Sunday 11th August
FESTIVAL OPENING
SERVICE
CANONGATE KIRK
The 2024 Edinburgh Festival of the Sacred Arts in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe got off to a magnificent start with our opening service in Canongate Kirk - The Kirk of Holyroodhouse and Edinburgh Castle. Music was provided by organists Simon Leach and Morley Whitehead together with the beautiful voices of the choir of the The Robin Chapel, Edinburgh, directed by Paul Gudgin. James Holloway, formerly Director of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery gave the address and the service was led by Rev Neil Gardner. A wonderful start to our week-long programme of events.
FESTIVAL OPENING
SERVICE
CANONGATE KIRK
The 2024 Edinburgh Festival of the Sacred Arts in the Edinburgh Festival Fringe got off to a magnificent start with our opening service in Canongate Kirk - The Kirk of Holyroodhouse and Edinburgh Castle. Music was provided by organists Simon Leach and Morley Whitehead together with the beautiful voices of the choir of the The Robin Chapel, Edinburgh, directed by Paul Gudgin. James Holloway, formerly Director of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery gave the address and the service was led by Rev Neil Gardner. A wonderful start to our week-long programme of events.
Music
Monday 12th August
St Mary’s Metropolitan Cathedral
SWING WITH THE SPIRIT
Sacred Jazz with the Schola Cantorum
featuring Richard Michael and
Ben Shankland
"an evening saturated with quality . . . the audience beaming with smiles as they soaked up the music." Edinburgh Guide
"a thoroughly enjoyable and well-curated musical evening which demonstrated the abiding appeal of classic era jazz and its ability to cross over into sacred as well as secular spaces" Edinburgh Music Review
READ MORE
St Mary’s Metropolitan Cathedral
SWING WITH THE SPIRIT
Sacred Jazz with the Schola Cantorum
featuring Richard Michael and
Ben Shankland
"an evening saturated with quality . . . the audience beaming with smiles as they soaked up the music." Edinburgh Guide
"a thoroughly enjoyable and well-curated musical evening which demonstrated the abiding appeal of classic era jazz and its ability to cross over into sacred as well as secular spaces" Edinburgh Music Review
READ MORE
Wednesday 14th August
Church of the Sacred Heart
GABRIEL FAURÉ:
REQUIEM and CANTIQUE de JEAN RACINE
LEONARD BERNSTEIN:
CHICHESTER PSALMS
Director: Les Shankland with The Howe Street Singers
"the whole held so well together . . . leading the audience to greater and further depths. We had a glimpse and a window behind the curtain – into the divine both beyond, but also present in our midst." Edinburgh Guide READ MORE
Church of the Sacred Heart
GABRIEL FAURÉ:
REQUIEM and CANTIQUE de JEAN RACINE
LEONARD BERNSTEIN:
CHICHESTER PSALMS
Director: Les Shankland with The Howe Street Singers
"the whole held so well together . . . leading the audience to greater and further depths. We had a glimpse and a window behind the curtain – into the divine both beyond, but also present in our midst." Edinburgh Guide READ MORE
Thursday 15th August
Canongate Kirk
COMPOSING SACRED MUSIC:
THE NEXT GENERATION
with Dame Judith Weir, Master of the King’s Music
and the Sacred Arts Festival Singers, directed by Calum Robertson
"a remarkable performance – not only for its musical content, but all that it stood for, and the vision for music it enshrined." Edinburgh Guide
READ MORE
Canongate Kirk
COMPOSING SACRED MUSIC:
THE NEXT GENERATION
with Dame Judith Weir, Master of the King’s Music
and the Sacred Arts Festival Singers, directed by Calum Robertson
"a remarkable performance – not only for its musical content, but all that it stood for, and the vision for music it enshrined." Edinburgh Guide
READ MORE
Thursday 15th August
St Vincent's Chapel, St Vincent Street
THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD -
SACRED SONG OF THE
ENGLISH MUSICAL
RENAISSANCE
Tenor Sam Madden with Will Sims on piano gave a recital of works by Vaughan Williams, Herbert Howells, Roger Quilter, Robin Milford, and Benjamin Britten's extraordinary Canticle II: 'Abraham and Isaac' accompanied by counter-tenor Felix Schneideman.
St Vincent's Chapel, St Vincent Street
THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD -
SACRED SONG OF THE
ENGLISH MUSICAL
RENAISSANCE
Tenor Sam Madden with Will Sims on piano gave a recital of works by Vaughan Williams, Herbert Howells, Roger Quilter, Robin Milford, and Benjamin Britten's extraordinary Canticle II: 'Abraham and Isaac' accompanied by counter-tenor Felix Schneideman.
Friday 16th August
Old Saint Paul's Episcopal Church
AVE MARIA:
CENTURIES OF PRAYER AND PRAISE
Music and poetry for Mary, the Mother of Jesus
Choir of Old Saint Paul’s
Director: Dr John Kitchen MBE
The choir of Old Saint Paul's Episcopal Church directed by John Kitchen MBE gave a magnificent performance for our final music event ‘Ave Maria: Centuries of Prayer and Praise.’ – a combination of choral works and poetry on the theme of Mary, Mother of Jesus. The choir sang with the beautiful gilded-oak altar triptych as a fitting backdrop.
Old Saint Paul's Episcopal Church
AVE MARIA:
CENTURIES OF PRAYER AND PRAISE
Music and poetry for Mary, the Mother of Jesus
Choir of Old Saint Paul’s
Director: Dr John Kitchen MBE
The choir of Old Saint Paul's Episcopal Church directed by John Kitchen MBE gave a magnificent performance for our final music event ‘Ave Maria: Centuries of Prayer and Praise.’ – a combination of choral works and poetry on the theme of Mary, Mother of Jesus. The choir sang with the beautiful gilded-oak altar triptych as a fitting backdrop.
Visual Art
Saturday 17th August
St Vincent's Chapel, St Vincent Street
NIL PENNA SED USUS
Esther Inglis Quatercentenary Event
Our final day of events began in St Vincent's Chapel with the Esther Inglis Quatercentenary Event attended by a capacity audience. The Sacred Arts Festival Singers directed by Calum Robertson performed some of Esther Inglis' beautiful devotional texts set to music. This was followed with a talk by Anna-Nadine Pike, curator of the Edinburgh University Library Esther Inglis project, who presented an illustrated talk about Inglis' exquisite work in calligraphy, art and embroidery.
' Fantastic event. The music was wonderful and the talk so interesting and enlightening' (Audience Member)
St Vincent's Chapel, St Vincent Street
NIL PENNA SED USUS
Esther Inglis Quatercentenary Event
Our final day of events began in St Vincent's Chapel with the Esther Inglis Quatercentenary Event attended by a capacity audience. The Sacred Arts Festival Singers directed by Calum Robertson performed some of Esther Inglis' beautiful devotional texts set to music. This was followed with a talk by Anna-Nadine Pike, curator of the Edinburgh University Library Esther Inglis project, who presented an illustrated talk about Inglis' exquisite work in calligraphy, art and embroidery.
' Fantastic event. The music was wonderful and the talk so interesting and enlightening' (Audience Member)
Exhibitions
Tuesday 13th -Friday 16th August
St Vincent's Chapel, Stockbridge
TRIPTYCH OF
THE BOOK OF REVELATION
About Time
"a truly remarkable piece of art – one of those whereby the more you delve deeper, the more you discover." Edinburgh Guide
Annelies Clarke reflected on the creative process of her triptych painting depicting 122 texts from the Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible. Annelies astonishing three panel painting was on display at St Vincent's Chapel with daily 20 minute video talks. Annelies's talk followed an exploration of the painting's themes by Paul Forster, Professor of New Testament at School Of Divinity, New College, University Of Edinburgh. We were also treated to a beautiful choral performance of Bainton's 'And I saw a new Earth' directed by Sandy Chenery. READ MORE
St Vincent's Chapel, Stockbridge
TRIPTYCH OF
THE BOOK OF REVELATION
About Time
"a truly remarkable piece of art – one of those whereby the more you delve deeper, the more you discover." Edinburgh Guide
Annelies Clarke reflected on the creative process of her triptych painting depicting 122 texts from the Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible. Annelies astonishing three panel painting was on display at St Vincent's Chapel with daily 20 minute video talks. Annelies's talk followed an exploration of the painting's themes by Paul Forster, Professor of New Testament at School Of Divinity, New College, University Of Edinburgh. We were also treated to a beautiful choral performance of Bainton's 'And I saw a new Earth' directed by Sandy Chenery. READ MORE
Monday 12th - Friday 16th August
St Columba's by the Castle
RE-IMAGINING
THE RUTHWELL CROSS
"the worn state of the Cross has inspired Cat Outram's remarkable recreation" Edinburgh Guide
Medievalist and academic Marilyn Dunn gave a fascinating talk at the opening of the exhibition 'Re-imagining the Ruthwell Cross' at St Columba's by the Castle in which artist Cat Outram re-imagines damaged and missing images on the famous Ruthwell Cross. Music was provided by the Sacred Arts Festival Singers. The exhibition ran for the whole week and was well attended.
READ MORE
St Columba's by the Castle
RE-IMAGINING
THE RUTHWELL CROSS
"the worn state of the Cross has inspired Cat Outram's remarkable recreation" Edinburgh Guide
Medievalist and academic Marilyn Dunn gave a fascinating talk at the opening of the exhibition 'Re-imagining the Ruthwell Cross' at St Columba's by the Castle in which artist Cat Outram re-imagines damaged and missing images on the famous Ruthwell Cross. Music was provided by the Sacred Arts Festival Singers. The exhibition ran for the whole week and was well attended.
READ MORE
Poetry
Sunday 11th August
Church of the Sacred Heart,
SCOTTISH RELIGIOUS POETRY
"reimagining the inherited tradition – making it alive in new ways" Edinburgh Guide
One of our first events this week was a live performance of selections from the new edition of Scottish Religious Poetry featuring poets Marion Morrison, James McGonigal and Samuel Tongue accompanied by editors Linden Bicket, Emma Dymock and Alison Jack from the The University of Edinburgh. READ MORE
Church of the Sacred Heart,
SCOTTISH RELIGIOUS POETRY
"reimagining the inherited tradition – making it alive in new ways" Edinburgh Guide
One of our first events this week was a live performance of selections from the new edition of Scottish Religious Poetry featuring poets Marion Morrison, James McGonigal and Samuel Tongue accompanied by editors Linden Bicket, Emma Dymock and Alison Jack from the The University of Edinburgh. READ MORE
Wednesday 14th August
Canongate Kirk
REFUGE AND THE ROAD HOME
"the recital here was genuine, authentic and accomplished – shining shafts of light when the veneers are stripped away"
Centred around the theme of ‘home and homelessness’, this recital collected an encyclopaedic range of poems, but all linked to the idea of where we think of as home, and when we feel homeless. Read by poets Christine De Luca and Elspeth Murray, the poems were quite brief, giving the audience space to reflect during musical interludes on flute and piccolo by Katherine Wake. READ MORE
Canongate Kirk
REFUGE AND THE ROAD HOME
"the recital here was genuine, authentic and accomplished – shining shafts of light when the veneers are stripped away"
Centred around the theme of ‘home and homelessness’, this recital collected an encyclopaedic range of poems, but all linked to the idea of where we think of as home, and when we feel homeless. Read by poets Christine De Luca and Elspeth Murray, the poems were quite brief, giving the audience space to reflect during musical interludes on flute and piccolo by Katherine Wake. READ MORE
Dance
Tuesday 13th August
1.15 - 2pm
Old Saint Paul’s Church, Jeffrey Street
EH1 1DH
DANCING ASH WEDNESDAY
Paul Burrows, dancer/priest,
with Anne Young, narrator
Paul Burrows's choreographical interpretation of T S Eliot's poem Ash Wednesday, was both physical and spiritual, and deeply moving. Dancer and priest Paul performed in Old Saint Paul's Episcopal Church surrounded by a wrapt audience, with Eliot's text beautifully narrated by Anne Young. The poem and the dance it inspired expressed something of the struggle that many LGBT+ people have faced in reconciling faith and membership of a faith community.
1.15 - 2pm
Old Saint Paul’s Church, Jeffrey Street
EH1 1DH
DANCING ASH WEDNESDAY
Paul Burrows, dancer/priest,
with Anne Young, narrator
Paul Burrows's choreographical interpretation of T S Eliot's poem Ash Wednesday, was both physical and spiritual, and deeply moving. Dancer and priest Paul performed in Old Saint Paul's Episcopal Church surrounded by a wrapt audience, with Eliot's text beautifully narrated by Anne Young. The poem and the dance it inspired expressed something of the struggle that many LGBT+ people have faced in reconciling faith and membership of a faith community.
Architecture
Tuesday 13th 7pm & Wednesday 14th August 10.30am
Church of the Sacred Heart, 26 Lauriston Street
EH3 9DJ
LIVING STONES
An hour-long session that explored the living stones of the Neo-Classical Jesuit Church of the Sacred Heart, a Grade A listed building unknown to many.
Church of the Sacred Heart, 26 Lauriston Street
EH3 9DJ
LIVING STONES
An hour-long session that explored the living stones of the Neo-Classical Jesuit Church of the Sacred Heart, a Grade A listed building unknown to many.
Film
Friday 16th August
12 noon
St Vincent’s Undercroft, St Vincent Street
EH3 6SW
LA VIE et la PASSION de
JESUS CHRIST (1907)
with an introduction by Richard Kendall
A landmark in the early history of film, La Vie et la Passion de Jesus Christ directed by Lucien Nonguet and Ferdinand Zecca, is believed to be the first feature film to have colorized sequences, each black and white frame being coloured by hand. The screening of this masterpiece was introduced by Richard Kendall, a specialist in the history of silent film. Richard has also constructed an accompanying musical sound track.
12 noon
St Vincent’s Undercroft, St Vincent Street
EH3 6SW
LA VIE et la PASSION de
JESUS CHRIST (1907)
with an introduction by Richard Kendall
A landmark in the early history of film, La Vie et la Passion de Jesus Christ directed by Lucien Nonguet and Ferdinand Zecca, is believed to be the first feature film to have colorized sequences, each black and white frame being coloured by hand. The screening of this masterpiece was introduced by Richard Kendall, a specialist in the history of silent film. Richard has also constructed an accompanying musical sound track.
Saturday 17th August
4pm
Church of the Sacred Heart, 26 Lauriston Street
EH3 9DJ
FESTIVAL CLOSING SERVICE :
VESPERS
The 2024 Edinburgh Festival of the Sacred Arts drew to an end with the closing service in Sacred Heart Jesuit Church & Edinburgh Jesuit Centre with Rev Neil Gardner as homilist. Vespers is a liturgy of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Catholic daily worship, which focuses on the psalms and other biblical canticles.
4pm
Church of the Sacred Heart, 26 Lauriston Street
EH3 9DJ
FESTIVAL CLOSING SERVICE :
VESPERS
The 2024 Edinburgh Festival of the Sacred Arts drew to an end with the closing service in Sacred Heart Jesuit Church & Edinburgh Jesuit Centre with Rev Neil Gardner as homilist. Vespers is a liturgy of evening prayer, one of the canonical hours in Catholic daily worship, which focuses on the psalms and other biblical canticles.