{"id":258622,"date":"2025-07-12T09:56:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-12T09:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/258622\/"},"modified":"2025-07-12T09:56:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T09:56:12","slug":"aurora-is-making-its-edinburgh-debut-this-august","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/258622\/","title":{"rendered":"Aurora is making its Edinburgh debut this August"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aurora Orchestra will be appearing at a bean bag concert in Edinburgh this August.<\/p>\n

This orchestra founded in 2005 by Principal Conductor, Nicholas Collon, memorise whole symphonies \u2013 sometimes an hour long and present music with theatrical elements to allow their audiences to get a better understanding of it. <\/p>\n

This summer Aurora marks the 50th\u00a0anniversary of the death of\u00a0Dmitri Shostakovich<\/strong>, one of the most influential and performed composers of the 20th\u00a0century, with a deep-dive into his Fifth Symphony \u2013 a work born in the shadow of Stalin\u2019s regime that reveals music on the edge of life and death by a composer treading a dangerous line between political obedience and artistic defiance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aurora will make their long-awaited debut at the\u00a0Edinburgh International Festival<\/strong>, with two performances, including one in the Festival\u2019s\u00a0Beanbag Concert Series.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shostakovich Inside Out\u00a0(Monday 18 August, 2pm<\/a>) invites audiences to learn more about the Fifth Symphony in a fresh and immersive way, through a conversational presentation led by Nicholas Collon as the orchestra play the symphony by memory, pausing to share insights and delve into its emotional depth and historical context. <\/p>\n

Later the same day, Aurora performs the full symphony by memory, as part of a concert that also includes Abel Selacoe\u2019s cello concerto\u00a0Four Spirits, with the composer himself and percussionist Bernhard Schimpelsberger as soloists (Monday 18 August, 7:30pm<\/a>).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Made up of a roster of fearless musicians who have developed and grown with the orchestra, Aurora is the pioneer for memorised orchestral performance and has performed entire symphonies from memory at the\u00a0BBC Proms<\/strong>\u00a0and beyond for the last 11 years. They will play at BBC Proms on 16 and 17 August ahead of appearing in Edinburgh.<\/p>\n

The Artistic Director and Co-Director, Concept and Script for\u00a0Shostakovich\u2019s Fifth by Heart, Jane Mitchell, said: \u201cShostakovich\u2019s 5th symphony was written under extraordinary circumstances and has been put under a magnifying glass since the moment it was first presented. The stories surrounding the symphony provide a fascinating lens through which to look at the role of artists in a totalitarian state. Our presentation of the 5th symphony will look at these stories alongside an exploration of the score itself, and will take a look at the endless ways in which we can interpret abstract music, throwing light on both the terrifying and farcical nature of a state attempting to control a composer\u2019s voice.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Aurora Orchestra at Kings Place credit Nick Rutter
\n\"image_pdf\"<\/a>\"image_print\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.<\/p>\n

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