The 2019 International Festival in photos
Blog
Relive some of the most beautiful, breathtaking moments from this year's festival and join us again next year from 7-31 August 2020!
Aberdeen Standard Investments Opening Event: LA Phil at Tynecastle
We kicked off the festival with a night of sunshine and movie music at Tynecastle Park and were even joined by some very special guests...
A packed stadium but not a football in sight | Photo: Gaelle Beri
Special guests on the red carpet | Photo: Gaelle Beri
Darth Vader recruits some more Stroom Troopers | Photo: Gaelle Beri
YOLA National with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra | Photo: Gaelle Beri
The sun makes an appearance | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Contemporary Music
Building on the success of last year, the International Festival returned to Leith Theatre with Edinburgh Gin and other venues across the city for an eclectic programme of contemporary music. Leith Theatre lived up to its reputation as ‘the best live music venue in Scotland’ (The List) and with performances from Kate Tempest, Neneh Cherry, Jarvis Cocker and many more, this year's series brought some of the most unique and exciting voices in contemporary music today to Edinburgh.
Neneh Cherry | Photo: Gaelle Beri
Kate Tempest | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Anna Calvi | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Marcel Khalife & Rami Khalife featuring Aymeric Westrich | Photo: Gaelle Beri
This Is The Kit | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Villagers | Photo: Gaelle Beri
Sharon Van Etten | Gaelle Beri
Jarvis Cocker presents JARV IS... | Photo: Gaelle Beri
Teenage Fanclub | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Efterklang | Photo: Gaelle Beri
Amadou & Mariam + Blind Boys of Alabama | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Dance
Dance companies from across the globe came to perform in this year's International Festival, from China to Northern Ireland, Canada to Burkina Faso, and Scotland to the US. There was even some home-grown talent on display, as choreographer Oona Doherty worked with 12 young female dancers from House of Jack, a Leith based hip-hop collective. They went on to dance Episode II – The Sugar Army in all four Edinburgh performances of Hard to Soft: A Belfast Prayer.
Rite of Spring | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
The Edinburgh Sugar Army perform in Hard to be Soft | Photo: Gaelle Beri
9 | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Kalakuta Republik | Photo: Gaelle Beri
Trisha Brown: In Plain Site | Photo: Gaelle Beri
The Crucible | Photo: Jane Hobson
Theatre
This year's thought-provoking programme asked potent questions about the world today. Productions like The Secret River and Red Dust Road provided beautiful adaptations of acclaimed literary works, while Peter Gynt and Oedipus re-imagined past classics...
Peter Gynt | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Peter Gynt | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
The Secret River | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Roots | Photo: Gaelle Beri
Red Dust Road | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Kiinalik: These Sharp Tools | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Hear Word! Naija Woman Talk True | Photo: Gaelle Beri
Oedipus | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
La Reprise | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Opera
As well as our breath-taking concert performances of Orfeo ed Euridice, Manon Lescaut and Götterdämmerung, this year's programme included two beautifully staged operas. The pastoral scenes of Eugene Onegin couldn't be more different to the gritty oil rigs of Breaking The Waves, but they had in common outstanding casts, atmospheric staging, and a fondness for a revolving stage...
Eugene Onegin | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Eugene Onegin | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Eugene Onegin | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Eugene Onegin | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Breaking the Waves | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Breaking the Waves | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Breaking the Waves | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Breaking the Waves | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Classical Music
From Wagner to West Side Story, and from intimate recitals at St Cecilia's Hall to our charming Queen's Hall series and packed houses at the Usher Hall, this year's classical music programme was full of old favourites and new surprises.
Yuja Wang & Gustavo Dudamel | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
West Side Story | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Sheku Kanneh-Mason & Isata Kanneh-Mason | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Masato Suzuki | Photo: Gaelle Beri
Christine Goerke in Götterdämmerung | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Manon Lescaut | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Lawrence Brownlee & Iain Burnside | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
London Symphony Orchestra | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Edinburgh Festival Chorus | Photo: Gaelle Beri
Antoine Tamestit & Orchestre de Paris | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Youth Orchestra Los Angeles & Big Noise Raploch | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Alisa Weilerstein & Shanghai Symphony Orchestra | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Sir James MacMillan | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Joyce DiDonato and the National Youth Orchestra of the USA Photo: Chris Lee
You Are Here and The Departure Lounge
A series of readings, discussions, informal performances and hosted dinners, The Departure Lounge was a new brand new element of this year's You Are Here programme. Based in the The Lyceum Rehearsal Studio, The Departure Lounge provided a space for the public to meet with writers, directors, musicians, choreographers and performers, sharing fresh perspectives and diverse insights shaped by who they are and where they’re from.
Breaking Bread: Oona Doherty | Photo: Gaelle Beri
Breaking Bread: Oona Doherty | Photo: Gaelle Beri
Call and Response: H2 | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Morning Manifesto: Si’an Chen | Photo: Gaelle Beri
Morning Manifesto: Si’an Chen | Photo: Gaelle Beri
Common People: Class, Community and the Arts | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
This Liquid Earth: A Eulogy in Verse by Amy Jephta | Photo: Gaelle Beri
This Liquid Earth: A Eulogy in Verse by Amy Jephta | Photo: Gaelle Beri
Ocean Hotpot by Si'an Chen | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Virgin Money Fireworks Concert
As has been tradition for nearly 40 years, this year's International Festival went out with a bang. 400,000 fireworks, a world class orchestra, and one of the most magnificent settings in the world provided a fitting end to three weeks of outstanding music, dance, theatre and opera from some of the world's greatest artists.
Virgin Money Fireworks Concert | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Virgin Money Fireworks Concert | Photo: Gaelle Beri
Virgin Money Fireworks Concert | Photo: Gaelle Beri
Photo: Gaelle Beri
Virgin Money Fireworks Concert | Photo: Gaelle Beri
Virgin Money Fireworks Concert | Photo: Gaelle Beri
Virgin Money Fireworks Concert | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Virgin Money Fireworks Concert | Photo: Gaelle Beri
Virgin Money Fireworks Concert | Photo: Ryan Buchanan
Virgin Money Fireworks Concert | Photo: Gaelle Beri
Virgin Money Fireworks Concert | Photo: Gaelle Beri
Virgin Money Fireworks Concert | Photo: Gaelle Beri
Other news
blog
Creating the Festival Ambassadors
We're working with Leith Academy during a three-year residency designed to enrich the life of the school and as part of that, a group of students are acting as ambassadors of the partnership and overseeing all projects.
blog
You Are Here with Serge Aimé Coulibaly
Filmed as part of the You Are Here season at the 2019 International Festival, Serge Aimé Coulibaly improvises a dance provocation on an artist's impact on the world.
news
Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra to visit 2020 Edinburgh International Festival in celebration of Japan’s Olympic Summer
Announcement made as Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism & External Affairs Fiona Hyslop visits Tokyo ahead of 2020 Olympic Games.
blog
Fireworks and Symphonie fantastique: The International Festival Finale
On Monday night the Virgin Money Fireworks Concert provided a fitting finale to the 2019 International Festival. Here's a look behind the scenes from some of the people who make the magic happen.