The Cumnock Tryst springs into second decade of inspiring music-making in 2025 festival edition
Tickets are set to go on sale for the popular Cumnock Tryst Music Festival, the annual event which brings together classical music stars and musicians from the local East Ayrshire community.
The Tryst springs into its second decade of inspiring music-making with its 2025 edition, running from Thursday, October 2 until Sunday, October 6.
Across the four days, the festival welcomes performances from some of the finest musicians in the UK, including Hebrides Ensemble, Roderick Williams and the Carducci Quartet, SANSARA and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
Festival favourites The Cumnock Tryst Ensemble and the Festival Chorus also return, and emerging talent in the form of National Youth Orchestra of Scotland's Camerata project, and rising Scottish jazz stars Matt Carmichael and his ensemble are welcomed to the festival.
Fitting to The Cumnock Tryst ethos, community music charities and projects such as Drake Music Scotland, Musicians in Exile, and the Academy of Sacred Music also take centre stage.
After their successful debut in 2024, The Cumnock Tryst Ensemble launches the 2025 festival on October 2, with an intimate chamber programme featuring works by Samuel Barber , Judith Weir , Electra Perivolaris , Jay Capperauld , and festival founder Sir James MacMillan.
The chamber group consists of some of Scotland's finest musicians – Gordon Bragg (violin), Felix Tanner (viola) Nikita Naumov (double bass), and Ruth Morley (flute).
The Cumnock Tryst Ensemble Artistic Coordinator, Christian Elliott, very sadly passed away last month. An incredibly talented cellist, composer, and arranger, Christian's passion for new music and his dedication to bringing fresh musical experience to Cumnock will leave an indelible mark on the community. Following a hugely successful choral day earlier this year, young singers from across North, South, and East Ayrshire come together in Three Ayrshires Choral Day for a day of musical exploration through diverse repertoire, guided by expert vocal leaders Eamonn Dougan and Andy McTaggart. Hebrides Ensemble and the Tryst collaborate with Drake Music Scotland – Scotland's leading organisation creating music making opportunities for children and adults with disabilities – to present a new performance, 'The Unbroken Thread'.
The performance was created through an ongoing project working with children with severe additional support needs at Hillside School – celebrating creativity without limits as participants navigate their transition from school to adult life through music.
Bringing together innovative technology with boundless imagination, these young artists will demonstrate that music truly belongs to everyone.
The Cumnock Hour, in partnership with Boswell Book Festival, returns with a thought-provoking conversation with award-winning poet Michael Symmons Roberts and Hebrides Ensemble's Artistic Director Will Conway, hosted by James Knox. Together they'll explore how French composer Olivier Messiaen's extraordinary piece, composed in a WWII prison camp, resonates through Michael's profound new poetry collection, Quartet for the End of Time: On Music, Grief & Birdsong.
Internationally acclaimed baritone Roderick Williams returns to the festival in a new guise, performing his own string quartet arrangement of Schubert's heartbreaking song cycle Die schöne Müllerin, performed with the Carducci Quartet . This transformation of Schubert's lucid piano part brings a fresh perspective to the tale of the wandering miller, with its intense drama and sweeping Romanticism. The Saturday morning sees the Tryst hosts the extraordinary sounds of Musicians in Exile , a vibrant ensemble born from The Glasgow Barons' inspiring project supporting asylum seekers now living in the city.
This group brings together talented musicians who have each travelled extraordinary journeys to Scotland, creating something truly unique – a musical tapestry woven from experiences around the world.
The National Youth Orchestra of Scotland's flagship ensemble Camerata comprises current senior and past members of Scotland's national youth orchestra and provides professional development experience for emerging musicians aged 18-25. They perform Nigel Shore's Harmoniemusik version of Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss , conducted by Catherine Larsen-Maguire.
The Cumnock Tryst Festival Chorus, directed by Eamonn Dougan, performs the Scottish premiere of American composer Taylor Scott Davis's Magnificat with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
This year, the festival is committed to making the Festival Chorus free-to-access for the first time. Rehearsals begin on June 7, and this initiative will remove financial barriers to participation, giving local people access to high-quality singing opportunities and rarely performed repertoire. Late night concerts at the Dumfries Arms Hotel make a welcome return in 2025. The Bill Jones Ensemble will bring Scotland's finest traditional jazz musicians to Cumnock, while Alastair Savage and his band return due to popular demand, performing a set of traditional Scottish tunes on the Friday evening.
Saturday's late night concert sees rising contemporary jazz-folk saxophonist Matt Carmichael performing his new album Dancing with Embers, joined by Scotland's most exciting young jazz talents – Charlie Stewart (fiddle), Ali Watson (bass), Stephen Henderson (drums) and Mercury Prize shortlisted pianist Fergus McCreadie.
Sunday, October 5 sees Scottish pianist Alasdair Beatson present new works by Beethoven, Debussy and George Benjamin in two performances at Dumfries House, and St John's Church hosts a special Mass featuring music from the Academy of Sacred Music.
The festival closes with the vocal ensemble SANSARA , who will perform a programme entitled 'Northern Rites', which features music by James MacMillan, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, and Oliver Tarney.
Festival founder Sir James MacMillan said: "When we launched in 2014, we saw music as a way of regenerating a part of Ayrshire which has suffered decline in recent decades. Music can transform communities as well as the interior lives of individuals, and so it seems to be proving for us.
"In the last year we have won major awards, including a Sky Arts Award and a second RPS Award. And what a rich menu of music we have this year.
"On the Friday of our festival we present the next edition of our work with young people with additional support needs in Cumnock, along with Drake Music Scotland and Hebrides Ensemble.
"Our wide-ranging commitment to our young musicians can be seen in the visit by NYOS Camerata, and our range of wonderful musicians can be experienced throughout the festival in concerts by The Cumnock Tryst Ensemble, Roderick Williams and the Carducci Quartet, the BBC SSO in concert with our Festival Chorus, the great Scottish pianist Alasdair Beatson and incredible choral performers SANSARA and the Academy of Sacred Music.
"We also have inspiring jazz and Scottish traditional music for our late night events in Dumfries Arms Hotel. "Come and join us for our eleventh Tryst!'
Tickets for the 2025 festival are on sale from Monday, June 2 here.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Record
5 hours ago
- Daily Record
Nicola Walker's brutal admission about marriage as she says 'it's not the most romantic'
Nicola Walker is back for a brand new series of Annika on BBC One - but what do we really know about the actress and her personal life when the camera's aren't rolling? Nicola Walker is about to return to the lead role in BBC crime drama Annika, which is already dubbed "as good as detective series gets". Nicola will reprise her role as the titular star Annika Strandhed, a detective inspector working in the Glasgow homicide team and tasked with solving some of the most unfathomable murders to ever wash up on Scottish shores. Annika is loosely based on the hit Radio 4 comedy drama of the same name, with the popular programme first airing in 2021 on UKTV channel Alibi. It wasn't until two years later that BBC added the detective series to its own prime time viewing schedule. Season two is now gearing up to launch on the BBC with the hotly anticipated series being broadcast at 9:10pm with Annika ready to investigate further grisly murders in Scottish waters. An official synopsis for the brand new season reads: "The team are challenged as their dynamics shift, pushing them to rapidly adapt as they encounter murders more complex than ever before. The crimes take them to new landscapes, showing multiple sides of Scotland from the Hebridean Isles to the vibrant capital city, Edinburgh. "Meanwhile, Annika balances a family dynamic that grows more complicated as long-held secrets from the past begin to impact her relationships. As always, Annika breaks the fourth wall, sharing her wry and humorous observations through a literary lens, alongside raising her brilliant yet complex teenage daughter, Morgan." After the news that season two had been green lit for a second series, Nicola told the BBC: "We are all looking forward to fighting crime on sea and land with the MHU for a second series and there are secrets closer to home for Annika that will have to be faced. It's going to be a bumpy ride!" Away from the screen, Nicola is married to Barnaby Kay with their relationship formed based on pragmatic considerations rather than romantic ideals, reports the Express. Both having lost a parent at a young age, the couple chose to tie the knot for legal security after welcoming their son, as Nicola candidly shared with Radio Times: "Me and my husband, because we both lost a parent young, we thought, after we had a child, we ought to get married, in case one of us dies, so that the legalities are clear." She acknowledges that matrimony wasn't something she would have pursued without these practical considerations: "Which is not the most romantic reason to get married but is probably the only thing that would have got me to sign a piece of paper." Nicola and Barnaby's romance started in 1994 during filming of The Libertine, eventually leading to marriage and welcoming their son, Harry. In a frank discussion, the actress compared marriage to "going to work". "Putting on a lovely dress and make-up, learning lines, someone doing your hair ... I can see that would be really appealing if you don't do it for a living," she revealed. Annika season 2 is set to air tonight (August 2) at 9:10pm, on BBC One.
North Wales Chronicle
6 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Swinney brands Gaza crisis ‘genocide' after Fringe show disrupted
Police were called to the Stand Comedy Club in Edinburgh after the First Minister was interrupted seven times by six different groups of protesters during a conversation with comedian Susan Morrison. The protesters urged the First Minister to describe the crisis as a genocide and stop state funding for arms companies. Speaking to journalists after the event, the First Minister said: 'It's quite clear that there is a genocide in Palestine – it can't be disputed. 'I have seen reports of terrible atrocities which have the character of being genocide. 'I've expressed that and obviously it's not reached all those individuals, but that's my feeling.' The Scottish Government has also been criticised for – while not funding directly the manufacturing of munitions – providing money for apprenticeships at firms which build weapons. But the First Minister said the Government's commercial arm Scottish Enterprise has the 'strictest assessments imaginable about the purpose and the use of public expenditure in companies who may be related to defence industries'. Pushed on providing money for staff who could potentially build munitions, the First Minister added: 'We're trying to enable companies to diversify their activities, that's the purpose. 'That's why the due diligence checks are applied and they are applied unreservedly.' Throughout the show, groups of attendees stood up, holding signs which spelled the word 'genocide', and heckled the First Minister. As the event continued, the interruptions became more forceful, before two groups stood at the same time, angrily shouting at the First Minister and chanting slogans such as 'call it genocide'. Members of his security team stood in front of the stage, stopping protesters from approaching the First Minister, before three uniformed police officers arrived at the venue to usher the protesters out. I still remember the bus ride to my first Edinburgh Festival show as a teenager, with my late mother – not knowing it would spark a lifelong love of culture. As the Festival season starts, I want every community in Scotland to have that same access to a booming cultural scene. — John Swinney (@JohnSwinney) August 2, 2025 During the tense exchange, which lasted several minutes, a number of the crowd – who were not protesting – appeared to be in tears. A final disruption came from one woman in the crowd, who asked the First Minister why he had not responded to her letter about heavy metal band Disturbed playing at the Hydro in Glasgow. The band's lead singer David Draiman has been criticised after being pictured signing an Israeli bomb. The woman asked the First Minister why he did not speak out on Disturbed playing at the city's biggest venue, when he said it would be inappropriate for Irish band Kneecap to play the TRNSMT festival after comments members of the band had made about Tory MPs. The First Minister said his comments on Kneecap had come due to questions from the media and he 'didn't particularly' want to speak about the band earlier this year, adding that he did not want to choose what art people do and do not consume. The woman became increasingly angry with the First Minister's response and was eventually dragged from the venue by a police officer, whom she branded a 'thug'.
Rhyl Journal
6 hours ago
- Rhyl Journal
Swinney brands Gaza crisis ‘genocide' after Fringe show disrupted
Police were called to the Stand Comedy Club in Edinburgh after the First Minister was interrupted seven times by six different groups of protesters during a conversation with comedian Susan Morrison. The protesters urged the First Minister to describe the crisis as a genocide and stop state funding for arms companies. Speaking to journalists after the event, the First Minister said: 'It's quite clear that there is a genocide in Palestine – it can't be disputed. 'I have seen reports of terrible atrocities which have the character of being genocide. 'I've expressed that and obviously it's not reached all those individuals, but that's my feeling.' The Scottish Government has also been criticised for – while not funding directly the manufacturing of munitions – providing money for apprenticeships at firms which build weapons. But the First Minister said the Government's commercial arm Scottish Enterprise has the 'strictest assessments imaginable about the purpose and the use of public expenditure in companies who may be related to defence industries'. Pushed on providing money for staff who could potentially build munitions, the First Minister added: 'We're trying to enable companies to diversify their activities, that's the purpose. 'That's why the due diligence checks are applied and they are applied unreservedly.' Throughout the show, groups of attendees stood up, holding signs which spelled the word 'genocide', and heckled the First Minister. As the event continued, the interruptions became more forceful, before two groups stood at the same time, angrily shouting at the First Minister and chanting slogans such as 'call it genocide'. Members of his security team stood in front of the stage, stopping protesters from approaching the First Minister, before three uniformed police officers arrived at the venue to usher the protesters out. I still remember the bus ride to my first Edinburgh Festival show as a teenager, with my late mother – not knowing it would spark a lifelong love of culture. As the Festival season starts, I want every community in Scotland to have that same access to a booming cultural scene. — John Swinney (@JohnSwinney) August 2, 2025 During the tense exchange, which lasted several minutes, a number of the crowd – who were not protesting – appeared to be in tears. A final disruption came from one woman in the crowd, who asked the First Minister why he had not responded to her letter about heavy metal band Disturbed playing at the Hydro in Glasgow. The band's lead singer David Draiman has been criticised after being pictured signing an Israeli bomb. The woman asked the First Minister why he did not speak out on Disturbed playing at the city's biggest venue, when he said it would be inappropriate for Irish band Kneecap to play the TRNSMT festival after comments members of the band had made about Tory MPs. The First Minister said his comments on Kneecap had come due to questions from the media and he 'didn't particularly' want to speak about the band earlier this year, adding that he did not want to choose what art people do and do not consume. The woman became increasingly angry with the First Minister's response and was eventually dragged from the venue by a police officer, whom she branded a 'thug'.
