THE FIRST TEN YEARS
The Loch Shiel Spring Festival was established on the initiative of Patrick Stephen-Samuels in 1996. A tenor and composer of extensive international experience, Patrick took on the role of local choirmaster when he retired to the West Highlands from Edinburgh in the early 1990s. The Loch Shiel Spring Festival was conceived as a way of allowing his new neighbours to enjoy the work of his musician friends while allowing these friends to enjoy the magnificent beauty of the place he now called his home. He believed passionately that any prejudice or perceived barrier there might be to stop people from enjoying classical chamber music, could be overcome by familiarisation.
So the Festival started, with six concerts, two of them performed by the Choir – the Loch Shiel Singers – augmented and renamed for the occasion as the Loch Shiel Festival Choir. The first shows were well received and each year the festival grew to put on more concerts with bigger ensembles, and more professional players, encompassing many of the best loved and most popular classical pieces, but always based on a policy of featuring works less well known. The eminent Edinburgh Quartet featured prominently in the programme every year.
For nine years Patrick and his fellow committee members, most prominently his wife Jean, Richard and Anna Stead, George and Connie Dodgshon and Frances Carol, worked tirelessly to establish the festival as a force to be reckoned with on the British music scene, and as can be seen from the impressive catalogue of artists featured and works performed over the years, their joint efforts have been crowned with considerable success.
2006 – the 10th ANNIVERSARY
After 9 festivals, the original office bearers asked to step down in order to focus on other commitments and enjoyments. Charles Mutter, the then Leader of the Edinburgh Quartet, was asked to take on the role of Artistic Director, and accepted willingly, fully realising the artistic potential that lay in bringing together Scotland’s leading musicians for a week of combined performances in the scenic splendour of the West Highlands. Working together with a partnership of local music organisations, Charles put on his first festival in 2006. He devised a programme which truly celebrated the festival’s achievements so far. Have a look!
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