Lichfield Festival director aspiring to new things
Alison Jones talks to the new director of the Lichfield Festival and looks at some highlights.
As the Lichfield Festival kicks off this week, new director Fiona Stuart admits to being rather nervous about her first programme.
She is hoping to attract some new visitors to the event, as well as retain the loyal followers.
“We do have some incredibly loyal supporters and I think it is important to cater for your core audience, that you represent their tastes while also trying to create some sort of breadth that will allow you to appeal to new people,” she explains.
“It is a fine balancing act, I think, to get something that is properly international and represents a broad spectrum of the arts. But we need to attract new audiences, all festivals do, particularly young people, school children and families.”
The festival was established back in 1981 by John Lang, the Dean of the Cathedral, who was inspired by a music society in north Staffordshire run by charismatic schoolmaster Gordon Clark who managed to persuade world famous virtuosos to come and perform.
John Lang got Patrick Lichfield to take on the role of chairman of the festival board and tapped him for £500 to start the festival fund.
“The Dean wanted to look at how the community engaged with the arts and set something up which allowed them to develop their own creativity and also experience high quality arts at a local level,” says Fiona.
A music teacher before moving into arts management, Fiona is combining her directorship with a post at the Royal Northern College of Music where she works in performance and programming.
“It’s a lovely job to compliment this as it gives me an opportunity to experience a lot of music first hand and see a lot of different artists.
“I am following some good people (at Lichfield) over the years who have programmed some wonderful festivals, it is quite a daunting position. I want to build on the history and continue to bring the best to the region and develop that international flavour.
“This year we have got everything from Monteverdi to the very latest in contemporary jazz, our normal balance of chamber and orchestral music and a bit of cutting edge drama.”
The ten-day event is not just confined to music, although this does play a large part. It also includes visual and performing arts, talks, drama, dance, poetry, wine tasting, walks, painting and even fishing.
“The fishing (the Charity Grand Final is at 8am on July 11) has been in for an awfully long time. It is just a quirky little part of it, like the festival dash (10am on July 17). I think all festivals have them and they are sort of what makes them what they are.”
Although Fiona had not attended the festival before taking over, she studied past programmes and looked at ticketing numbers to get a flavour of what worked and what didn’t.
“I have also been extremely lucky to have inherited an amazing team group of people who are very experienced and who have been doing this for a number of years. I feel in very capable hands,” she says.
“It will be an ongoing process I think. Chamber and orchestral music always go down well and have always been at the heart of the festival, the big orchestral performances particularly because we have the cathedral and it is such a fabulous stage for those big events. But I am also a fan of jazz and contemporary drama, so those are the kind of things I will also be looking at.
“We have strong links with Midlands-based artists and I think it is really important to continue to develop that.
“There are three that we are going to have at the Garrick Studio. There is a performance by United Artists of Al Bowlly’s Croon Manifesto (a celebration of the dance hall singer from July 8-11 at 8pm). The Happiness Patrol are coming back (offering a new take on Oscar Wilde’s Salome from July 14-17 at 8pm). And there is Caroline Horton, who has her roots in Lichfield (she will be presenting a one woman show from July 12-13 at 8pm).
“I am really pleased Rich Hall is coming (Lichfield Garrick, July 14 at 8pm), as I am a big fan of his. Also Alex Wilson (performing Salsa Reloaded at Lichfield Garrick on July 15, 8pm) and Laura Solon (presenting Rabbit Faced Story Soup, Lichfield Garrick, July 10, 8pm).
“The festival has always had a history of supporting young artists and bringing them back once they have established their careers. This year we approached all the conservatoires in the UK to suggest one of their high fliers to come and perform and almost all of them are represented, with Birmingham kicking off the series.
“There are a lot of things that I personally like but it is not about me, it is about trying to bring in things I think other people will like as well.”
Fiona has also been looking at ways of encouraging the next generation of festival goers. The community programme has been expanded with a series of workshops offering the chance to learn new skills. There is also an expanded education programme for schools.
