- The Lichfield Festival
The Lichfield Festival is an annual multi-art-form
festival held inLichfield ,Staffordshire , which aims to combine high quality, challenging and diverse events of an international calibre, alongside community-based, locally-sourced activities. Performances includedrama ,dance ,film ,literature ,visual arts ,jazz , folk, classical andworld music . Performances take place principally in the medievalLichfield Cathedral and the twenty-first century Lichfield Garrick theatre, alongside non-traditional venues across the County. The Festival also incorporates two free community events – a Medieval Market and the Festival Fireworks. [http://www.lichfieldfestival.org/site2007/content/view/25/40/] Dead link|date=May 2008History
1981–1989
The Lichfield Festival was founded in 1981 by the then Dean of
Lichfield Cathedral , John Lang; and Gordon Clark, who was head of music at Abbotsholme School and Artistic Director of the Abbotsholme Arts Society. Clark, while continuing his work at Abbotsholme, was the Festival’s firstArtistic Director (the link between the two programmes continues to this day); and the founding team was completed by Financial Director John Round and Patrick Lichfield, then Earl of Lichfield, who was one of the first financial contributors.A Personal Account of the Lichfield Festival, 1981–2006 by John Lang http://www.lichfieldfestival.org/site2007/images/stories/ _fe. date=May 2008The inaugural Festival opened on Date|1982-07-03 with the Band of the
Royal Marines processing from the market square in Lichfield to the west door of the Cathedral, which John Lang described as ‘a kind of trumpet call to the City to be aware of our plans for pleasures to come’.Dead link|date=May 2008 Further highlights of the opening year included performances by the Hallé andRoyal Philharmonic Orchestra s; and theCambridge Footlights Revue, featuring the then relatively unknownStephen Fry ,Hugh Laurie , andEmma Thompson . TheEndellion Quartet were artists in residence and returned many times in subsequent years. There were also international contributions from the Japanese Suzuki Tour Company, the French Rouen Officium Pastorum and the German Antiqua Cologne. As Lang said, all were ‘a foretaste of what was to become normal festival fayre’.Dead link|date=May 2008Highlights from the rest of the eighties included the visit of sitar legend
Ravi Shankar together withtabla virtuosoAlla Rakha in 1984 — a year which also saw the Festival’s one and only foray into musical theatre, with the Lichfield Cathedral School’s production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat " – a visit fromOscar Peterson in 1985, and skiffle LegendLonnie Donegan came along with his dancing sunshine band in 1987. The Festival also experimented with a two-dayshow-jumping event in 1989, which managed a reprise in 1990 but hasn’t been heard of since. In 1985, conductorValery Gergiev , pianistEvgeny Kissin , and violinistsMaxim Vengerov andVadim Repin all received their UK debuts at the Lichfield Festival.1990–2001
Gordon Clark’s tenure as Artistic Director ended with his untimely death in August 1989.Dead link|date=May 2008 Clark was succeeded by Paul Spicer, the longest serving Artistic Director to date. Spicer sought to ‘cater for all tastes and provide something for everyone’. Different thematic strands were brought into the programme to encourage what Spicer called ‘cohesion and unity’. The first of these were the music of Mozart,
Samuel Barber , andCole Porter in 1991. The bi-centenary of Mozart’s death in this year also saw the Festival’s first opera – a full production of theThe Marriage of Figaro . The Festival acquired a logo – a stylised cello headstock with ‘The Lichfield Festival’ encircling it – and a Fringe, with events taking place in sixteen venues around the city, in 1994.Spicer also introduced the concept of having a composer-in-residence to Lichfield, the first of whom was
William Mathias , who was succeeded by such luminaries asRobert Saxton , SirMichael Tippett was not a composer-in-residence, but did send in his best wishes in 1992.Returning artists:
András Schiff ,Humphrey Lyttelton ,Endellion Quartet ,National Youth Jazz Orchestra ,City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra ,Ex Cathedra ,BBC Philharmonic .2002–2004
Paul Spicer was followed by Meurig Bowen. Bowen had come from a job in
Australia , and his first festival, in 2002, showed an increased antipodean influence which would point the way towards a general expansion of scope.Some of the highlights included William Barton, an aboriginal
didgeridoo player, who performed a European premiere ofPeter Sculthorpe ’s Requiem for mixed chorus, dideridoo and orchestra.A new logo, typeface and corporate structure were introduced following Bowen’s arrival, signalling a gentle loosening of the link between the Festival and the Cathedral. The closure of Lichfield Civic Hall in 2001 led to the use of venues including
Sutton Coldfield Town Hall during the festivals of 2002/2003, while film screenings were moved to the theatre at the Friary School in Lichfield. In 2003 the Lichfield Garrick theatre, which had arisen quite literally from the ashes of the Civic Hall, was opened on the same night as that year’s Festival, with a performance by the Jazz Jamaica All-Stars. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/stoke/stage/2003/05/lichfield_festival.shtml BBC Staffordshire - Lichfield Festival ] ]The Festival Today
After a short three year stint at Lichfield, Bowen left to take up a position with Aldeburgh Productions, and was succeeded in Lichfield by Richard Hawley, previously orchestra manager with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO).
Philip Glass performed a rare solo piano recital in 2007http://www.lichfieldfestival.org/2008/images/stories/2007%20festival%20booking%20brochure.pdf] , while virtuoso double bass playerFrançois Rabbath made an extremely rare visit to England to perform at Lichfield in 2006, alongside rising British jazz starGwilym Simcock , who was an artist-in-residence in the same year. Simcock's 2006 residency also included the first ever non-London performance of the Gwilym Simcock Big Band and a major big band commission entitled The Lichfield Suite, which was subsequently programmed by theCheltenham Jazz Festival , broadcast on BBC Radio 3, and shortlisted for a 2007 British Composer Award. [ [http://www.britishacademy.com/awards/britishcomposerawards/2007/nominations.htm British Composer Awards 2007 - Nominations ] ]The 2007 Lichfield Festival was on a shortlist of 3 for a prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society 'concert series and Festivals' award. Alongside Philip Glass's recital was a unique collaborative performance between Tunisian Oud player
Dhafer Youssef , Norwegian jazz TrumpeterArve Henriksen and Armenian Duduk playerDjivan Gasparyan .Festival 2008 opened with
Marin Alsop 's final performance as principal conductor of theBournemouth Symphony Orchestra . Mexican rockers Los de Abajo performed at the Lichfield Garrick, along with jazz vocal group The Passion,The Puppini Sisters , the Bryan Corbett Quartet,Rainer Hersch , SirRoy Strong andThe Hairy Bikers . 1928 Indian Silent film "Shiraz" was brought out of theBritish Film Institute Archives and a new score was commisioned and performed live by the Sabri Ensemble. [http://http://blogs.birminghampost.net/lifestyle/2008/07/gallifrey-lichfield-india-the.html#more] The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain performed to an audience of 900 at Lichfield Cathedral, andGwilym Simcock returned as part of Acoustic Triangle, who together with theSacconi Quartet performed specially composed music in the round. The Festival continues to expand and fulfil the aims of its founders.Literature Weekend
October 2006 saw the First Lichfield Literature Weekend, a spin-off from the summer Festival. 3 days of talks from authors including
John Carey ,David Crystal and Robert Hutchinson took place in the city’s George Hotel. The Literature Weekend is already established as an annual fixture in the city’s calendar. [ [http://mediafiles.thedms.co.uk/publication/ss/full_guide_2007.pdf untitled ] ]Country Churches/FEAST
The first instance of a local church being used as a concert venue for the Lichfield Festival occurred in 1992, when St. John’s Hospital Chapel in Lichfield and St. Matthew’s Hospital Chapel in Burntwood were added to the roster.
From 1997–2007 the events in Lichfield were augmented by concerts in churches around Staffordshire, with the aim to provide exposure to the arts for as wide an audience as possible under the Lichfield Festival banner. It was then and remains policy to avoid, as much as possible, repetition of venues, and performances have taken place in Yoxall, Alrewas, Hawksyard, Hoar Cross, amongst many others.
From 2008 the country church series was relabelled as FEAST (Festival Events Around Staffordshire), with the scope for venues, beyond churches and beyond the traditional understanding of what a venue can be, to be brought into the Festival fold.
Medieval Market
Since 1995 the Festival has incorporated a Medieval Market, taking place in the Cathedral Close and attracting up to 30,000 visitors. In 2009 the Market will take on a Georgian theme, in recognition of the tercentenary of the birth of Lichfield-born
Samuel Johnson .Education
Each year Lichfield schools participate in education projects, culminating in a performance in Lichfield Cathedral.
Volunteers
Beyond a small core team the Festival is staffed almost entirely by volunteers. Each year approximately 200 people give up their time to ensure the Festival’s continued existence and development, and to cement the relationship between the Festival and the town which bears its name.
Fireworks
Since its inception the Festival has been closed with a firework display, attracting up to 10,000 attendees.
References
External links
*http://www.lichfieldfestival.org The Lichfield Festival Website
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