Five days of world-class musicmaking in the East Neuk

The 13th East Neuk Festival starts on June 28 with five days of world-class music-making in the coastal villages of Fife.

The festival will celebrate the genius of Schubert across a single decade, 1816 to 1826.

Celebrated pianist Elisabeth Leonskaja, the Belcea Quartet, Alois Posch, Malcolm Martineau and Thomas Oliemans are scheduled to appear in five concerts across a repertoire ranging from the Wanderer Fantasy and Trout Quintet to Death and The Maiden and Die Schöne Müllerin.

Having just won an RPS Music Award for last year’s Big Project – David Lang’s Memorial Ground – it is gearing up for this year’s community-inspired centrepiece, De Profundis, featuring around 60 brass players.

These include the highly regarded Tullis Russell Mills Bands and the Wallace Collection led by Fife-born trumpeter John Wallace in the Bowhouse barn in Anstruther.

The project pays tribute to the generations of Fife miners who established the popular pit bands of the early 20th Century and also highlights the validity of brass band music for young players in contemporary times.

More brass comes in the shape of free pop-up festivals on Saturday July 1 in venues ranging from the Kingsbarns Distillery to the gardens of Kellie Castle and Elie Beach.

Also on the bill will be Julian Bliss on clarinet, Sean Shibe on guitar, fiddler Chris Stout, harpist Catriona McKay, Mr McFall’s Chamber and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra strings in a wide-ranging programme including the world premiere of a new commission from Norwegian composer Henning Sommerro.

Visit www. east neuk festival. com for more information.