An eclectic look at Perth Festival

May 6 2008 By Alison Anderson, Arts Editor

A HOST of world-class artists from all facets of the Arts will be Perth-bound between May 22 and June 1 to perform at the 37th Perth Festival of the Arts.

This year’s Festival programme is the most inclusive in the history of this highly-acclaimed Festival, featuring top names which will bring audiences of all ages to the Fair City.

Retro disco guru Calvin Harris spearheads the names to attract the younger element, who may well be experience a Perth Festival event for the first time this year, comedy’s man-of-the-moment Dara O Briain is an all-round giant of an act, and lovers of classical music are spoilt for choice, the icing on the cake being the Bell Lawrie Festival Concert on June 1 with an outstanding line-up including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Lesley Garrett and Julian Lloyd Webber.

Craig Dennis, Perth Festival chairman, commented: "We hope that within this year’s programme we have something which will appeal to people who have come to us in the past and hopefully attract some who have never before been to a festival event."

Already ticket sales are well ahead of last year, which in turn attained record-breaking levels.

Perth Festival administrator Sandra Ralston is delighted that the public are responding to the Festival’s ethos of continuing to raise the bar: "Ticket sales have built year on year since 2004 and already sales this year are in excess of the corresponding time last year. It was in 2004 when Lesley Garrett came to the Festival for the first time, and in subsequent years we have continued to attract world-renowned performers, including Dame Kiri Te Kanawa in 2005 and Bryn Terfel last year.

"And as we get more and more big-name artists on our CV, agents have increasing confidence in the Perth Festival."

With the demand for tickets at record levels, some events already have the ‘sold out’ notice posted on the Festival’s website. Yet even if arts lovers find their favourite event is sold-out, they will find nestling amidst the programme’s high-profile names a huge variety of other top-class events.

The programme holds a strong hand in comedy this year, from the outrageous Four Poofs and a Piano, to Grumpy Old Man Arthur Smith, the gentle comedy of Rodney Bewes with his stage adaptation of Jerome K Jerome’s ‘On the Stage – and Off’, and fresh from his Edinburgh Festival success, award-winning character comedian Richard Thomson with ‘Rebus McTaggart.’

Classical music remains at the heart of the Perth Festival. Audiences can enjoy the efforts from school pupils throughout Perth and Kinross by supporting the series of seven free lunchtime concerts in St John’s Kirk to the array of world-class performers, including the Russian State Symphony Orchestra with John Lill and a welcome return to the Festival by The Nash Ensemble of London.

Perth Festival always strives to support up-coming performers whose roots are based in this area, and this year that stage is given over to young mezzo-soprano Rowan Hellier, who presents Music on a Saturday Morning in St John’s Kirk on Saturday, May 31.

One of the more unusual events during the 2008 Festival is the glitz and glamour of The Magic of Dance with Camilla Dallerup and Ian Waite, two of the professional dancers from the BBC’s popular Strictly Come Dancing. They will be joined by New Zealand singing star Will Martin, a string quartet and more ballroom dancers for what promises to be a stunning dance show at Perth Concert Hall on May 26.

Contemporary music headliners are the Levellers – one of the best live bands in Britain, who will be supported by Dundee-based The Hazey Janes, and Richard Hawley, who was recently nominated for a Brit Award.

The wide selection of choices for music also features The Battlefield Band – winners of Best Live Act at the inaugural Scots Traditional Music Awards in 2003; The London Community Gospel Choir – the first gospel choir to appear at the Festival, expect funky material amidst the 15-strong choir’s more traditional gospel material; and the hugely popular The Great Big Gilbert & Sullivan Show.

On the jazz front, Courtney Pine and his band will play a tribute to Sidney Bechet, and Sir Richard Rodney Bennett will play with jazz singer Claire Martin — both shows will be in Perth Theatre.

This supplement shows the full Festival programme, how to buy tickets, a classical music preview by Peter Rutterford, and where to see some of the best visual art in town.