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21-24 July 2022

The Inaugural Islington Festival of Music and Art came into being on July 22 2021, which turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year! Christ Church Highbury and its gardens were bathed in glorious sunlight, as the sold out concert sparkled with the Trout Quintet, whilst during the interval much chilled wine and beer was consumed!

This 4 day explosion of music and art throughout the London Borough of Islington ended on Sunday July 25 in torrential rain: many buckets were employed to catch the mor persistent pools of water that cascaded through the roof of the church, so much that during the afternoon rehearsal all the lights fused and the concert was in danger of being cancelled.

In between these weather extremes, the Festival presented 11 concerts and 2 workshops in 5 wonderful venues, which all have their characteristics and atmospheres.

Some statistics to enjoy:
• 13 events
• 5 venues
• 408 ticket holders
• 36 musicians and artists
• 34 composers played and sung
• Much delicious wine and beer consumed! (and crisps..)

Christ Church Highbury: the scene for the 4 evening concerts, where much beautiful music was heard by Franz Schubert and others. The recently restored Steinway piano was in full bloom, and the strings instruments (and clarinet!) dazzled everyone with their virtuosity. Only on the last day was it necessary to have the interval drinks indoors, although even that didn’t dampen the audience’s spirits!

Newington Green Meeting House: lovingly restored to its former glory, the main chapel hosted 2 concerts of music by JS Bach, including the glorious 8-part motets which looked spectacular on the semi-circular stage. Upstairs hosted the 2 workshops (art class and luthier), bringing together highly crafted artists with people who wanted to learn and experience a little bit about the trade.

Islington Square: the Stage in the South Arcade was the venue for the Lunchtime concerts: Violin and Piano favourites kicked off this mini-series, and was followed by songs from the post war era, and then in complete contrast, an hour of magical jazz piano playing. Ticket holders had a ringside seat to these events, which were enhanced by members of the public passing by, complete with small children, dogs and at one point a lady dancing in the arcade to the music of Vera Lynn!

No 20 Arts hosted the Saturday night Late Night Bach, an unforgettable experience for those who attended, merging beautiful solo violin music by Bach with the contemporary art exhibition on view. A few hours later on Sunday morning, not long after all the hired chairs had been taken out for the concert in the Square, the gallery flooded with the torrential rain! We were very lucky indeed.

And finally, to the closing concert of the Festival, upstairs in the famous Old Queens Head pub, where baroque violin and lute dazzled us all in a fittingly intimate setting.

And finally: a big thank you to all of you who attended the Festival, whether it was for 1 event or 13! And an especially extra big thank you to all the Team behind the Festival, without whom it would never have come to life: the managers and staff in all the 5 venues, plus the wonderful team of stewards: Sarah, Tony, Fran, Justin, who checked tickets, gave out programmes, served drinks, moved chairs in and out of venues, all with a smile!

The 2022 Festival is already well on the way to being organised: so see you all next year, and take care until we meet again.

Joana Ly and Martin André, Festival Directors