News

Chairman's Foreword
19^th October 2011

Please read your 2012 syllabus carefully as it contains a number of important changes.

For example, the eligibility criteria for the Curtis Craig Competition have been widened to include Scottish traditional music and song. A new, non-competitive class has been introduced to enable beginning pianists to play duets with a more experienced partner. Entrants may now submit either a vocal or instrumental composition in the Scottish category, and two new classes have been introduced into the Scottish Idiom section - one for intermediate level ensembles and another for group improvisation.

In the speech classes there will be a word limit for Own Composition - Solo Verse Speaking rather than a time limit, and Choral Verse Speaking has been reclassified as Group Verse Speaking. This means that groups may use movement, props and costumes in performance.

Singers should be aware that a number of amalgamations have been made within the various vocal categories and that, for the first time, we are holding a popular song competition for secondary students.

Every year our office administration is given unnecessary work because of applications that are incorrectly completed and/or for which the incorrect entry fee has been submitted. Please read the entry conditions carefully and refer to the syllabus to ensure that you have accurately written down all the information that is required on the application form. Further, some applications never reach us because of insufficient postage and remain in limbo without our knowledge. I would strongly urge you to ensure that your postage is sufficient and that you keep a record of when the entry form was sent. If you have not received a provisional time table by the second week in January then you should contact the Festival Office immediately.

Please note that the closing date for the receipt of entries is 20 November. 'Own choice' music items have to be with us by 20 January. Failure to meet these deadlines on time severely hampers our ability to move on to the vital task of running the ten day festival itself.

Once again the Highland Council has provided the Festival Association with the funds necessary to continue holding the Inverness Music Festival at Eden Court and, once again, we are deeply grateful.

The 2011 Festival was enthusiastically supported despite the difficult financial times we face and I hope that this will also prove true for 2012. Please make a note of the Curtis Craig Competition, to be held at 19h00 on Wednesday 14 March in the OneTouch Theatre.

This year's Festival Highlights Concert was very popular with the audience and we intend to present that same high level of entertainment next year at 19h30 on Saturday 5 May, also in the OneTouch Theatre.

Welcome!

Colin Lewis

Chairman's Foreword
5^th October 2010

The 2011 Inverness Music Festival will run from Saturday 5 March until Thursday 17 March and, with the exception of Scottish Country Dancing, will be held once again within Eden Court Theatre, Inverness.

The Festival Syllabus is our defining document and offers a wide range of competitions in the performing arts through speech, drama, dance, music and song. I would be grateful if its contents could be made known throughout Highland Region educational establishments as we rely heavily on the support of individual teachers in encouraging their students to participate in public performance.

Please note that applications must be submitted by 20 November and 'own choice' pieces of music by 20 January. These time limits are strictly observed so I advise you to plan ahead when making your choices.

We have decided to add an extra day to the 2011 timetable in order to accommodate the large numbers taking part in instrumental groups, and have increased the time available for the solo vocal competitions given the heartening response over the last two years. I would dearly love to see more support for the drama competitions from secondary schools as these present another excellent opportunity for young actors to acquire stage presence and have their acting skills assessed. The declining interest in the brass and woodwind classes and the almost total lack of entrants at the secondary choral level are real areas for concern and I can only hope that 2011 will see a reversal of fortune in these genres.

Despite the troubling financial times, the Inverness Festival Association can look forward with confidence to next year's competitions. This is largely due once again to generous financial support from the Highland Council and I offer, on behalf of the Executive Committee, our gratitude for its continued enthusiasm for the festival ideal. The regular contributions of our corporate and individual sponsors also give a significant boost to our income and we sincerely thank them as well.

I hope family and friends will continue to come along and support the performers, as your presence is a vital part of the atmosphere that is built up over the two week period, culminating in the exciting Curtis Craig Competition. The highly entertaining Festival Highlights Concert will take place later in the spring. See the forthcoming Programme for further details of both events.

The Inverness Music Festival has become an established annual feature in the life of the city and I urge you to support it in March 2011.

Colin Lewis

2010 Festival begins
6^th March 2010

Once again Eden Court will host the annual Inverness Music Festival – ten days of competition involving over 4000 performers.

Come along and hear primary and secondary pupils (and adults) competing in a wide variety of classes that includes speech, drama, singing and instrumental music.

Piping, Fiddle and Accordion categories are well represented as are the Gaelic competitions in speech and song. Another popular event is the Scottish Country Dancing, which this year will take place in Mill