Virtuosos to go virtual for Haddo
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BBC Radio Scotland’s Jamie MacDougall is to host this year’s virtual Haddo Arts Festival.
Haddo Arts Trustees realised back in April that the odds were against them being able to stage the annual Haddo Arts Festival in the traditional way, welcoming audiences to the Hall, House and Chapel at Haddo.
They therefore took the decision to continue Haddo’s long heritage of bringing the community together to experience and enjoy wonderful musical and spoken word performances by moving the 2020 Haddo Arts Festival online.
Some performances have been recorded at Haddo, and others where the performers could get together.
Richard Michael’s masterly and entertaining explanation that It’s All Music Folks features the Haddo Steinway.
Violinist Gina McCormack and pianist Nigel Clayton bring Beethoven and Debussy to us from Mellerstain House, while young clarinettist Laura Smith and pianist Colin Sinclair play Baermann and Schumann at North East Scotland Music School in Aberdeen.
Other treats include Haddo Children’s Theatre’ specially created digital musical The Show Must Go Online and Myrtle Throgmorton’s idiosyncratic tour of Haddo House.
The festival closes with the digital performance of Fables and Foibles, this year’s Song for Haddo, bringing together young singers and instrumentalists from Aberdeenshire and Dunbar.
However, there is one element of the festival which will take place at Haddo. The visual art exhibition, Experimental Use of 2m Space, will be available in the South Wing Courtyard and Garden and will be open from 10am – 7pm on Saturday 3 October, and from 10am – 4pm for the rest of the week.
Haddo Arts chairman, David Dryer, explained: “All the events are free to view, but we are asking audiences to donate via our website, www.haddoarts.com/donations, so we can continue to support the arts community.
“We are dedicating this year’s festival to Alexander Gordon, late Lord Aberdeen, who was a generous friend and supporter of Haddo Arts and is much missed. “
