Aberdeen International Youth Festival

Vote Splore in the Trad Awards 2010!

2010-11-02T10:13:00.003Z

The Splore Traditional Music School has been a long-running successful project of Aberdeen International Youth Festival, warmly welcoming hundreds of youngsters from Aberdeen and the surrounding areas to develop and showcase their skills during a residency at the festival. Every year, talented young performers and several mentors put in a lot of hard work for results they can be proud of. This year, there is a chance for these efforts to be rewarded with a TRAD AWARD.
Hands up for Trad are an organisation dedicated to increasing the profile and visibility of Scottish traditional music, and their coveted annual awards; the Trad Awards, recognise people and groups that promote these goals through the work that they do. The Splore has been nominated in the category EVENT OF THE YEAR.
This is a category where the winner is decided by popular vote, so to make sure Splore gets the recognition it deserves, make sure you vote for it! Please take the small amount of time to do this - simply go to the Hands up for Trad website (http://www.handsupfortrad.co.uk/index.htm), and follow the instructions for voting found there.
Splore needs you!

All new Jazz Scotland

2010-10-21T15:25:00.003+01:00

Aberdeen International Youth Festival has relationships with other charities and festivals across Scotland and beyond, the newly created Jazz Scotland being just one. Jazz Scotland, formerly Jazz Aberdeen, is committed to presenting the best of International and Scottish Jazz with shows mainly in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow. They will also present the Aberdeen, Dundee, Fife, Islay, Lockerbie and Tay Jazz Festivals throughout the years. AIYF has kindly agreed to take on the management of Jazz Scotland. You can read more about them, and their first ever gig, right here in Aberdeen, below:

Two of Scotland’s foremost jazz promoters have joined forces to form a new and exciting company called Jazz Scotland.

Assembly Direct who currently promote jazz festivals in Dundee, Fife, Islay and Lockerbie and Jazz Aberdeen, the company who transformed Aberdeen into one of the leading jazz cities in the UK have announced the formation of Jazz Scotland.

The new company’s Chair, Neil Gibbons, says “This is a great opportunity for jazz in Scotland. Together we will be able to present a programme of live jazz of the highest quality throughout Scotland. We are already planning a range of initiatives and collaborations which will enable us to present top international and Scottish artists to our audiences."

Regular jazz concerts will be presented in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow with annual festivals in Aberdeen, Dundee, Fife, Islay, Lockerbie and Perth.

Jazz Scotland is also actively developing a network of partnerships with other jazz clubs and promoters to increase the number of venues and opportunities available for jazz. Such partnerships have already been established with Jazz at Hospitalfield in Arbroath, the Jazz Bar in Edinburgh, the Arts and Theatres Trust in Fife, the Islay Arts Association, Dumfries and Galloway Arts Association, the Byre Theatre in St. Andrews and Horsecross in Perth.

Jazz Scotland is supported by funding from Creative Scotland, local councils and other arts support organizations and sponsors.

Jazz Scotland’s first concert will be in Aberdeen and will feature legendary jazz/rock guitarist, Mike Stern in a rare club appearance at the city’s Blue Lamp venue on Sunday 31st October. Stern, who made his name with Miles Davis, Jaco Pastorius and The Brecker Brothers, co-led a brilliant band with Bob Berg and has led one of the most successful contemporary/jazz groups for over 20 years. This concert will feature French jazz and fusion violin superstar Didier Lockwood as a special guest.

For more details please visit www.jazzscotland.com .

AIYF Recommends 'Faith Healer'

2010-09-16T09:25:00.002+01:00

It may be about almost eleven months until the Aberdeen International Youth Festival comes round again, but there is still plenty to see and do in the city. There are still arts performances, and today we can recommend one in particular.
Tonight sees the premiere performance of "Faith Healer"; the start of a 3 night run. Presented by Blue Tiger Theatre, it is a compelling and poignant play about the power of faith - of all kinds - and the unreliability of memory by one of Ireland's greatest playwrights; Brian Friel.
Critical acclaim: "The writing is beautiful, supple, rhythmical, charged with the slow, sure throb of despair and enchantment... Brian Friel is the most profound and poetic of contemporary Irish dramatists" - The Observer
You can see it at the Aberdeen Arts Centre, 7.30pm, Thursday 16th - Saturday 18th September. Tickets are reasonably priced, available from Aberdeen Box Office on 01224 641122, or www.boxofficeaberdeen.com.

AIYF 2010 - That's a wrap

2010-08-27T15:52:00.002+01:00

So here we are, at the end of August, looking back with a definite sense of satisfaction and pride. It is now 20 days since festival participants signed off with our customary grand finale, the International Variety Gala. Now that's how to end a festival! The audience practically raised the roof off His Majesty's Theatre with a standing ovation that continued for a good few minutes after the curtain fell. They were then serenaded out with uplifting tunes from Diamond Vale Government Primary Steel Ensemble. After nearly two weeks' solid work, we can definitely say: It was worth it.
By now we have stopped to catch our breath; we have recharged our batteries and we are looking forward as well as back. We have left our summer office and are back at our normal residence at Regent Quay, where we shall be based until June 2011. The postal address is:

Aberdeen International Youth Festival
Custom House
35 Regent Quay
Aberdeen
AB11 5BE

Other than the fact that we are very pleased with our efforts, it is too early to draw any definite conclusions about the success of this year's festival, with a couple of exceptions. We have had a tremendous response in feedback from almost all of our shows and have taken a keen interest in what you've got to say. We will not require any number crunching to determine that AIYF 2010 has to go down as one of the best ever in terms of quality of shows. An overwhelming 84.1% of you said that the show in question was excellent. Almost everybody else said the show was good. Clearly this was the big success of this year's festival. It is great to know how highly appreciated the events this year were and we thank everyone who took the time to tell us.
We will remember this year fondly. So much hard work was done by so many people to ensure it ran as well as it did. The list of people that deserve thanks is so long that I'd be here all night and most of tomorrow typing it all out. So we shall simply say: "Well done everyone!"
As stated above, we are looking forward as well as back. We are taking the salient information from this year and applying it to next year with a view to making AIYF 2011 even better. Constant improvement is the continuous goal. We would like to remind all that THE APPLICATION PERIOD FOR 2011 IS OPEN. That's how it is; one festival has ended so the work towards the next one has already begun. It is already on the calander: 27th July - 6th August 2011 is Festival time!

Chamber Music Competition - monetary prize!

2010-07-27T12:19:00.002+01:00

CALLING ALL LOCAL MUSICIANS

If you are 25 or under and part of an orchestral ensemble there is still time to enter the prestigious Norman Cooper Chamber Music Prize.

The competition, part of Aberdeen International Youth Festival is looking for groups of two up to 13 players from Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire or Moray to take part.

The competition, which has a monetary prize, takes place as a public concert on Tuesday August 3 at 2pm in Queen’s Cross Church, Aberdeen.

To find out more about the event contact Aberdeen International Youth Festival on 01224 273740.

Tickets for AIYF are available from Aberdeen Box Office on 01224 641122 or online at www.boxofficeaberdeen.com, and also directly from venues.

Calling all volunteers!

2010-07-01T11:35:00.002+01:00

Every year at AIYF, we are lucky enough to be supported by a team of volunteer staff. As AIYF 2010 approaches, we are looking for volunteers to help with a variety of tasks from now until the end of the Festival (7 August).

Jobs include helping distribute our promotional material far and wide (within Aberdeen City and surrounding region), helping out in the AIYF office with administrative tasks, and helping out front of house at performances and outside events.

As a small token of our appreciation, all volunteers receive free tickets to a Festival show of choice and transport expenses will be covered.

Are you available for even a few hours to help out? Just get in touch at volunteer@aiyf.org

Thanks very much!

Festival Update

2010-06-25T09:13:00.003+01:00

Another week draws to a close, and we are officially past the longest day of the year, and for us at AIYF that means two things: Loads of work and a new office! Monday was a flurry of activity as we said goodbye to Regent Quay for the next wee while, moving to larger accomodation at the University of Aberdeen which will be our base right on through the festival.

The longest day of the year, Monday, was our moving day. Into the van went our remaining brochures, (yes, we still have plenty for those who would like any!), computer/ office equipment, and enough juice and water to satisfy a mini marathon. (You don't need my help to draw a comparison).

The University staff have been doing all they can to help us, and they are a major reason for a relatively smooth transition. We would like to thank the University for its continued support. Also instrumental in our big move were Capital Solutions, and we also pay tribute to them for their part in getting the new office up and running as quickly as possible.

So, right on into August, we are to be found at the New Kings building in the heart of the University of Aberdeen, Kings' College Campus. Our main office is located in room NK11 (left door as you face the building, up one flight of stairs, on the right). It will be our thriving hive of activity. One feature of our time here is that we all have direct lines:

Reception - 01224 273740 (All numbers preceeded by Aberdeen code 01224)

Stewart Aitken (Chief Executive) - 274339

Ruth Fisher (Festival Manager) - 274336

Flora Cook (Festival Administrator) - 274335

Andrew Youngson (Manager, Marketing and Communications) - 274333

Alisdair McLeod (Administration, Marketing and Communications) - 274338

HotDesk - 274334

Fast forward a few days and everything is up and running. Final preparation is beginning to take shape. There is now little more than a month until the start of the festival, and we are gearing up for more than a hundred shows, each with different groups, acts performers - and audiences. Because Festival Staff, busy as they are, work with the intended outcome of yet another successful festival, which means an extensive list of shows that are well worth seeing. You can find details about every single one at http://www.aiyf-listings.org.uk/. (Promise kept!) Our efforts for the whole year shall, ultimately, be judged between 28th July and 7th of August. But this is your festival as much as it is ours. So to ensure the Aberdeen International Youth Festival 2010 is every bit as good as you deserve it to be, make sure you are there to see as much of it as possible!

SUCCESSFUL PROGRAMME LAUNCH AT UNION SQUARE

2010-06-11T09:46:00.003+01:00

Aberdeen International Youth Festival officially launched its programme for 2010 with a 5-hour variety performance at Union Square. The launch began at Cineworld with a welcome to an audience predominantly comprising of friends, supporters and sponsors. The general public were then treated to a variety display in the main atrium.
The place was packed as dancers from Brigham Young University Ballroom Dance Company took to the floor with a visually enthralling set of pieces including a dance from Travis and Jamie Tuft. The company, from Utah, America were here in Aberdeen as part of their tour and we are so glad they could join us for this curtain raiser.
The show continued with a rendition of songs from Chalmers Mackay School of Music, including their band Celtallica. This was just a small preview of what Chalmers Mackay will be bringing to the festival this year. If their performance at Union Square was anything to go by, they will be well worth seeing.
And so it continued, right on up until closing time, with acts that had everything from more music to street dance. If this is just a small glimpse of what will happen when the festival is actually underway, Aberdeen will be the only place to be come the 28th of July.
The event could not have gone as it did without the tremendous response we received from our team of volunteers, as well as present members of our office staff, who were on hand to give out as many brochures as the public demanded. We would like to say a heartfelt thank you to all those who gave their time to ensure the event ran smoothly.
We would also like to thank Cameron Presentations for staging the show. Their technical display and sound expertise were vital in making the show the best it could be. They were great to work with and the fact they are now in Aberdeen is very good news.
The press were also in attendance. In particular, coverage of the event can be seen on the front page of This Morning's Press and Journal. A video of the event is also available online from the Evening Express. We would like to thank them for their support.
So, full steam ahead for the festival, from 28th July - 7th August. Yesterday was just the beginning. Our full and varied programme will have something for everyone, and details are available in our brochure, and we have plenty! Alternatively, visit www.aiyf-listings.org.uk for a guide to all the shows.

FESTIVAL PROGRAMME LAUNCH 2010

2010-05-25T14:51:00.003+01:00

This year's Programme Launch will be at Aberdeen's Union Square on Thursday 10th June. The Launch of the programme will start at Cineworld on the Upper (First) floor, and will continue in the main atrium with a show performance from as yet un-named groups. (So watch this space). However, a launch event of this scale does not happen all by itself. If you are, or can be in Aberdeen that day, why not get involved? Our Festival Manager can find something suited to your individual expertise.
If you want to help, get involved by contacting Ruth. You can get in touch by comment on this site, on Facebook, or any of our other sites. (Link for our website in title link) Direct emails should be sent to: ruth@aiyf.org; our office telephone number is (01224) 213800.

Free orchestral concert!

2010-05-06T18:26:00.003+01:00

Hello all,

Just blogging to let you all know about a unique concert that's coming up at the Music Hall on Thursday 27th May.

The Music Hall will play host to a live streamed concert straight from The Royal Festival Hall in London. The real-time broadcast will feature the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, led by Ivan Fischer, and featuring Julia Fischer on Violin. Here's the programme:

Rossini Overture - The Italian Girl in Algiers
Mendelssohn - Violin Concerto
Rossini - Variazioni a piu istrumenti obbligati
Schubert - Symphony No.5 in B Flat

And, oh yeah, wait a minute. It's totally FREE! This is courtesy of Shell who are doing this as part of their 2009/10 International Concert Series.

If you're interested (and you should be - it's International-quality culture for FREE!) just follow this link that will take you to the Aberdeen Box Office page when yu can book tickets.

See you there!

AIYF

Tickets go on sale for youth arts festival.

2010-04-23T09:44:00.002+01:00

Aberdeen International Youth Festival (AIYF), one of the world’s leading celebrations of youth arts, has announced that tickets for performances in Aberdeen’s main venues have been released for general sale today (Monday 19 April).

Following a ten day priority booking period for members of the AIYF Friends, a total of eleven performances that will be hosted in His Majesty’s Theatre, the Music Hall and the Lemon Tree are now on sale to the general public.

Performances include many of the musical, dramatic and dance highlights of AIYF 2010 such as the Festival Dance Gala on Thursday 5 August and the ever-popular International Variety Gala on Saturday 7 August that will take place at HMT. Music Hall performances now on sale include the Welcome Ceremony on Thursday 29 July, an evening with the Edinburgh Youth Orchestra featuring Soprano Lisa Milne on Friday 30 July, and A Serenade to Music on Sunday 1 August – a choral recital featuring the works of Vaughan Williams. Performances by the Scottish contemporary dance group, Project Y, and the Mitchell School of Drama are now on sale at the Lemon Tree Studio.

Aberdeen International Youth Festival has long been one of the world’s leading participatory youth festivals and 2010 will see musicians, dancers and theatre acts showcase their talents over a 10 day period running from 28 July to 7 August.

AIYF Chief Executive, Stewart Aitken, said: “I am delighted to make some of our key shows available sooner than we have been able to in the past. With more than 70 unique acts from across the world now signed up, AIYF promises to be one of the Festival’s most exciting and diverse years.”

The Aberdeen International Youth Festival 2010 runs from July 28 until August 7.
Tickets for AIYF are available from Aberdeen Box Office on 01224 641122 or online at www.boxofficeaberdeen.com

For the most up to date programme information visit www.aiyf.org

AIYF 2010 Residency Courses Now Open!

2010-04-07T16:45:00.004+01:00

Hi everyone,

We are pleased to announce that the residency opportunities for AIYF 2010 are now available. They will give participants the chance to improve your talents and work with some of the best artists from around the world.

Balmoral Splore Traditional Music School: 2 - 6 August 2010

Splore is aimed at musicians between the ages of 12 – 16. It gives young musicians the chance to explore and develop their skills in traditional music. All participants must be grade 2 or above. Classes will be taught in fiddle, whistle, guitar, accordion, piano, clarsach and percussion along with other instruments depending of Splore numbers and time.

For more information or to apply please click here.

Ceol Mor Trad Music Big Band: 30 Jul – 7 Aug 2010

Ceol Mor is AIYF’s trad big music band. It consists of some of the most promising musicians from Scotland and North America. They perform unique arrangements of trad Scottish music by mixing it with different, exciting, musical styles.

The band will have a 9 day residency at the 2010 AIYF, including a week of rehearsals and gigs in Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire, including a performance at His Majesty’s Theatre.

Ceol Mor is open to musicians aged 16 – 26, grade 5 and above.

For more information or to apply please click here.

Dance Lab: 27 Jul – 5 Aug 2010

Dance Lab gives young dancers of varying levels the chance to explore dance styles indepth with leading tutors from Scotland and across the globe. It consists of three master classes and a youth option listed below:

Master Class 1: 27 – 29 Jul 2010 with Robert Lori
Master Class 2: 30 Jul – 1 Aug 2010 with Scottish Ballet
Master Class 3: 2 – 5 Aug 2010 with Andy Howitt Artistic Director of Y-Dance
Young Dance Lab, is open to dancers aged 8 - 14 and gives younger dancers the chance to learn different dance styles and stimulate their imaginations.

For more information on either Dance Lab or to apply please click here.

Chamber Music Project: 2 – 6 Aug 2010

The AIYF Chamber Music Project is new to 2010 and gives musicians the chance to work with The Hebrides Ensemble (www.hebridesensemble.org.uk) and Director Will Conway. There are 20 places available in the Chamber Music Project with no accommodation or tuition fees.

For more information or to apply please click here.

London 2012 opportunity for disadvantaged Aberdonian Youths

2010-03-12T15:15:00.002Z

We would like to let you know about an opportunity for disadvantaged youths in Aberdeen.

Aberdeen City Council is developing its partnership with London 2012 to improve outcomes for eight disadvantaged youths within Aberdeen. There are only four places in the whole of the UK offering this opportunity, which is supported by AIYF Gold Festival Sponsor BP.

Young people will be selected in teams of five from a handful of local authorities based around proximity to BPs four hub locations of;

• Hull

• Aberdeen

• Canary Wharf

• Spelthorne and Hounslow

London 2012 have made a commitment to deliver a Young Leaders Programme (YLP) to 100 Youths to give them the chance of a life time to take part in a intensive personal development programme. The programme offers training and coaching with the chance to lead volunteering opportunities, which will run between April 2010 and September 2012.

YLP is designed to develop youth’s inter-personal, communication and leadership skills to enable them to play a significant role in the delivery of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympics games.

100 BP employees will be providing individual leadership coaching to young leaders to help them along their way including additional support from a number of athlete mentors and delivery organisations.

This is a very exciting opportunity as it is the only group of young people in the UK to be offered such a high profile role during games time.

Participants must have turned 16 before 1/1/2010 and have a home address in Aberdeen. It is open for youths who have experienced a disadvantage in line with the criteria in the Young Leaders Programme.

For full details on the National programme click here

For a copy of the Nominations Form, please contact the AIYF office on info@aiyf.org. NB Filled in forms must be returned by 17 March.

Auditions for Euroasia Symphony Orchestra extended!

2010-02-26T14:21:00.006Z

Applications for the Euroasia Symphony Orchestra have just been extended until Monday 19 April.

The next orchestra session will take place from the 5th to the 14th of August, 2010 in Seoul (South Korea), potentially followed by a concert tour up to 8 days.

The Orchestra gives highly talented youths in the European Union and most Asian countries the opportunity to work with master musicians. They aim to bring people together to bridge their cultural, linguistic and social differences through the enthusiasm they share for making music. The project is set to see over 100 musicians from 40-45 different countries join after an audition process.

Applications close this coming Monday 1 March. Places are open to young musicians over 18 years of age who are registered as students in a recognised music institution.

For full details, please visit the Jeunesses Musicales International website here.

Alternatively, download our form from the AIYF Taking Part Page.

Singing Group now on a Thursday

2010-02-11T16:19:00.002Z

Quick announcement:

The AIYF Singing Group, for P5 to Secondary 3 year olds of all abilities, will now meet every Thursday night at Northfield Community Centre, Byron Square, from 6pm - 7pm.

The group, which formerly met on a Wednesday evening, invites enthusuatic youths to come along and work with the AIYF Music Team to write their own music, sing in groups and as soloists.

The group has proved very popular students across the region, so why not give it a try?

For more information just click here and follow the link to the 'AIYF Singing Group' info and application form.

Happy singing!

YMT UK Auditions 2010

2010-02-05T12:22:00.002Z

Hey everyone,

We would like to let you know that our long term partners, the Youth Music Theatre, are holding auditions for their 2010 shows.

They are looking for talented young performers, musicians and stage managers from around the country to join their national company and take part in performances such as The Watchers/New Dawn, Peter Pan, an Urban (street) Opera and The Savage.

This sounds really exciting and we want to let you know they are coming to Aberdeen to hold auditions at The Lemon Tree on Saturday 13th February to search for new talent.

Here is some information on the show that will be taking place as part of AIYF 2010:

Vampires haunt the backstreets of a small fishing seaside town as the Watchers (a pack of human dogs in hoodies) and the Pavilion gang (ordinary church going kids) seeks them out. New Dawn is the sequel to 2009’s production of The Watchers. Eat your heart out – Stephanie Meyer!

Make sure you head along as it is a great opportunity to get involved!

For a full list of auditions dates and cities, please visit www.youthmusictheatreuk.org to find out where you can take part!

Applications now closed!

2010-02-03T10:01:00.002Z

Stop the press!

Aberdeen International Youth Festival are closing their applications for 2010, meaning that the festival is closer than we think!

So if you apply now, your application will be received for the 2011 festival.

Over 30 unique acts have been invited from across the world to join and express their diverse talents throughout Scotland. The Festival is bringing back some favourite acts, but also introducing new talents to bring an exceptional variety of performances, with some groups who have never been to Scotland before!

A few of the acts that will be performing are: African storytelling, Hungarian dancing, modern Ballet from Canada, Russian orchestras, with many more unique acts to make this one of the best festivals yet!

AIYF runs from 28th July until August 7th. Make sure to keep checking our website for the most up to date information to provide you with everything you need to know to get the most out of this year’s festival!

Happy New Year from AIYF

2010-01-06T09:52:00.003Z

Happy New Year everyone!

We can't quite believe that 2009 is already over - where did it go? It was a great year for AIYF last year with an increase in audiences, higher accessibilty through ticket offers, and a fantastic array of international and homegrown talent performing in our highest number of performances yet!

So what will 2010 bring? Certainly not just 'more of the same' anyway. We'll be bringing new groups to the Festival that have never set foot on Scottish soil, developing new performances and projects to delight participants and audiences alike and, of course, providing even better ticket offers!

Keep coming back to the website for updates on all that's going on at AIYF 2010 - believe us, it's going to be unmissable!

Wishing you all the best for 2010 and hoping you're as excited as we are for what the year will bring.

From all the team at AIYF!
(28 July - 7 August 2010)

Invite to a taste of the BALKANS!

2009-11-27T17:39:00.000Z

Our friends at Aberdeen BALKANARAMA are putting a shout out to come and indulge in the sights, tastes and sounds of the Balkans.

Sounds pretty interesting - they are inviting anyone to "Come jump, sing, scream, cry and laugh, climb tables and dance the night away"!!!! Not just your average invite then (and not one that we at AIYF can refuse)!

Here's the details:

Aberdeen BALKANARAMA
Saturday 28 November
@Lemon Tree, West North St, Aberdeen
7.30pm - late
Tickets £7 available from boxofficeaberdeen.com 01224 641122

Featuring:-

* BLACK CAT - uber-energetic 10-piece playing maddest finest klezmer, gypsy and Balkan
music
* KUCHKE - polyphonic Balkan female choir
* Balkan Beats DJs, VJs, dances, early live jam session (starts early), free home-made rakija
and more.

We'll see you there!

University of Aberdeen Music Prize Weekend: 20 - 22 Nov

2009-11-11T14:07:00.003Z

The University of Aberdeen Music Prize is once again offering an exciting programme of events from 20th to 22nd November, many of which we will be presented in association with our friends at the Sound festival.

The University of Aberdeen Music Prize is a competition for aspiring new composers from around the world. The University has joined forces with the critically acclaimed BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and BBC Radio 3 to promote and encourage excellence in contemporary composition.

The weekend will feature a series of workshops and performances and, of course, the Music Prize itself which will be judged this year by distinguished international composer James MacMillan.

One competition finalist will be offered a £5,000 commission for a full orchestral piece to be performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in 2010 and broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

For more info on the weekends' events visit www.abdn.ac.uk/aberdeenmusicprize. For a full programme and to book your free tickets, you can contact the University of Aberdeen Events Office on 01224 273874 or email musicprize@abdn.ac.uk

AIYF Wedding!

2009-10-21T14:02:00.003+01:00

Congratulations to Anne and Ian Hingston who tied the knot on Saturday (17 October 2009).

It was a perfect Autumn afternoon as friends and family descended upon King's College Chapel, Old Aberdeen for a 3.30pm wedding. The ceremony reflected Iain and Anne's love of choral music as friends from the University's music department sung Anne down the aisle - a beautiful memory for all in attendance.

It was a 'knees up' affair at the evening's reception at the Palm Court. A fantastically unconventional ceilidh band had the crowd dancing the Dashing White Sergeant to the Ghostbusters theme tune, while another highlight saw the groom bombarded with people's shoes as he danced to Robbie Williams' 'Let me entertain you' - apparently a signature routine of Iain's.

In her former life as Anne Herbert, Mrs Hingston took on the mantle of Sponsor Liaison at this year's Festival. We would like to say a big thanks from all at AIYF to Anne for her help this year, and wish her all the best for her future with Iain.

AIYF Singing Group - Starts October 2009

2009-10-01T16:16:00.001+01:00

AIYF Singing Group
Starts Wed 28 October, Northfield Community Centre, 6-7pm

(Taster Session - Wed 7 October, Northfield Community Centre, 6-7.30pm)

Our new singing group for all abilities aims to introduce young people to music through a mix of games, singing and song-writing. It will meet at the Community Centre every Wednesday night, 6-7pm, from Wed 28 October onwards. It is for ages Primary 5 to Secondary 3.

And it's all free!

The Singing Group is led by 3 professionally trained music and singing tutors Jayne Carmichael, Amy Beth Smith and Christopher Barr. All are students or graduates of the University of Aberdeen Music Department and have worked with many local choirs and schools as well as the National Youth Choir of Scotland. They have all received disclosure checks enabling them to work with young people.

This follows from the 'Little Larks Take Flight' project that was carried out during this summer's Festival, in partnership with the Little Larks Music Company from Glasgow.

If you're interested, you can pick up your application form from the Community Centre or online here.

You can also come to our taster session on Wednesday 8 October, Northfield Community Centre, 6 - 7.30pm.

Dance Shows

2009-08-03T16:52:00.005+01:00

Every year at AIYF a diverse range of talented dance groups take part, and this year is no exception! There is a variety of dance groups, from traditional to contemporary, and many taking part this year are performing in two Dance Shows on Tuesday and Wednesday the 4th and 5th of August, at the Aberdeen Arts Centre Theatre.

On Tuesday the 4th Ballet Prague, Happy feet (Norway), and Oxford Youth Dance will perform at 7pm at the Arts Centre, with an exciting programme including traditional classical ballet and contemporary dance, showing off these groups' energy, technique and talent.

Our second night of dance on Wednesday the 5th will consist of The National Dance company of the Bahamas, Royal Art Group Alkuone (Belgium) and Yu Dance, featuring dynamic flag dance and acrobatics, contemporary dance and lively choreography from talanted, passionate young dancers from Europe, The Carribean and China.

Festival in the City - It's here

2009-08-01T22:26:00.003+01:00

We're taking over the City....

Join in the buzz this Sunday 2 August as AIYF entertains the City with a fantastic array of local and international talent.

The day's festivities kick off at 11am this Sunday 2 August from Harlaw Academy as hundreds of AIYF participants take part in the Tartan Day Parade.

From 12.30pm to 3.20pm, we will be showcasing AIYF's international talent alongside a host of local performers throughout Aberdeen City centre.
We will be in 8 stages throughout the city:

The Mall Trinity (outside Debenhams)
St Nicholas Kirk Yard
Union Terrace Gardens
Bandstand area at Mercat-Castlegate
Academy shopping centre courtyard
Provost Skene Garden
Golden Area at M&S
Upper Deck at St Nicholas Centre

This is a great way to see and hear what we have to offer at AIYF 2009. And it's free too!

Saturday 1st August

2009-07-31T09:36:00.005+01:00

After a successful night of performances last night there are even more concerts and shows on today as part of the festival. There are two performances as part of our chamber music series (NESMS Colin Brockie & Richard Bailey at 11am, and Pure Brass at 3pm), both at the Cowdray Hall, and Scottish Youth Theatre's performance course at the Lemon Tree at 1pm. Project Y (Y Dance) & Oxford Youth Dance will also perform, with an exciting programme of new contemporary dance work, at the Lemon Tree at 8pm.

We have our 'Welcome to Scotland Concert', at 7.30pm at His Majesty's Theatre, celebrating Scotland's cultural heritage with exciting performances from Aberdeenshire Youth Theatre, a Canadian Steel Band, dancers from the Bahamas and a Norwegian choir, all hosted by AIYF's traditional big band Ceol Mor.

Get your tickets on the door at Cowdray Hall and the Lemon Tree, or from Aberdeen Box Office on 01224 641122 for HMT. Keep looking out for regular blog updates on what is happening in the festival and we hope to see you at some of these exciting concerts!

Festival has Started!

2009-07-30T11:06:00.002+01:00

On Wednesday the 29th of July, the Aberdeen International Youth Festival had a fantastic start with a reception for staff and friends of the festival with brilliant performances by the Toronto All Stars, Nathan Zaake, YMT:UK, and Ruciteme-Culture at Zeste. The first shows also began with a performance of 'Our Scotland' by Aberdeenshire Youth Theatre at the Lemon Tree, after which everyone returned home to a fantastic Ceilidh at the Hillhead residence, with music from a ceilidh band and some very interesting takes on the traditional dances! Everyone had a great time and got to know a lot of different performers taking part in the festival.

Today (30th July) at 3.00pm there will be the Welcome Ceremony for the festival, at His Majesty's Theatre, with every participant country's national anthem played by the Noordhollands orchestra and represented by their national flag. It is a great chance to see everyone who is taking part and recognise the diversity of the festival.

Over the next few days the first performances will be taking place, with the Patrick Kunka Quartet performing at the Lemon Tree at 8.30pm on the 30th. On Friday the 31st there is a variety of performances including NESMS Colin Brockie & Richard Bailey as part of our chamber music series at 3.00pm at Queen's Cross Church, a Choral Evening at 7.30pm at Holburn West Church, and a concert by the Noordhollands Orchestra at 7.30pm at His Majesty's Theatre.

Also happening tomorrow night is a performance by Ceol Mor at 8.00pm at the Beach Ballroom. Ceol Mor will be performing new arrangements of traditional material for trad instruments, along with cello, piano, bass, drums and brass. It promises to be a great night, with a variety of interesting new compositions and some great music! Tickets are £10, £6 for friends and concessions so come along!

Keep looking out for further posts about future events and ticket offers, and we hope you enjoy any performances you go along to!

Shakespearean tragedy takes centre stage

2009-07-23T11:42:00.002+01:00

Two young Scottish theatre companies are performing popular Shakespearean tragedy at the 2009 Aberdeen International Youth Festival.

Scotland’s national youth theatre, Scottish Youth Theatre, is staging a re-interpretation of Hamlet with a modern twist, which will see Shakespeare’s most infamous character played as a woman. Artistic Director, Mary McCluskey is no stranger to adapting Shakespeare and making the plays accessible to young people.

PACE Theatre Company, based in Paisley, will perform Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. First performed at PACE’s annual arts festival in Paisley, this abridged production of Shakespeare’s tragedy will be performed by 20 actors using the enduring themes raised in the play and applies them to young people today, creating an energetic and fast moving production.

Hamlet will be staged at the Lemon Tree on Monday August 3 at 8pm and Tuesday August 4 at 1pm.

Catch Romeo and Juliet at the Lemon Tree on Tuesday August 4 at 8pm and Wednesday August 5 at 3pm and 7pm. Romeo and Juliet will also tour to Aboyne Academy Theatre on Thursday August 6 at 7pm as part of the extended festival.

Tickets are priced £5 + booking fee and family tickets are available for just £16 (up to 4 people). Festival Pass is also available for £5 shows. For more information phone Aberdeen Box Office on 01224 641122 or online here.

An awfully big adventure - Peter Pan flies in to Aberdeen

2009-07-22T10:36:00.002+01:00

A story of fear and enchantment, discovering a place that time has forgotten…the Scottish premiere of Youth Music Theatre’s (YMT) Peter Pan opens at Aberdeen International Youth Festival.

YMT bring their exhilarating musical version of Peter Pan - first developed in 2008 in Plymouth - to Aberdeen, returning this classic story to its powerful and magical roots and re-inventing it for the 21st century. Not a pantomime or bedtime story, but an unforgettable adventure that takes us from the ordinary to the extraordinary.

Ewan Somers, 16, from Aberdeen, is in the production of 'Peter Pan'. He auditioned along with over 1400 young people around the UK and was cast in the show with just 30 other young people. Rehearsals start today in Aberdeen.

Performances at Aberdeen Arts Centre are on Sunday August 2 at 7pm and Monday August 3 at 3pm & 7pm. Tickets priced £5 +booking fee are available from Aberdeen Box Office on 01224 641122 or online here.

Jazz club...nice

2009-07-10T11:12:00.010+01:00

We've got an exciting programme of Jazz coming up during AIYF this year, featuring participants from Norway to the USA.

Kicking things off at the Lemon Tree on Thursday 30th July, 8.30pm, are the Patrick Kunka quartet. The quartet formed at Boston's Berklee College of Music last year, and have received praise for their explosive and hard-swinging sound. Patrick is a drummer and composer from Aberdeen who was awarded a scholarship to Berklee at the age of 18. Whilst at Berklee, Patrick won a number of awards and also came runner-up in the Best Drummer category of the inaugural Scottish Jazz Awards in 2009. He is joined by fellow Scottish performers Alan Benzie and Leah Gough-Cooper on piano and sax respectively, and Dylan Coleman from the USA completes the line up on bass.

Get your tickets here or on 01224 641122 for the gig, or you can see them at Woodend Barn in Banchory on Saturday 1st August at 8pm (tickets available here or on 01330 825431), or in a relaxed dinner and cabaret setting at the Links Hotel, Montrose on Friday 31st July (tickets available here or on 01674 671000). They are not to be missed!

Groove Academy come to us from London, bringing with them an accessible and vibrant sound. Their mission is to empower young people to express themselves freely through music. They appear in a number of double bills with the Stavanger University Jazz Ensemble, whose creative multi-disciplinary learning environment makes them unique in Norway.

Catch these two groups at the Inverurie Acorn Centre, Wednesday 5th August at 7.30pm, at the Lemon Tree on Thursday 6th August at 8.30pm (tickets for both of these available here or on 01224 641122), or at Woodend Barn in Banchory on Friday 7th August at 8pm (tickets available on 01330 825431). You can also see Groove Academy alongside Bluestones, a Peterhead based songwriting and music development initiative, at Peterhead Community Centre on Tuesday 4th August at 7pm (tickets available on 01779 474373).

Last but not least are local group The Sideline Quartet, who join us on Sunday 2nd August, 12.30pm, at the Lemon Tree for a free lunchtime concert. With repertoire ranging from classic show standards to little known gems, there is something for everyone to enjoy here. Tickets available here or on 01224 641122.

Share the excitement - see something new.

AIYF secures vital funding!

2009-07-08T10:15:00.000+01:00

Aberdeen International Youth Festival has secured a hat-trick of funding worth over £21,000 from local businesses for this year’s event.

Local business Sangs of Banff is to sponsor the festival’s Lemon Tree theatre programme to a sum of £5,000 which will be matched by Arts & Business sponsor fund.

Shell UK has sponsored £4,000, to be matched by Arts & Business, towards a new project for AIYF “Little Larks Community Singing Project” to be held in Northfield, Aberdeen.

Little Larks is a new music and performance company made up of RSAMD students who will be working with local youngsters culminating in a public performance.

Union Square developments Ltd has pledged to support the AIYF extended festival to the sum of £2,500 which will be matched by the Arts & Business cash back fund.

The extended festival sees international performers tour to venues throughout Aberdeenshire.

Festival director Stewart Aitken said: “This is great news for the festival: we are delighted that local businesses have shown their support for the event in this difficult economic climate.

“The funding will see the festival being taken to new audiences and communities who may not have previously had the opportunity to be part of Aberdeen International Youth Festival.”

Arts & Business is a world leading membership network and consultancy with over 30 years of experience in fostering innovative partnerships between business and the arts.

Coming Soon...Theatre!

2009-07-03T00:40:00.000+01:00

It's fewer than four weeks until the start of AIYF 2009, and things are hotting up! We're very excited about our programme, which you can browse at your leisure here. We've got a diverse programme of drama this year, featuring groups from Aberdeenshire to Zimbabwe, and largely sponsored by MacB.

Aberdeenshire Youth Theatre are presenting "Our Scotland" - their take on Homecoming year and all things Scottish, in the style of a TV magazine programme. Funded by the Aberdeenshire Council Homecoming Scotland 2009, we look forward to welcoming this exciting young group back to AIYF for the fourth time.

PACE Theatre Company is a vibrant and thriving arts organisation which runs the largest Youth Theatre in the UK with over 2000 members. They are bringing an abridged version of "Romeo and Juliet" to AIYF, which applies the enduring themes of this classic play to the youth of today.

Umkhathi Theatre Company make a welcome return to AIYF from Zimbabwe, with "African Tales". They will present an imaginative and powerful storytelling tradition through music, dance, song and theatre. Audiences were wowed by their energy and friendly enthusiasm on their last visit to Aberdeen.

Scottish Youth Theatre continue their long association with AIYF with a modern re-interpretation of "Hamlet", which sees the title role played by a woman! In addition, some of their senior members will be performing in a Burns' Ceilidh alongside other festival participants, and there will be a showcase of the results of their two week performance course.

Shell are sponsoring Youth Music Theatre:UK's production of "Peter Pan", which has been transformed into a musical. An unforgettable adventure which has been returned to its magical and powerful roots has also been re-invented for the 21st century, taking us from the ordinary to the extraordinary.

As you can see, there is something for everyone and all our tickets for the drama events are a bargain at £5! In addition, we have a festival pass available which gives you even greater value for money - see our programme for details.

Check back soon for information on the rest of our exciting programme - contemporary dance, song, orchestral music, ballet, chamber music, jazz and more!

Ceol Mor Auditions

2009-04-29T13:31:00.001+01:00

Aberdeen International Youth Festival’s big band, is looking for musicians for this summer.
The band was established in 2006 as a project where young musicians, especially those interested in traditional music, could use their music skills to explore some of the new work that's currently being written, where composers are exploring the margins between traditional music, contemporary classical music and jazz. This year we are looking at band members exploring some of their own ideas in order to devise new work, and at some short pieces by Scottish jazz trumpeter, Colin Steele. The band’s Musical Director is Harris Playfair, with additional support from fiddler, violist and singer, Mairi Campbell.

There are places in the band for this summer, specifically for clarsach, pipes (especially Border or small pipes), cello, accordion, fiddle, trumpet, trombone, and drums/ percussion. We would like to invite young musicians aged between 16 and 25 to audition for the available places.

Auditions will be held in
Tiger Tiger, Shiprow, Aberdeen on Saturday 9th May 11a.m. – 4p.m.
Quaker Meeting House, Edinburgh on Saturday 16th May 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Applicants should be reasonably good readers, and have an interest in a wide range of music. The deadline for applications to audition is Friday 7th May for Aberdeen and Friday 14th May for Edinburgh.

The dates for this summer are 25 July to 1 August, 2009, with three gigs at the end of that week, and a possible additional performance in Edinburgh on 2 August. The cost of the week is £160 all in (accommodation and meals at Aberdeen University campus)

For more information contact Aberdeen International Youth Festival01224 213800 or visit the website: www.aiyf.org and click on the menu header Taking Part

Photo of the week

2009-03-30T15:43:00.001+01:00

Aberdeen Youth Festival-04569
Originally uploaded by Ali Foote

From Festival 2005, this gorgeous photo shows members of the Hong Kong Children's Choir taking part in the Festival Parade.

Festival News Update

2009-02-06T12:57:00.000Z

We're pleased to annouce that we have confirmation from youth orchestras from the Netherlands (No-ordhollands Y.O.) Scotland (NYOS), and the Basque Region of Spain (Basque Y.O.).

The Festival’s own creation – the traditional music big band, Ceol Mor will be performing at the Beach Ballroom and at some venues outwith the city centre, and we will be having special Burns Celebrations as part of Homecoming Scotland, including winners of national Burns competitions, with Highland dancing, piping, and a theatrical exploration of The Enlightenment.

Theatre groups will include the highly-acclaimed Mitchell School of Drama from Inverurie, Youth Music Theatre UK, and Scottish Youth Theatre.

We'll be extending the chamber series after the success of last year, with a series of concerts as well as the Norman Cooper Chamber Music Competition.

All being well, we'll aslo be welcoming back the Toronto All Star Steel Band from Canada, and Happy Feet from Norway, the National Youth Choir of Scotland plus dance companies from Ghana and the Bahamas!

Festival creates new supporters scheme

2008-11-27T16:58:00.000Z

Individual Giving

The Festival Stars scheme has been created to acknowledge the contribution made to Aberdeen International Youth Festival by individual donors.

Support from private individuals is crucial in enabling the Aberdeen International Youth Festival's exciting work to continue. Core public funding accounts for approximately 25% of our income and we have to raise at least £150,000 annually over and above our other earnings.

Your donation will help assist the international arts companies take part in the Festival and will also enable the Festival to continue its education projects creating opportunities for local young people.

As a Star donor, you will be acknowledged on our website and in print, unless you wish to remain anonymous.

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Festival Stars

You can become a Festival Star by making a donation to the Festival. Named stars start at £100, rising to £1500 for a Diamond Star.

Diamond Star £1,500
Emerald Star £1,000
Ruby Star £500
Crystal Star £100

Star support is cumulative, so you can work up to becoming a Diamond Star by donating ever year.

If you would like to become a Festival Star and join our group of highly valued individual supporters, please contact us at:
Aberdeen International Youth Festival
35 Regent Quay
Aberdeen
AB11 5BE
Tel: 01224 213800
Or donate through the website at www.thebiggive.org.uk

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The Big Give

Donate to Aberdeen International Youth Festival on 1st December, and The Big Give will match your donation.

The Big Give have a £1million fund to give away, and will match any donation made through their website, until the money has run out. Even £1 will make a difference to AIYF and help secure the future of the Festival, and if you are a UK tax payer and gift aid your donation this means the Festival will also receive an additional 28p per pound.

Visit www.thebiggive.org.uk and click on the charity search option to find Aberdeen International Youth Festival.

Festival musicians nominated for awards

2008-11-14T17:04:00.000Z

Young traditional musicians from the Aberdeen International Youth Festival are in the running for a host of prestigious awards.

Daniel Thorpe, from Inverurie, is in final round of the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician Award 2009, having made it through the semi finals in Coulter last month.

Daniel has been involved in the Aberdeen International Youth Festival for 8 years, taking part in their Traditional Music School and then becoming a member of the Festival’s Trad Big Band, Ceòl Mòr. Daniel was also chosen by the AIYF to represent the North East at the International Festival for Emerging Artists in London. Daniel was involved with many groups including the Garioch Fiddlers and studied traditional music in Plockton before graduating with honours from the RSAMD. He is now performing with ceilidh band 'Heuch' and his own trio, Tyskie, which he formed with fellow students at RSAMD.

Bodega, the young, five piece band who taught on the Festival’s summer school this year, have been nominated for “Up and Coming Artist of the Year” at the Scots Trad Music Awards . Members of the band were originally pupils at the Splore, before graduating to Ceòl Mòr and now teaching on the course.

Bodega won the BBC Radio2 Young Folk Band award for 2005/06 and have since gone on to release two CDs. Bodega are: Gillian Chalmers (from Fraserburgh), pipes and whistle; Ross Couper, fiddle; Tia Files, acoustic and bass guitar; Norrie MacIver accordion, guitar, djembe, vocals; and June Naylor clarsach and piano.

……………………………

The Splore (Monday 27 July - Friday 31 July) is a week long trad music summer school held as part of AIYF. The Splore offers classes in fiddle, whistle, guitar and percussion for students aged 12 - 16, with tutors from leading young trad bands.

Ceòl Mòr is the Aberdeen International Youth Festival's young traditional big band, made up of some of the most most promising young musicians from Scotland and overseas.
They perform original and innovative arrangements of traditional Scottish songs and music as well as original work exploring the margins between traditional music, jazz and contemporary classical music. They perform at the AIYF, and have guested at the Trad Music Awards, the Arts & Business Awards and at Celtic Connections.

Festival is worth over £1 million to NE economy

2008-11-04T17:01:00.000Z

An economic impact study of the 2008 Aberdeen International Youth Festival found that it is worth more than £1 million to the local economy.

The study shows that festival has a £1.2m impact and directly or indirectly supports the creation of 25 full-time equivalent jobs in the North-east.

Based on the annual funding grant from Aberdeen City Council to AIYF, the return to the city and wider area is more than nine times on the initial investment through ticket sales, accommodation, transport and general spend in shops and restaurants.

The study also showed that the festival had a 98% audience satisfaction rating of good or very good. More than 40% of those who did not live locally visited Aberdeen solely to attend the festival. Some 89% of the audience said that they planned to come back to next year’s festival.

The 2008 festival welcomed more than 1000 participants from 14 different countries. They took part in more than 85 events across 30 venues during the 10 days.

It attracted more than 8500 audience members as well as many more at the major free events on Tartan Day and Festival in the City.

There were participants from Switzerland, USA, Hong Kong, Brazil, and China, Some 80% of the young participants indicated they would like to visit Scotland and the North-east again in the near future.

The 2009 festival is already taking shape. Applications from as far a field as Israel, Canada, Spain and Zimbabwe will bring a wide range of orchestral, new music, choral, dance, theatre and visual arts to Aberdeen and the Shire. The 2009 festival will take place between 29 July and 8 August.

AIYF artistic director Stewart Aitken said: “We were delighted with the findings of the report which helped confirm what a lot of people have believed about the festival.

“Even with the difficult economic climate an event such as the Aberdeen International Youth Festival can bring economic benefit to the area thorough cultural engagement.

“I hope we can build on these findings for 2009 festival and increase the impact and benefits the festival has for the population of the North-east, especially through more participatory opportunities for local young people.”

The study was conducted by EKOS Ltd and funded by Event Scotland. Nearly 400 people took part.

Aike Raes

2008-08-07T16:25:00.001+01:00

Aike Raes
Originally uploaded by AIYF 2008

Shenzhen

2008-08-07T16:23:00.001+01:00

Shenzhen
Originally uploaded by AIYF 2008

Festival in The City

2008-08-05T14:52:00.000+01:00

Last Sunday was the first ever Festival in the City. The idea behind this brand new event was to bring AIYF out onto the streets. With seven stages set up across the city, there was plenty of chance to see groups like Tamana Pioneer Steel Orchestra, Shenzhen City Dancing Team and the Jamie Safiruddin Quartet.

The Seven Stages were set up in Union Terrace Gardens, Trinity Mall; Academy Courtyard; Provost Skene’s Gardens; St Nicholas Church Yard; John Lewis and Marks & Spencer. Each stage saw a variety of acts ranging from festival participants to local Aberdeen bands. The Evening Express said that the “street performers wowed the crowds”.

The day was a great success with many people enjoying the chance to sun themselves while listening to the delights that only AIYF can offer. The weather held off…just only those remaining at Union Terrace Gardens – which went on after for a couple hours after the other venues – got a bit wet. The rest of the day was flooded in beautiful sunshine.

So overall a great day which gave everyone the chance to experience something new – not just that afternoon but in the evening as many people who hadn’t heard of the Festival before went on to attend shows later that evening.

Festival in the City was supported by BP & Event Scotland

Festival in the City

2008-08-04T14:24:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was the first ever Festival in the City.

Festival in the City was a free award for the whole of Aberdeen to enjoy...and enjoy it they did. Starting at 1pm on a sunny Sunday afternoon, 7 stages across Aberdeen played host to a wide range of performers including local bands,

The Start Of AIYF 2008!

2008-07-30T12:28:00.000+01:00

And it’s begun. The 36th Aberdeen International Youth Festival has started. Over the next two weeks there will be Opera, Dance, Steel Drums and much much more. With over a thousand participants from a number of countries this promises to be a truly world wide festival.
And what a way to start. John Godber’s Teechers, is a school-based comedy written from the point of view of three students, Salty, a bright and fresh-faced school-leaver; Hobby, a shy girl and Gail Saunders, a loud mouthed, bossy girl who is full of enthusiasm. These three friends then spend the next hour performing a play about their final year of school – with all the names change to protect the innocent of course!
It is this that makes the show stand out from so many other things. Between the three of them, the actors play up to twenty characters – with often only basic costume changes taking place. The characters of Mr Basford, for example, is created through the use of a fake nose and glasses combo that you only ever really see in cartoons. All three actors play their multiply parts with great skill.
However, AIYF is not all about one play, there are more coming just around the corner. West Lothian Youth Theatre present their civil war torn future of central Scotland (Lemon Tree Studio, 31st July & 1st August) or perhaps you’d rather hear the Jazz sound of NYCOS at Holburn West Church (31st July)…or go to www.aiyf.org and look through all our shows!

Photo of the week

2008-07-12T16:08:00.001+01:00

Sebunjo at Hanko teater traff-Finland
Originally uploaded by Aberdeen International Youth Festival

Joel Sebunjo, who will be playing at the Blue Lamp, Aberdeen Music Hall, Universal hall Findhorn and the Acorn Centre Inverurie, as part of Festival 2008.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/aiyf/pool/

Later.. at the Lemon Tree

2008-07-11T16:05:00.000+01:00

For the first time AIYF, in partnership with Foyer Music, will be holding late night sessions - ”Later…at the Lemon Tree”.

From Thursday July 31 the late night festival session will showcase the best of up and coming, home-grown and international talent. An eclectic programme of blues, indie rock, jazz, fusion and world music acts will give audiences an opportunity to experience a diverse range of music and see something different. Line up includes:

Thursday 31 July
Egdar Prais
The Chair
The Condiments (http://www.myspace.com/therealcondiments)

Friday 1 August
The Fortunate Sons (http://www.myspace.com/fsons)
Fuse[d] (http://www.myspace.com/foosed)

Saturday 2 August
Jamie Safiruddin Quartet (http://www.myspace.com/jamiesafmusic)
Amplifico

Sunday 3 August
Kukadan (http://www.myspace.com/druminaboot)
Joel Sebunjo
NK
Flava

Tuesday 5 August
X Certs
Onion Terror
Dan Against the World

Wednesday 6 August
Qristina and Quinn Bachand
The Hijacks
Static in the City
Copy Haho

Thursday 7 August
Sorren Maclean Band (http://www.myspace.com/sorrenmaclean)
Cast of the Capital (http://www.myspace com/castofthecapital)

Friday 8 August
The Little Kicks (http://www.myspace.com/thelittlekicks)
Right Hand Left
Headlight (http://www.myspace.com/headlightmusic)
Toy

Saturday 9 August
Dot J (http://www.bebo.com/dotjr)
Sunrise not Secular (http://www.myspace.com/sunrise4
Action Group

Plus:(dates to be confirmed)
The Elizabeths
The Marionettes
Y’all is Fantasy Island

AIYF takes over Lemon Tree for two weeks of new music and theatre

2008-07-08T16:03:00.000+01:00

The recently reopened Lemon Tree is to become the home of the Aberdeen International Youth Festival for the duration of the 2008 event.

The Lemon Tree will become the Festival Hub, a location at the heart of the city at which festival goers can have lunch, see shows, buy tickets and find out about what the festival has to offer.

Festival director Stewart Aitken said: “The reopening of the Lemon Tree has come at a great time for us and provided us with a focal point for the festival. It gives us the opportunity to create a place where people can come after the main concerts and see a wide range of music as well as giving us a great space to showcase some innovative and exciting theatre by young people. Hopefully our presence at the Lemon Tree will attract new audiences to AIYF as well as enable our core support to try something a bit different”

The Lemon Tree will be the venue for AIYF's late night concerts and new theatre including: West Lothian Youth Theatre’s Monsters; KY8’s Kinetic; Contacting the World and Garidge Theatre Company and Mitchell School of Drama’s Lottie.

For up to the minute information on AIYF at the Lemon Tree visit http://www.aiyf.org/.

Summer positions available at AIYF - recruiting now!

2008-05-12T13:27:00.001+01:00

AIYF is now recruiting for 60 temporary and volunteer staff during the Festival.

The Festival has established an internship scheme to offer valuable experience of working within the events and performing arts arena. Summer internships are six week placements in:
Administration
Box Office / Front of House
Marketing

Other positions include:
Pastoral staff for residential summer schools (dance and trad music)
Couriers (chaperones for participating international companies
Youth Team (runners)
Drivers (minibus, transit, Luton and 7.5ton)
Transport scheduler - manage the drivers and organising schedule etc
Proect Managers - Film Festival.

For further information and to apply please send your CV and a letter of introduction
to Jennifer Phillips at jenny@aiyf.org

Photo of the week

2008-05-09T17:17:00.000+01:00

Dancer in traditional costume at Aberdeen International Youth Festival
Originally uploaded by Jennifer K Phillips

Sining Kambayoka at AIYF. Photo: Steven Rance
See more festival photos on flickr - why not add yours to our group and be featured as our photo of the week? http://www.flickr.com/groups/aiyf/pool/

Last few places left on the AIYF’s Dance Summer School!

2008-04-28T16:48:00.000+01:00

The Aberdeen International Youth Festival's Dance Summer School is proving to be more popular than ever, and there are just a few places left. The School is directed by Kenn Burke, former Principal Dancer with Scottish Ballet, and offers a valuable training experience in classical ballet, contemporary and jazz, with world re-nowned dancers and teachers. Dancers on the Performance Course will be offered the chance to dance on stage at His Majesty’s Theatre, at the AIYF’s Dance Gala in August.

Past students have gone on to dance with Northern Ballet Theatre, Jean Ann Ryan Productions, English National Ballet, English National Opera, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Norwegian Ballet and Ballet des Jeunes.

The Dance Summer School was established 26 years ago and remains an important and unique course in Scotland. The school now offers:

Performance Course - An intensive two week residential course designed to offer students a valuable training experience in classical ballet, contemporary and jazz, with world renowned dance artists and teachers. The course includes the opportunity to work on and perform new choreography at the Festival’s Dance Gala at His Majesty’s Theatre.

Dance Course - For students aged 12+. This course offers intensive training in classical ballet and repertoire, contemporary and jazz.

Day of Dance - A free taster day for younger students. Dance teachers are welcome to come to the dance school and watch classes. Please contact us for more information.

Kenn Burke was appointed Dance Director of the AIYF in 1996 and has been running the Festival's Dance School for the last eight years.Fife-born Kenn trained in his hometown of Inverkeithing before joining Scottish Ballet's scholarship scheme. He trained at The Royal Ballet School, London and in 1975 joined Scottish Ballet.In 1988, he was invited to join the Hong Kong Ballet as Principal Dancer.In 1990 he returned to Scotland and was appointed Artistic Director of Scottish Ballet 2. Kenn went on to become Acting Artistic Director of Scottish Ballet. During his time with the company he has always maintained a close interest and involvement in the Dance School of Scotland and Scottish Ballet's Junior Associates.Kenn is now freelance and has most recently been staging Swan Lake with Galina Samsova for the Rome Opera House

Contact AIYF for more information and application forms.
Tel: 01224 213800 www.danceschool.org.uk

Photo of the week

2008-04-12T02:00:00.000+01:00

Scotland AIYF Jam.jpg
Originally uploaded by hadroed

Midwest Young Artists from the USA at AIYF. Photo: Josh Hadro

See more festival photos on flickr - why not add yours to our group and be featured as our photo of the week? http://www.flickr.com/groups/aiyf/pool/

Opportunity for young singers

2008-04-04T22:31:00.000+01:00

Aberdeen International Youth Festival today announces an opportunity for young singers to get involved in a special new project, working with Haddo Junior Choirs and the RSAMD, to present a performance of Britten’s Little Sweep at Haddo and in Aberdeen in August.

A first for Haddo Junior Choirs, AIYF & RSAMD

This special production, in partnership with the RSAMD to be performed as part of the 2008 Aberdeen International Youth Festival at Haddo House and in Aberdeen.

A wonderful opportunity has arisen for singers from Haddo Junior Choirs to work alongside Opera students and Music Director from the RSAMD, as well as a professional Theatre Director.

This will be a unique experience open to all singers aged 9-18. There will be soloists spaces as well as a large chorus of required, so there is plenty of scope for a large number to take part in this unique project.

There will be weekly rehearsals on Wednesday in Ellon from 16 April 2008, and daily rehearsals from Saturday 26 July until the performances on Wednesday 6, Thursday 7, Friday 8 and Saturday 9 August.

For more information about how to take part, visit the website at http://www.aiyf.org/ or telephone the Aberdeen International Youth Festival on 01224 213800.

The Little Sweep - an opera for children and families

The Little Sweep is part of Britten’s ‘Entertainment for Young People’. It is a morality tale which finds young Sam sold into service as a sweep to two cruel masters. He is discovered and hidden by the children of a big house he has been cleaning. Will they be able to help him escape from his cruel employers?

The production is a full theatrical experience with lots of dramatic opportunities, choral singing and even an audience song or two. It is a great way of introducing young audiences to the conventions of opera with a simple yet affecting story with which they can sympathise and identify.

Photo of the week

2008-04-04T21:35:00.000+01:00

north shore celtic ensemble (2)
Originally uploaded by scotstonhill

North Shore Celtic Ensemble from Canada performing at Speyfest as part of AIYF 2006. Photo: scotsonhill (flickr)

See more festival photos on flickr - why not add yours to our group and be featured as our photo of the week? http://www.flickr.com/groups/aiyf/pool/

Photo of the week

2008-03-28T12:21:00.000Z

P1050487
Originally uploaded by http://www.flickr.com/people/rob-cairns/

Festival Parade, 2005. Photo: Rob Cairns

See more festival photos on flickr - why not add yours to our group and be featured as our photo of the week? http://www.flickr.com/groups/aiyf/pool/

Scottish Youth Theatre presents Geordie

2008-03-23T19:37:00.000Z

AIYF are proud to be presenting Geordie - A new musical for Scotland, at the Festival.

Geordie tells the story of a boy from the Highlands who, in the face of adversity, overcomes his weaknesses to become a champion athlete and a young man to make Scotland, his mum and of course Jean back home, very proud. A tale of personal triumph with a distinctly Scottish flavour, this heart-warming musical story is adapted for the stage by David Cosgrove and Stuart Thomas, directed by Mary McCluskey and has been developed by members of SYT Productions, the youth theatre’s high profile performance group. This production was premiered in New York, as part of the Tartan Week 2006.

Special price tickets for families are available.

http://www.aiyf.org/2008_theatre.htm

Photo of the week

2008-03-22T00:59:00.000Z

Kutapira (AIYF) 7
Originally uploaded by longarmscotland

Kutapira at the Turriff Show, part of Festival 2007. Photo: Adrian Law

See more festival photos on flickr - why not add yours to our group and be featured as our photo of the week? http://www.flickr.com/groups/aiyf/pool/

Marketing Opportunities at AIYF

2008-03-19T13:40:00.000Z

The Festival has a wide range of opportunities to suit all types of organisation and budgets, reaching a diverse audience groups, including web, direct mail and email, including:
Advert in main Festival programme
Flyering opportunities, at events, in our programme, mailshots to list
Email - inclusion in our monthly e-newsletter
IInclusion in information packs for participants and delegates

Check our website for a list of marketing options (http://www.aiyf.org/sponsorship_marketing.htm) We will also be selling advertising space on our website and are happy to offer space to local arts organisations / events at a significant discount.

Photo of the week

2008-03-14T17:06:00.000Z

Aberdeen International Youth Festival 2005
Originally uploaded by Jennifer K Phillips

See more festival photos on flickr - why not add yours to our group and be featured as our photo of the week?

http://www.flickr.com/groups/aiyf/pool/

New initiative announced for festival 2008

2008-03-14T15:20:00.000Z

Festival in the City
Sunday 3 August, 1 - 4pm
Free performances across Aberdeen City Centre.

One of the new initiatives for Festival 2008 will be our Festival in the City day. The Festival will bring performances from the International and Scottish youth acts to sites across the City Centre including open air venues and Union Terrace Gardens. A fun day packed with a wide range of free dance, music and street theatre events in the city centre.

(photo - Lucy Davies)

New member of staff!

2008-03-11T15:06:00.000Z

We are pleased to announce that Ruth McMillan will be joining the Festival as part time Administrator from the middle of March. Ruth has worked in broadcasting, as an opera agent as well as freelance for festival's including Rock Ness and the Tartan Heart Festival.

Ceol Mor gig a great success!

2008-01-27T16:28:00.000Z

Review By Fiona Mackenzie at http://www.hi-arts.co.uk/:

FIONA MACKENZIE checks out the next generation of Scottish traditional music talent IMAGINE a younger version of The Unusual Suspects, say 25+ strong, mix in some of Harris Playfair’s commitment and musical passion, add a few exciting new commissions from Corrina Hewat, Dave Milligan and Aidan O’Rourke, and you have ‘Ceòl Mòr’ ...

An eventual by-product of the Splore event in Aberdeen and directed by Dave Francis, this is a large scale Youth Folk Orchestra, although right from the initial bars you’d be fooled into thinking it was more of a rock and brass orchestra, with some fiddles and clarsach along the way too. Donald Shaw’s ‘Harvest’ has set the pace for youth projects in the last few years at Celtic Connections, and it is encouraging that more exciting large-scale projects such as this are emerging to fill the gap for many young musicians who find themselves perhaps in between Fèisean and going professional. Encouraging, too, to see that the vocal aspect of the piece was not all left up to the female of the species. The commitment and enjoyment of the participants was hugely encouraging for the future of ‘traditional’ music.

Three new commissions were performed alongside some of Playfair’s arrangements, including Hewat’s vocal arrangement ‘Boy Fae Kelso’ and Milligan’s’ How did we get to here?’ Aidan O’Rourke’s magical piece will surely become a staple of the repertoire for large groups now. Solo opportunities for both vocalists and instrumentalists were afforded across the board, allowing each section of the ‘orchestra’ to shine at various points in the programme. The brass section lifted the arrangements out of the trad genre and into one all of its own at times, a sort of ‘jazzitional’, for want of a better word. The audience were baying for more. Great potential here for future development and plaudits to the directors for the logistical problems a project such as this must present.

Ceol Mor on Bebo:

http://www.bebo.com/Profile.jsp?MemberId=4528795374

Ceol Mor to play at Celtic Connections

2007-12-21T16:12:00.000Z

Saturday 26th January 2008, 1.00pm
The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall : Strathclyde Suite

Ceol Mor will be playing at Celtic Connections alongside the six finalists from 2007's Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year competition.

http://www.celticconnections.com/whatson/event/68481

Aberdeen International Youth Festival and our staff and participants have been racking up the awards

2007-11-29T16:26:00.000Z

Congratulations to everyone!

Arts and Business Award
Aberdeen International Youth Festival and Balmoral Group were awarded a commendation in the Arts, Business & Young People category, at the Arts & Business Scottish Awards 2007.The commendation was for establishing Grampian Youth Orchestra - a thriving youth orchestra for the North-East supported by local authorities, schools, universities and colleges, linking schools music with the National Youth Orchestra, playing a vital role in music-making for local young people and achieving international recognition. http://www.gyo.org.uk/

This is the second award AIYF has received from Arts & Business. In 2006 we were awarded a commendation in the Arts & Kids category for our long partnership with Shell.

BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician 2008
James Duncan MacKenzie from the Isle of Lewis and Amy Lord from Dunblane are amongst the 6 finalists in the BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician 2008.James is a member of Ceol Mor, the AIYF's Traditional Music Big Band, who played at the Woodend Barn and Aberdeen Music Hall at the 2007 Festival. Amy took part in the Splore, Traditional Music Summer School in 2002 and 2003.The finals will be held during Celtic Connections in Glasgow in January, and previous winners include Gillian Frame, Emily Smith and Anna Massie. Good Luck James and Amy!

Ian Watt, Classical Star
Congratulations to Ian Watt who beat hundreds of contestants to make it to the final three at the BBC's new Classical Star. Ian played at the Blue Lamp with David Buckingham during Festival 2007 and also gave outstanding solo performances at the Music Hall and with Grampian Youth Orchestra.Eighteen candidates were shortlisted from hundreds of young hopefuls, all of whom were aged between 12 and 19 and had reached at least grade eight in their chosen instrument. The best nine candidates were then selected to attend the Music Academy and each week the contestants had to convince the panel of expert judges that they have the commitment and charisma to become a star.Ian, along with fellow Scot, Karen Geoghegan, made it all the way to the live finals on 24 October at LSO St Luke's. Well done!

and finally..
Stephen Stenning, former Chief Executive of AIYF, won the Evening Express Aberdeen's Champion Award for Tourism Ambassador, for his work at the Festival , bringing up to 1000 young people every year to Aberdeen. He was presented with his award by fellow Festival alumni Cameron Stout, in a star-studded ceremony at the AECC.

More Staff news!

2007-11-08T16:17:00.000Z

Ross Brechin, Marketing Intern for the 2007 Festival, has been made the Marketing Co-ordinator for Aberdeen Universtiy Student's Union.

Ben Torrie, who was the Festival's Box Office and Front of House Manager for Festival 2004, 2005 and 2006 is now Sales Manager at Aberdeen Performing Arts, and Andrew Youngson, who was the Festival's Marketing Intern in 2006, is now Sponsorship & Promotions Executive at Northsound Radio.

The Festival internships are a great way to gain valuable work experience. We offer internships in marketing, arts administration and Box Office liaison. For more information about these or other summer vacancies at AIYF please visit our website or contact General Manager, Jennifer Phillips on jenny@aiyf.org

AIYF announces new Chief Executive

2007-11-01T15:32:00.000Z

Aberdeen International Youth Festival today announces it's new Chief Executive, Stewart Aitken, who will join the organisation in mid November.

Stewart joins the Festival from Wigan Pier Theatre Company where he was the Artistic Director. He was born and brought up in Dunfermline, where he developed his love of acting as The Carnegie Youth Theatre and Burntisland Youth Theatre, before going on to study at Queen Margaret College in Edinburgh.

Stewart has worked for a number of arts organisations, including Purves Puppets and First Base Theatre Company, as well as acting with Wildcat, Paisley Arts Centre and Clyde Unity Theatre. He was Associate Director at the Netherbow Arts Centre in Edinburgh and Artistic Director of Borders Youth Theatre before moving south to Wigan, where he spent the last six years running the Wigan Pier Theatre Company.

Stewart says of his move to Aberdeen:"It's a major challenge to continue the success of the Aberdeen International Youth Festival with its very impressive history and important position in the Intrenational cultural scene. My family share my excitement at the move and my two girls are looking forward to exploring their new surroundings."

Stewart Aitken replaces Stephen Stenning, who has joined Glasgow based events company UZ.

Successful 35th Festival

2007-09-01T16:17:00.000+01:00

AIYF celebrates youthful creativity and artistic innovation

Now that the Festival's participants have returned home we are taking time to reflect on the success of AIYF 2007 and would like to thank you for your support.

The Festival showed itself to be a generator of exciting and innovative work. There were more projects creating original work with emerging talent than ever before. The Festival also boasted some of the world's top talent including the Spanish National Youth Orchestra, Laudibus (the chamber choir of the UK's National Youth Choir) and Umdumo Wesizwe from Zimbabwe as well as leading international artists such as Julian Lloyd Webber and Jose Serebrier.
AIYF worked with Youth Music Theatre UK to create an original music theatre piece based on 'Great Expectations'. Over thirty young performers worked with ground-breaking director Gerry Flanagan on a two week residency in Aberdeen before presenting the acclaimed co-production at Aberdeen Arts Centre.

Aberdeenshire Youth Theatre was formed as part of an AIYF commissioned supported by the Scottish Arts Council, Waste Aware Aberdeen and STV. The 28 young actors rehearsed in Inverurie with director Rona Mitchell and specialist artist Al Seed (from The Arches, Glasgow). The resultant production of A Midsummer Night's Dream was performed for three nights at the Lemon Tree and was one of the hits of the Festival. "Side-splitting Shakespeare at its best" Evening Express