The Edinburgh Quartet, Scotland’s flagship string quartet, are proud to continue their support of new composition through a unique collaborative music and spoken word commission by Peter Longworth.

The new piece, titled Island Verses, has been written specifically to engage with young people on the Quartet’s tour of some of Scotland’s remotest islands. Through workshops with author Ron Butlin, students across Scotland will develop unique texts exploring their sense of island life and sense of place, which will be woven into the piece and performed, creating a unique performance at every stage of the tour.

Peter Longworth, composer:  “I was thrilled to be invited by the Edinburgh Quartet to compose a new work on the theme of exile, and I spent a considerable amount of time contemplating the subject before I began composing. As one fortunate enough never to have experienced exile I determined that the notion of home – the tragedy of losing it and the struggle to find it anew in a different place – should be the departure point for the work, although the music also draws upon the topic of water as a symbol both of journeys and of isolation. To collaborate with one of Europe’s foremost string quartets is a great honour and their season’s theme of Exile is, sadly, one that remains all too relevant today.”

The premiere performance will take place at The Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh on Sunday 3rd March 2019 at 3pm. Tickets are available from the venue, or www.edinburghquartet.com. The project is supported by Creative Scotland, Garfield Weston Foundation, Hugh Fraser Foundation and the Friends of the Edinburgh Quartet.

Read more about their 2018-19 season here.

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Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
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