The BandStand Project is supported by funding from The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and the City of Edinburgh's Counc
PRESS RELEASE - The Bandstand Project
[ images: left – Leith Links Bandstand, right – Lewisvale Park, Musselburgh ]
Art Walk Portobello festival returns to Edinburgh’s Seaside from 30 August to 9 Sept with a project responding to the spaces of our old bandstands, situated in and around Edinburgh, once the pride of many of our parks and seaside locations. Sound artist and musician, Ross Whyte, has been commissioned to create a new composition that responds to the seaside musical era, to be performed by Portobello Community Choir at Ross Theatre, in Princes Street Gardens, and at the site of the old bandstand in Portobello, John Street, on Porty’s Prom as part of this year’s Art Walk festival (30 August to 9 September). The project is to be accompanied by an App which will link up 8 sites of old bandstands across the city, including, The Meadows, Leith Links, Victoria Park, the old site of Marine Gardens, and existing bandstands at Ross Theatre, Lewisvale Park in Musselburgh, and the newly rebuilt Saughton Park bandstand which will open again to the public in 2019. The App will provide sound recordings and lyrics relating to each park, accompanied by archive photographs. Performances: Sat 1st September, 4pm at Ross Theatre, Princes Street Gardens, Edinburgh Sun 9th September, 2pm at the site of the old bandstand in Portobello, John Street by the Prom Performances by Ross Whyte and Portobello Community Choir Free to the public Ross Whyte says about receiving this commission: "What inspires me most about this commission is the idea of reimagining places through sound; to attempt to evoke the soundscapes of another era and transport the listener to that time and place. I'm also interested in the power that sound has to guide or draw us towards something unseen - in this case sites which no longer exist, to bandstands, which once served as the cultural centre for many communities." Rosy Naylor, Art Walk Porty founder and curator says: “This project presents an exciting opportunity to link up many different parks and outdoor spaces across Edinburgh through their histories of community music. We hope that visitors will enjoy going to each site, finding each bandstand location through the sounds on the App. Each location will contain a ’Soundpost’ from where the App can be downloaded.”
The BandStand Project is supported by funding from The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo and the City of Edinburgh’s Council Culture Fund.
PRESS CONTACT Rosy Naylor on 0131 669 9343 or Email:
[email protected] ENDS ======================= Notes to Editors: The Bandstand Project is part of this year’s Art Walk Porty arts festival, set up in 2015 to celebrate the public spaces and community creative spirit of Portobello, Edinburgh’s Seaside. The festival’s programme this year is centred around the ‘Pleasure Ground’ which will include a Promenade Parade of participatory music and dance, a series of Beach Film Nights, Art Houses, Art in Shops, and other participatory led events. More details of the programme will be available from mid June. Last year’s event involved more than 70 artists over 50 different locations.
++++++++++++++++ Rosy Naylor Curator | Producer Art Walk Projects T. 0131 669 9343 M. 07941 710304 E.
[email protected] www.artwalkporty.co.uk @artwalkporty
