East Neuk Festival

The East Neuk Festival is an annual music festival that takes place over five days around 1 July in the area known as the East Neuk of Fife.

Established in 2004 it was the brainchild of Donald and Louise MacDonald and founding artistic director Svend McEwan-Brown.

The festival concerts take place in a range of venues including churches in villages such as St Monans, Crail, Kilconquhar, Kilrenny and Cellardyke as well as unusual spaces such as Scotland’s Secret Bunker an aircraft shelter at RAF Leuchars, gardens, caves, dells, local attractions and notably, The Bowhouse, a large barn on the Balcaskie Estate which is transformed into a performance venue especially for the event.

Musicians and ensembles join together in residencies for practically the duration of the festival playing core chamber music repertoire alongside new commissions, contemporary works, jazz and world music. Storytelling, poetry, literature, exhibitions, films and other art and installation projects also feature.

Other performers have included conductor/pianist Christian Zacharias, violinist Alexander Janiczek and writer Dr Richard Holloway, the Alban Berg Quartet, Skampa String Quartet, Belcea Quartet and Leipzig String Quartet, the Doric String Quartet, Elias String Quartet and Royal String Quartet.

In 2017 the festival line up included Elisabeth Leonskaja, The Belcea Quartet, Julian Bliss, Sean Shibe, Christ Stout, Catriona McKay, Mr McFall's Chamber, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Castalian Quartet.

In 2015 the Festival created the ENF Retreat, a intensive chamber music seminar designed to offer young professional musicians who have demonstrated a special commitment to chamber music an opportunity to work with outstanding established artists. With the support of the Misses Barrie Charitable Trust it offered 10 string players from around the world coaching and mentoring by Alexander Janiczek (violin), Krzysztof Chorzelski (violist of the Belcea Quartet), David Watkins (Head of Strings at Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) and pianist Alexander Lonquich. in 2017 the third Retreat brought together 8 young players to be coached by Janiczek, alongside Isabel Charisius, Valentin Erben, Rafael Rosenfeld and David Watkins. The Retreat takes place in the village of Elie in Fife

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