Shipley Arts Festival 2022 puts the emphasis on the environment

Festival director Andrew Bernardi is looking forward to a wide range of concerts this year at a range of very special locations: “We are going to be celebrating all the beautiful country estates that we normally celebrate and we will be bringing those country estates together in the way that we normally would but the thing that is the great step forward for us this year, moving further ahead than ever before, is that we are celebrating also the climate and the environment and ecology and the wilding. Those things are just so important. We are now reflecting the whole wilding corridor. It all takes forward what we have done before.

"The wilding concerts we have been doing for 15 years but we are really emphasising that side to it all this year. I think it’s the most pressing need that we have, not just maintaining our communities and keeping people together but also really looking after our environment for the future generations. It’s probably the most pressing action of our times. Part of it is making people think about the issues but we’re also doing practical things like setting aside and planting trees for every number of tickets that we sell. But there is also the fact that we’re bringing people together so that they don’t have to go to London for concerts. The fact that we are taking concerts to them in their communities and bringing them together is obviously reducing CO2 output in itself. But we have also been reflecting that concern with our environment in our commissions. We really are trying to do something to reverse climate change in a practical way.

“The Bernardi Music Group is the overall ensemble and we are setting up and expanding a series in London; we’re also expanding our Leonardslee series of concerts which is separate from the festival; and also the Shipley Arts Festival is deeply rooted and established in our communities.”

Inevitably in these troubled times the dark shadow of the Russian invasion of Ukraine hangs over everything: “Very poignantly about ten years ago children from Chernobyl came over and performed on their balalaikas with our string academy and I have maintained contact with the group. We were also in touch with the Ukrainian embassy in the past and sadly that is all very relevant now in these particular difficulties. I have been directly in touch with our Russian musician friends to say that nothing has changed in our support for them and also to stress our support for Ukraine. It is very important that people are not caught up in the war and that we continue to treat all individuals equally.”

As for audiences post pandemic: “I think that the confidence is increasing. The omicron variant really worried people but that is now lifting. During the pandemic we went straight into digital and we broadcast throughout the pandemic and that really worked and now we are looking to take that to an even higher level.

“We turned the pandemic into an opportunity in terms of working very hard to consolidate and to expand and I think it confirmed that we are doing four things very, very well. I think we have been really thinking about our environment and about climate change and I think we have really been diverse culturally in what we have been doing. I think we’ve also been delivering very high quality and I think that we have really been including people and galvanising our communities. And I think that the great support that we have been so grateful for has been a reflection of those four things.”

The opening concert of the 2022 season is on Saturday, March 26 at the Malden Family Theatre Windlesham House School with performances for 6pm with a Nyetimber interval followed by repeat performance at 8 pm with Trinity Laban’s String Ensemble preceded by String Academy.

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