Wed 22 Mar 2006

In 2006 the Edinburgh International Festival celebrates the 60th Festival and the last of Brian McMaster’s 15 years as Festival Director. Supporters have recognised this as a special year and have dug deeper than ever in recognition of these landmarks.

Over £2.25 million in sponsorship and donations have currently been pledged to the Edinburgh International Festival this year.

For nearly sixty years the Edinburgh International Festival has brought the very highest standard of opera, music, theatre and dance to the widest possible audience. It is possible to sustain this unique combination of world class performances and affordable ticket prices only thanks to the generosity of our many supporters and business partners.

New for 2006 is an innovative new initiative which reinvents concert going: the Lloyds TSB Scotland Concerts; a series of 27 concerts; 3 concerts a night, 3 nights a week for the 3 weeks of the Festival; all at the Usher Hall, all approximately one hour in length and all at a single ticket price of £10. Sponsored by Lloyds TSB Scotland.

The Bank of Scotland continues its title sponsorships of Edinburgh International Festival’s Bank of Scotland Queen’s Hall Series, Bank of Scotland Fireworks Concert, and Bank of Scotland Connecting to Music, the Festival’s flagship education programme. In 2006 the Bank of Scotland also sponsors world famous director Peter Stein’s new production of Troilus and Cressida, an Edinburgh International Festival production in association with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Scottish & Newcastle sponsors The Opening Concert Strauss’s Elektra in 2006, having supported all fifteen of Brian McMaster’s Opening Concerts, a major event in the Festival calendar.

First ScotRail returns to sponsor the Edinburgh International Festival for a second time, this year sponsoring the first collaboration between the Edinburgh International Festival and the new National Theatre of Scotland, Anthony Neilson’s new play Realism.

The exceptional Budapest Festival Orchestra’s performance with Richard Goode of Bartók’s Piano Concerto No 3 and Stravinksy’s The Rite of Spring will be sponsored by IBM. Standard Life sponsors the UK premiere of Balanchine’s Don Quixote by Suzanne Farrell Ballet from Washington DC. The New Riga Theatre from Latvia performs Long Life sponsored by The List. Donald Runnicles and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s are sponsored by Mactaggart & Mickel.

The Festival would like to welcome Dickson Minto, Newton Investment Management, Norske Skog and Prudential and thank them for their support, in addition to the much valued continued commitment from loyal corporate partners.

Trust and foundation support sees a substantial increase in pledges for Festival 2006, with four more trusts thus far joining the wide support the Festival enjoys from this sector.

The many individual donors who provide significant support to the Festival have shown exceptional generosity in 2006. The Festival membership scheme, the Edinburgh International Festival Patrons and Muses, has attracted as much support already this year as it had by the end of any previous financial year.

Nicky Pritchett-Brown, Sponsorship and Development Director today said, “It is exciting working with sponsors to bring world class artists and new initiatives to life at the Festival. I am extremely grateful to everyone for their generosity, and am delighted to welcome new collaborators in 2006. Our corporate partners recognise the real business benefits of associating with this world class event which makes a major contribution to the profile of both the city and of Scotland, making it a more attractive place to live and work. These cultural factors and quality of life are increasingly recognised as drivers of economic benefit.”

Brian McMaster, Festival Director said, “The Edinburgh International Festival is, I believe, truly innovative and one of the world’s most exciting places to experience the arts. The fact that we can put on an intense three weeks of world class opera, theatre, music and dance and keep prices at levels which are genuinely affordable is hugely reliant on the enormous support we receive from companies, trusts and individuals. That support has helped make my job one of the best in the world and I would like to thank and pay tribute to all those who have given generously to the Festival over the last fifteen years.”

ENDS

There are still opportunities for corporate collaborations and charitable involvement in Festival 2006. For further information contact Nicky Pritchett-Brown Sponsorship & Development Director on 0131 473 2063 or nicky.pritchett-brown@eif.co.uk