Two Moors Festival

The Two Moors Festival is an annual classical music festival based in Devon and Somerset, England.

The festival covers the largest geographic area of any United Kingdom festival, being based in the towns and villages of Dartmoor and Exmoor.

History

The festival was started in 2001 after the UK critical outbreak of Foot-and-mouth disease closed access to large part of the English countryside. The festival was held to bring some light relief and encourage people to return to the rural areas in Devon. It has become an annual event, with a concerts being staged at venues across Dartmoor and Exmoor.[1]

During the preparations for the 2007 festival, on 10 April 2007 a £45,000 Bösendorfer piano being delivered to the home of John and Penny Adie, the organisers of the festival, was dropped by delivery company G&R.[2][3][4] A replacement piano was given by the makers for the following years festival.[5]

In 2016 the festival programme included the Carducci String Quartet, Opus Anglicanum with reader Zeb Soanes, and the Gildas Quartet.[6] The final night of the festival was planned to be held in Exeter Cathedral with a fundraising reception at the Royal Clarence Hotel. A fire at the hotel on 28 October 2016,[7] meant that neither event could take place.[8][9]

Format

The concerts are held at eleven rural towns and villages across Dartmoor and Exmoor, featuring established global performers as well as young, local musicians. There is a competition in the form of the festival's Young Musician's Platform. There are workshops to give local schoolchildren the chance to learn a classical musical instrument. Many of the local schools are unable to offer such lessons, and workshops reach 700 youngsters who would otherwise miss out.[10]

Previous performers

Organisation

The Two Moors Festival is controlled by Two Moors Festival Limited which has charitable status.

References
  1. "Two Moors Festival". Two Moors Festival. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  2. "Grand piano damaged in lorry fall". BBC News. 10 April 2007. Retrieved 19 December 2007.
  3. "Festival chiefs smash £45,000 piano". Digital Spy. 10 April 2007. Retrieved 19 December 2007.
  4. Kennedy, Maev (27 September 2007). "Festival's next piano will be handled with care". Guardian. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  5. "Two Moors Festival honours the piano this year". North Devon Journal. 2 October 2008. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  6. "The 2016 Festival - 22 to 29 October". Two Moors Festival. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  7. "Exeter fire: Royal Clarence Hotel collapses in blaze". BBC. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  8. "Music & Musicians". Private Eye. 1431: 14. 11 November 2016.
  9. "Architecture experts mourn loss of "irreplaceable" interior in building where fire started". Express & Echo. 29 October 2016. Archived from the original on 30 October 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  10. "Young Musicians Platform". Two Moors Festival. Archived from the original on 2 November 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
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