August, Ross Bandstand) and NYO2’s Family Concert (4 August, Usher Hall).  

Residencies bring London Symphony Orchestra, Poland’s NFM Leopoldinum and Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra 2 to Edinburgh for an extended, more sustainable stay that features multiple performances and community engagement. Highlight performances include NYO2’s Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony, NFM with Bizet’s Carmen Suite and Beethoven and Shostakovich from the LSO, presented with insight from Sir Antonio Pappano and Festival Director Nicola Benedetti. 

Intimate morning recitals at The Queen’s Hall return with artists including María Dueñas, Mark Simpson and Richard Uttley and Bomsori Kim and Thomas Hoppe and spectacular evening orchestral concerts at Usher Hall with NCPA Orchestra from Beijing and pianist Bruce Liu, the Monteverdi Choir and the Budapest Festival Orchestra. 

Edinburgh International Festival Director, Nicola Benedetti said: “This year’s International Festival is a bold invitation to question the world around us – to seek, challenge and reflect on truth through the extraordinary lens of live performance.

“We’re honoured to welcome artists and audiences from across the globe to Edinburgh, and we remain deeply committed to making that experience more accessible than ever. Whether you’re here for an intimate recital, a powerful play, a mass singalong or an eight-hour choral epic, you’ll encounter connection, curiosity, and the power of great art to shift perspectives.

“This year’s Festival offers the possibility of truly transformational encounters and I look forward to sharing this with you.”

Councillor Margaret Graham, Culture and Communities Convener said: “Each year the International Festival offers a real variety of innovative and striking art and performance. 2025 is no different, with the programme encouraging Deep Thinkers, Social Butterflies, The Curious and Romantics.

“The range, from outdoor ceilidhs to epic opera, means there is truly something for everyone, bringing together world class performers from around the globe and here in Scotland. There are several different price options that will let even more people discover the magic of the International Festival too. These include Young Musician’s Pass, Tickets for Good and substantial discounts for art workers and under 30s.” 

Multi-Artform Manager at Creative Scotland, Lorna Duguid, said: “The Edinburgh International Festival continues to be a beacon for artistic excellence and cultural exchange, bringing the world to Scotland and showcasing Scotland to the world.

“This year’s theme, The Truth We Seek, speaks powerfully to the times we live in- inviting artists and audiences alike to explore, question and connect through extraordinary performances.

“With a third of this year’s programme featuring artists based in Scotland and an unwavering commitment to accessibility, the International Festival exemplifies how world-class culture can be both globally relevant and locally rooted.”

Tickets to world-class performances across a hand-picked programme of music, theatre, opera and dance at the Edinburgh International Festival in August 2025 are available 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