Gergiev is the new Festival Patron

Last night at Swinfen Hall Hotel we launched the 2009 Festival to the Gold and Platinum members of the LFA. As is often the way at this time of year, there remain events that have yet to settle down, but on the whole it was our first opportunity to start talking openly about what is planned this July.

Last night also gave me the opportunity to announce that Valery Gergiev, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and artistic and general director of the Marinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, is the new Patron of the Lichfield Festival, finally filling the huge gap left when Patrick Lichfield died in November 2005.

A 34-year-old Gergiev made his British debut at the 1987 Lichfield Festival, and remembers his time here very well. Becoming our Patron is him returning the favour. Gergiev actually accepted our long-standing invitation last October, but trips to Australia and Christmas got in the way, so it has taken until now to release this news.

That an artist if Gergiev's international stature has accepted this honorary position is of enormous importance to Lichfield and the wider Midlands. That he is particularly keen to support our ongoing commitment to giving opportunities to rising talent is of key significance, and could lead to specific programming opportunities over the next decade. We do not present a formal Young Artists Platform, and we don't have an ongoing association with, say, BBC New Generation Artists, YCAT, Park Lane Group, or the Tillet Trust. Lichfield Festival just has a long history of independently backing young musicians with sometimes key opportunities that they might not otherwise get. Hopefully, with Gergiev's support, this programming thread will grow and resonate even further.

opportunity to hear songs in time of war

Songs in Time of War, the first of the four-year Confluences project involving Vikram Seth and Alec Roth, finally appears to have a wee life of its own. While in Bristol over the weekend, I spotted it was being performed by the original lineup of Mark Padmore, Morgan Szymanski, Alison Nicholls and Philippe Honore at St George's Bristol on Friday 6 February. More information here.
The final year of this project receives it's first performance in Salisbury on 1 June, in Chelsea on 16 June, and Lichfield on 15 July.

CiB wins Best UK Blog 2008

Hearty and much deserved congratulations to Created in Birmingham for being named Best UK Blog 2008. Established a few years ago with the aim of bringing together the creative communities of Birmingham, it remains one of the few independent sites recognising that Birmingham audiences also like to know what's going on around the rest of the West Midlands. This is especially important for a city like Lichfield that is only 19 miles away and at one end of the central train route. They've been very kind to the Lichfield Festival over recent years, drawing grass roots, industry and blogland attention to what happens here, which I both personally and professionally appreciate. The fact that they received over 40% of the votes shows that everyone tapped into CiB really values the time, energy and commitment that the CiB team put in. Congratulations guys. May your blog rule for a long time to come.

from my window

just spotted Nicholas McGegan from my office window who, off the back of Handel's Jeptha with the CBSO last night, is doing the tourist thing and visiting Lichfield Cathedral, Erasmus Darwin House and the Samuel Johnson Musuem before zipping back to America. He is one of the lucky few who has been able to take a photo of the cathedral from the top floor of the Festival office...

sir john mortimer

Sir John Mortimer has died peacefully in his sleep after a long illness at the age of 85. Sir John last visited Lichfield as part of our inaugural Lichfield Literature Weekend in October 2006 when he was interviewed by Nick Booth in front of a capacity audience about his then latest book, Rumpole and the Reign of Terror. It was a privilege to witness the clarity of his mind, his wonderful anecdotes, and his dry humour, especially as they pertained to his strongly held views of what were then new UK terrorism laws. All fueled of course by the ubiquitous champagne, which subsequently became the inspiration for how we thank authors who visit that event.