arts
March 11, 2026
Edinburgh International Festival to Explore America's Creativity and Cruelty, Says Director
August festival presents largest-ever jazz program alongside full-scale operas and Scottish folk music
TL;DR
- The Edinburgh International Festival will present the largest-ever collection of American artists.
- The festival's theme, 'All Rise,' coincides with the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence.
- Featured events include collaborations between musicians like Yuja Wang and Wynton Marsalis, San Francisco Ballet's AI exploration, and theatre productions on the Aids crisis and racist lynchings.
- The festival will stage full-scale operas from overseas, including Verdi's 'A Masked Ball' set in Boston.
- The jazz program is the largest in the festival's history, featuring Duke Ellington's 'Black, Brown and Beige'.
- Exhibitions include the Legacy Museum in Alabama, which investigates transatlantic slavery.
- Festival director Nicola Benedetti believes art and politics are inextricably linked.
Continue reading the original article