Haddo Arts Festival set to welcome back audiences
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The Haddo Arts Festival is set to entertain with eight days of performances.
It is the 11th annual event and is a return to the in-person format after two years of online festivals.
It will be held in Haddo House and the University of Aberdeen from Saturday, October 8 until Saturday, October 15.
One of the highlights will be the world premiere of We Are Collective, a piece Haddo Arts commissioned from the renowned Scottish composer, Sir James MacMillan to mark the 10th anniversary.
On Saturday, October 8 Haddo House Choral and Operatic Society will be performing Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle. It will be held in Haddo House Hall from 7.30pm to 9.30pm.
The day after, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra will present Yoyo and The Little Auk with two performances at 1pm and 3pm in Haddo House Hall.
A recital of organ music by Matthew McVey with pieces by Bach, Franck, Vaughan Williams and local composer Phillip Cooke will take place in the Haddo House Chapel from 5.15pm until 5.45pm.
This will be followed by the harvest festival service at 6pm which will be led by Professor Tom Greggs, Marischal Chair of Divinity at the University of Aberdeen.
The choir will be members of the Haddo House Choral and Operatic Society and there will be a retiring collection in aid of the David and June Gordon Memorial Trust.
On Monday, October 10 there will be an evening of words and music with stories, poems new and old, and perhaps a ballad or two from Doric maker, Sheena Blackhall. This will be preceded by a short piano recital by Scott Manson of the North East of Scotland Music School. It will take place in the Haddo House Library from 7.30pm to 9.30pm.
On Tuesday October 11 the Maxwell Quartet perform the final completed string quartets of two great composers: Joseph Haydn, whose Opus 77 no. 2 was written in 1799, and Johannes Brahms, who composed his Opus 67 quartet in 1875.
Alongside these two great works is Punctum by contemporary American composer Caroline Shaw, the youngest winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2013, which draws influence from Johann Sebastian Bach’s St Matthew Passion. It will be held in the Haddo House Hall from 7.30pm until 9pm.
In the midweek performance Alasdair Beatson conjures up the spirit of Vienna in a rich and festive programme of piano music, written in or inspired by the extravagant and colourful city: noble waltzes of Schubert and Ravel; miniatures of Schoenberg that capture glimpses of the more radical.
The recital includes a rare performance of the third piano sonata of Korngold, the Viennese composer who was to go on to conquer Hollywood as a composer for film. It ends with Schumann’s suite “Carnival-time in Vienna” which captures some of the city’s infamous hedonism and high-jinks. It will be performed in the Haddo House Hall from 7.30pm until 9.00pm.
On Thursday, October 13 a workshop will include an introductory talk by Sir James MacMillan about his new piano quintet We Are Collective which will receive its world premiere at Haddo Arts Festival on Friday, October 14, with live illustrations by the Maxwell Quartet and Alasdair Beatson. This will be followed by a question and answer session.
The workshop will take place in the pavilion at King’s College University of Aberdeen from 2pm until 3pm. While primarily intended for music students this event is open to anybody to attend free of charge.
This will be followed by Sir James MacMillan delivering the 2022 David and June Gordon Lecture at Aberdeen University. The lecture will take place in Room KCG7 of King’s College from 6pm.
Over at Haddo House Hall, written by Peter Kemp, A Place to Play is the latest Haddo Arts' commission from Music Co-OPERAtive Scotland (McOpera) for the young people and primary-aged children of Aberdeenshire and is presented in collaboration with the National Trust for Scotland.
Three local primary schools, singers from Haddo Voices (the junior section of Haddo House Choral and Operatic Society) and a group of young string and brass players from Aberdeenshire academies will take part in fun workshops and rehearsals before coming together at Haddo to rehearse and give two performances at 6pm and 7.30pm.
Friday, October 14 features the world premiere of We Are Collective by Haddo Arts from composer Sir James MacMillan and the Maxwell Quartet with Alasdair Beatson . It will be performed in Haddo House Hall from 7.30pm until 9pm.
To round off the events on Saturday, October 15 there will be a celebration of traditional Scottish music, song and spoken word with some of Scotland’s most renowned musicians, singers and entertainers.
Companionably gathered and hosted by the highly popular Scottish entertainer and singer Dr Robert Lovie, the concert will also feature traditional Scottish music by Raemond Jappy and Shannon Stevenson (fiddlers) and Maureen Rutherford (piano), Songs of Scotland from the highly acclaimed Scots Singer Siobhan Miller, as well as spoken word and stories from speaker and raconteur Jim Brown. The performance will be in the Haddo House Hall from 7.30pm until 9pm.
Also from October 8 to October 29 in the Haddo House grounds Create – Regenerate – Rebuild will bring colour and life back with an outdoor art trail, displaying vibrant works by local artists and Ellon’s Men’s Shed, and local primary schools will create new homes for the animals uprooted with the trees. The trail will meander through the park to an indoor art and photography exhibition in the Pheasantry.
Curated by award winning artist Sarah Calder, Haddo Country Park will become a gallery of art and nature throughout October. Follow a trail of sculptures, paintings and photography reflecting history, destruction and regeneration – time and nature always find a way.
Haddo is a community park, and the community has once again come together to submit a variety or artworks which highlight or soothe the destruction of the recent storm damage the north-east of Scotland has suffered, leaving every skyline forever altered.
Visit www.haddoarts.com for information about tickets for all the events.
