Edinburgh International Festival 8th-31st August 2008

• Jonathan Mills announces the progamme for the 62nd Edinburgh International Festival - his second as Director.
• The Festival explores political, psychological, geographical, physical and cultural borders, and notions of contemporary Europe.
• World premiere of Matthew Bourne's Dorian Gray by New Adventures dance company
• Word premiere of Heiner Goebbels' new work with The Hilliard Ensemble I went to the house but did not enter.
• Valery Gergiev leads the London Symphony Orchestra in all seven of Prokofiev's symphonies and his violin concertos with Leonidas Kavakos, and conducts the Mariinsky Opera Company in a rare staged production of Szymanowski's Król Roger.
• Premiere of Scottish Opera's new production of Smetana's The Two Widows.
• World premiere of National Theatre of Scotland's 365 directed by Vicky Featherstone, written by David Harrower, with songs by Paul Buchanan.
• State Ballet of Georgia led by prima ballerina Nina Ananiashvili presents Giselle and a Mixed Bill.
• Celebration of Olivier Messiaen's centenary including organ recitals by Naji Hakim.
• Festival debuts include: HK Gruber, Andrzej Dobber, Elzbieta Szmytka, Mariusz Treliński, Andrzej Chyra, Palestinian National Theatre, TR Warszawa, East West Theatre Company, Abbas Kiarostami, Muziektheater Transparant, Vicky Featherstone, Nina Ananiashvili, State Ballet of Georgia, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Rosas, Chunky Move, Ohad Naharin, Whirling Dervishes of Turkey, Naji Hakim, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Andrzej Seweryn, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, Philippe Herreweghe, Fabio Luisi, Jan Vogler, Hélène Grimaud, Gabriela Montero, Christiane Oelze, Susan Bullock, Christine Schäfer, Irvine Arditti.
• Sharing the Festival - Class Enemy by East West Theatre Company of Sarajevo tours to Rutherglen, Cumbernauld and Stirling after its Festival performances.
• Festival lectures by Neal Ascherson, Christopher Hitchens, Dr John Lennox, and Professor Graham Ward.

Jonathan Mills today announced his programme for the Edinburgh International Festival 2008, choosing as his theme for this year an exploration of some of the challenges, shifts and changes facing European communities in the 21st century.

‘The Edinburgh International Festival was founded in 1947 in the aftermath of a devastating war, as an optimistic expression of what Europe could be,' he said. ‘The Festival owes its origins to an urgent imperative to rebuild a sense of community in a continent which had torn itself apart; to restore faith and to heal the heartache of shattered lives through music, opera, drama, and dance.

‘In the early 21st century, Europe is a very different place. Recently the European Union has expanded to encompass 27 countries from Estonia to Cyprus, with a combined population of some 500 million people. Political borders have been redrawn in every direction one cares to look. These borders are not just political or geographic but, more significantly, represent a profound shift of cultural, social and even religious identity and opportunity. These are exciting times in which to live in Europe; times which demand a commitment to our sense of community.

‘A festival is an expression of the creative ambition of the community it serves. At the same time it is a place where the personal and collective challenges we face as a society can be explored; explored by artists working across and beyond the very boundaries which often seem unable to be bridged.

‘Festival 08 invites you to embark upon an exciting and often confronting journey along these cultural borders and beyond. Artists from Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bosnia and Georgia are juxtaposed with work from Lebanon, Turkey, Palestine, Israel and Iran - all territories with particular challenges on their own borders. Music from orthodox Christian traditions is heard alongside devotional masterpieces from Islam. Most illustrative of all are the rich traditions of gypsy music, a source of inspiration to composers from Brahms to Bartók, which reject the idea of borders altogether.'

Edinburgh International Festival 2008 runs from Friday 8 to Sunday 31 August across the city in theatres and concert halls, attracting audiences from around the world to Scotland's beautiful capital.

Festival 08 features many unique concert collaborations in addition to 3 world premieres, 2 European premieres, 10 UK premieres and new productions of well known works. The Festival has also commissioned an orchestral arrangement of Janáček's On the Overgrown Path by David Matthews which receives its premiere this year.

Dance includes the world premiere of Matthew Bourne's Picture of Dorian Gray with music by Terry Davies; State Ballet of Georgia with its Artistic Director and prima ballerina Nina Ananiashvili dancing the lead role in Giselle and a Mixed Bill including the UK premieres of new works by Yuri Possokhov and Alexei Ratmansky; Chunky Move from Australia with the European premiere of its dance and special effect extravaganza Mortal Engine; UK Premiere of Batsheva Dance Company from Israel with Deca Dance 2008; Belgium's Rosas dance company choreographed by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, and with music from Ictus, performs Steve Reich Evening - seven works representing the 25 years she has worked with the composer; and the Istanbul Music and Sema Group's Whirling Dervishes of Turkey.

Theatre includes two productions by Poland's TR Warszawa - Dybbuk and 4.48 Psychosis. Vicky Featherstone directs the National Theatre of Scotland's 365 One Night to Learn a Lifetime, by David Harrower and with songs by Paul Buchanan, which looks at young people in practice flats about to leave care. Barrie Kosky returns with his adaptation of Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart starring Martin Niedermair. The Palestinian National Theatre performs Jidariyya, a moving and beautiful look at mortality based on a poem by Mahmoud Darwish. East West Theatre Company presents a Bosnian take on Nigel Williams' play, Class Enemy. Renowned Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami produced a video installation with three simultaneous perspectives of a Persian passion play and its audience - Looking at Tazieh. Belgium's Muziektheater Transparant is joined by Collegium Vocale Gent for Ruhe, which sets Schubert songs against the testimony of SS veterans. Muziektheater Transparant also presents Wolpe! Welche Farbe hat der Vogel exploring the work of anti-fascist composer Stefan Wolpe. The Hilliard Ensemble join forces with Heiner Goebbels for the world premiere of I went to the house but did not enter.

Opera includes the world premiere of a fully staged production of Smetana's The Two Widows by Scottish Opera, starring Jane Irwin and Kate Valentine. The Mariinsky Opera Company performs a fully staged production of Karol Szymanowski's Król Roger under the baton of Valery Gergiev starring Andrzej Dobber and Elzbieta Szmytka. There will be concert performances of opera including the Opening Concert Kurt Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny conducted by HK Gruber and starring Sir Willard White and Susan Bickley. Valery Gergiev conducts the Mariinsky Opera and Orchestra in concert performances of Aleko by Sergei Rachmaninov and Semyon Kotko (act three) by Sergei Prokofiev, and The Enchanted Wanderer by Rodion Shchedrin.

Music includes performances from outstanding orchestras: the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra under conductor Gustavo Dudamel, the London Symphony Orchestra with Valery Gergiev, the Budapest Festival Orchestra with Iván Fischer, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra with Sakari Oramo, Staatskapelle Dresden with Fabio Luisi, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under conductors Gennadi Rozhdestvensky and Ilan Volkov; the Scottish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras, Oliver Knussen and Emmanuelle Haïm; and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under Stéphane Denève. Guest soloists will include Karita Mattila, Hélène Grimaud, Sir John Tomlinson, Tatjana Vassillieva, Alfred Brendel and Jan Vogler. The centenary of the birth of Olivier Messiaen is marked by two organ recitals at St Giles' Cathedral by Naji Hakim, and an Usher Hall concert by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Other artists include Dmitri Hvorostovsky, The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir with Paul Hillier, The Monteverdi Choir and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Les Arts Florissants with William Christie, Anne Sofie von Otter, and Gabriela Montero. The Song and Civilization series at Greyfriars Kirk will feature choral ensembles including Dialogos and Sequentia, Kudsi Erguner Ensemble, Sister Marie Keyrouz and L'Ensemble de la Paix, A Cumpagnia and the Anchiskhati Choir. The Queen's Hall Series includes appearances from Ysaÿe Quartet, Belcea Quartet, Pavel Haas Quartet, Jerusalem Quartet, Beaux Arts Trio, Susan Bullock, Mischa Maisky, Malcolm Martineau, Keith Lewis and Melvyn Tan.

The Festival culminates in the Bank of Scotland Fireworks Concert, Europe's largest annual firework display to live music, performed by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra with the stunning Edinburgh Castle as the backdrop.

Jonathan Mills added: ‘I believe that festivals are journeys; journeys to inspire us about our place in the world and our role as human beings. I hope that you will find your own way through this Festival, charting your own path and creating your own journey.

‘There is no place like Edinburgh in August. I look forward to welcoming you and I urge you all to join this celebration of big ideas; of art, humanity and community.'

Culture Minister Linda Fabiani said: ‘Scotland's diverse and vibrant cultural life is a defining feature of our successful and confident nation. It is the energy, commitment and creativity of Edinburgh's Festivals which together make Edinburgh the world's pre-eminent festival city, attracting many tourists and showcasing Scottish talent on the international stage.

‘Our Edinburgh Festival Expo Fund, launched last week, will help to ensure that the global competitive edge of the Festivals is maintained. I am delighted that the Edinburgh International Festival has successfully bid for Expo Funding for Scottish Opera's new production of Smetana's opera The Two Widows. I am sure this will prove to be a great opening to this year's Festival.'

Richard Holloway, Chairman of the Joint Board of Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen said: ‘It is not an exaggeration to say that every August for over half a century the best of the world's artists from across all disciplines have been drawn to Edinburgh as though pulled by a gigantic magnet. The magnet, of course, is the Edinburgh International Festival. From near and far, the most creative people on the globe become a part of the life of Scotland's capital; and for three mad and glorious weeks they challenge and inspire us. And that magnet seems to be more powerful than ever.'

Cllr Jenny Dawe, Leader of the City of Edinburgh Council, said: ‘The Edinburgh International Festival is central to our reputation as a world class place to live, work, study and invest. The economic benefit of festivals to the city has long been recognized and I am delighted that we are able to support an event that helps promote Edinburgh as a leading cultural capital. Jonathan Mills has put together a stimulating and challenging programme which stretches artistic boundaries and has yet again secured much of the best artistic offerings from across the globe.'