Welcome to the Edinburgh Festival of Music Speech and Dance
An Opportunity to Perform
2009 Festival Dates
The 2009 Edinburgh Festival of Music Speech & Dance is planned to be held from Thursday 26 February to Saturday 7 March. The Syllabus and entry forms will to be available in September with a closing date of end-November.Questions about the Festival should be directed to the Festival Secretary or the Treasurer, at the Contacts page of this website.
2008 Festival: 21 February to 1 March
The 88th Edinburgh Festival of Music Speech & Dance concluded on 1 March with a very successful Final Evening at the Queen's Hall. A record audience of over 300 enjoyed a Highlights Concert, comprising a selection of Outstanding peformances from across the Festival, and the final of the Concerto Competition in which four soloists were accompanied by The Friends of The Festival Orchestra, conducted by Dr Alasdair Mitchell.The four Concerto finalists were: Sarah Park (who played the first movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto in A); Calum Robertson (movements from Weber's First Clarinet Concerto); Jessica Hall (Ravel's Tzigane for Violin); and Patrick Kenny (Larsson's Trombone Concertino). The winner, and recipient of the Marjorie Clark Trophy, was Calum Robertson.
In addition, the Traves Trophy for the winner of the Half-Hour Recital competition held during the Festival was presented to David Gray (piano).
Over 1200 entries were received for the 2008 Festival, an increase of 10% on 2007. The Festival was held for the first time at its new dates of late February/early March and in its new City Centre venues of St Cuthbert's Church, Palmerston Place Church, and The Church of St Andrew & St George.
The Outline Timetable for the 2008 Festival can be viewed on this website at
and the 2008 Syllabus can also be viewed via the link below.
2007 Festival: 27 April - 3 June 2007
The 2007 Edinburgh Festival of Music Speech & Dance ended on 3 June with a grand concert in The Queen's Hall, Edinburgh, comprising a "Festival Highlights" concert and the Final of the 2007 Audrey Innes Concerto Class.The Highlights Concert comprised a series of performances from across the Festival selected by the adjudicators for this purpose. These included a guitar ensemble, two solo dance performances, a clarsach duet, piano, violin, flute, recorder and voice solos, and a final "cabaret"-style duet for piano.
The winner of the Concerto Class was Calum Fraser, for his performance of Malcolm Arnold's 2nd Flute Concerto. The Chairman of the adjudicating panel, Viviane Ronchetti, presented Calum with the Marjorie Clark Trophy.
The winner of the Half-hour recital class which took place throughout the Festival was also announced. This was Calum Robertson for his clarinet recital, and he was presented with the Marjory Traves Trophy by Edward Harper, the adjudicator for this class.
A full list of winners of competitive classes is given at the link below:
2006 Festival
Nearly 2000 people competed in over 200 classes and other events in the 2006 Festival, held between the 20th of May and the 4th of June. A full list of prizewinners can be viewed at the link below.The main Finals - held for the first time in The Queen's Hall, Edinburgh - were won by: Amy Fields (Marjorie Clark Trophy for winner of The Audrey Innes Concerto Competition); Josephine Robertson (winner of the Traves Trophy for the Half-hour Recital Class); and Alexander Warham and Ian Watt (joint winners of The Edinburgh Royal Choral Union Trophy for the 'Best in the Festival' Class).
About the Festival
We provide an inclusive opportunity for performers and audiences to learn from specialist adjudicators.Our programme of competitive and non-competitive classes allow non-professional performers of all abilities to receive constructive feedback from adjudicators who are specialists in their field. We are unique among amateur festivals in having a Concerto class, giving talented young soloists the opportunity to play with a full orchestra.