The Cumnock Tryst is planning for the future!

The Cumnock Tryst understands the importance of our Festival to the local area and to the classical music scene in Scotland. 

So although we have to let you know that the Festival will not go ahead in its usual format this year, we are working in new ways to keep presenting classical music to the widest possible audience, both in our local areas and further afield.

Rather than wait a whole year to bring fantastic music and musicians to Cumnock, we are planning a series of concerts and events, which will comply with Government guidelines, over the first six months of 2021 before mounting the full festival again in October 2021. These events will be creatively re-invented to meet audiences’ new expectations of attending live music and delivered with the safety and enjoyment of both artists and audiences at their heart. 

Sir James MacMillan, founder and festival director of The Cumnock Tryst said, “Music is a very powerful tonic which can sustain us through difficult times and refresh our souls. Now more than ever we want to find ways to bring the best classical music to as wide as possible an audience in our local communities in Ayrshire and bring people together safely, to enjoy it. Although we cannot mount the festival as planned this year, we are planning some wonderful concerts over the first few months of next year to lift our souls. We look forward to sharing these with you soon.”

2020 promised to be a big year for The Cumnock Tryst with plans involving the significantly larger Barony Hall at the new Robert Burns Academy in Cumnock and the launch of our major new community project, the Musical Celebration of the Coalfields, which will span the next two to three years. 

Created and led by The Cumnock Tryst, The Musical Celebration of the Coalfields will involve around 15 local community groups and individual residents to create the event which will culminate in two major productions performed in Barony Hall, as a highlight of The Cumnock Tryst festivals in October 2021 and 2022. 

Working online on this project from late summer will allow the Tryst to establish connections with communities as we emerge from lockdown, and develop work that can then evolve in face-to-face workshops when it is safe for us to meet together. 

Those involved in the Musical will be at the heart of every part of writing, composing, producing and performing their stories and will be supported by industry professionals in the fields of creative writing, videography, photography, sound recording, opera and musical theatre. We’ll let you know over the summer how you can be involved.

Sir James MacMillan added, “Contributing to our local community is absolutely intrinsic to the work of the Tryst and the reason we exist. I am delighted that we are able to continue with our bold, new, ambitious celebration of the coalfields starting with the creation and submission of texts, sound postcards, photographs and video created and recorded in people’s local surroundings.” 

This ambitious musical celebration of the coalfields is possible thanks to the significant support of the Coalfield Communities Landscape Partnership and National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The Tryst will, like many arts organisations, be getting in touch with you to ask your thoughts on what a return to live music events might look like and what will give you the confidence to return  - in order to develop new ways of staging events in the best possible way for audiences and artists.

Thank you so much for your support of The Cumnock Tryst. We will keep you up to date in the weeks ahead in how we are working to bring fantastic music and community experiences both online and live in Cumnock.