St Magnus Festival 2026: 50th anniversary programme announced
Friday 19 to Sunday 28 June
Bumper programme to celebrate golden anniversary includes:
- A major new performance space at Orkney Auction Mart
- A new festival orchestra under the baton of composer and Festival Director Alasdair Nicolson
- A strong Icelandic presence celebrating the depth of the cultural relationship between these islands, including Voces Thules and the opera Mörsugur
- Street parade through the centre of Kirkwall led by SURGE
- World premieres include Jasper the Kirkwall Cat by Alasdair Nicolson, and new works by Lisa Robertson, Daniel Kidane and Emily Hazrati
- Special exhibition celebrates 50 years of this distinctive and magical festival
- Composers Competition Winner in concert, and Poetry Competition winners souvenir pamphlet
St Magnus International Festival today unveils its 2026 programme for its landmark 50th festival which runs Friday 19 to Sunday 28 June.
A major new performance space and new festival orchestra, a strong Icelandic presence, the world premiere of a new work for children and professional musicians celebrating Kirkwall’s celebrity cat Jasper, the return of the popular outdoor parade and the late-night festival club are among the highlights of this year’s midsummer festival, supported by Creative Scotland and Orkney Islands Council.
In the second of the festivals themed around the elements, this year’s celebration reflects on Air in all its forms – breath, sound, wind, flight and freedom.
The opening gala of the St Magnus Festival 2026 delivers two major firsts. Celebrating 50 years of using and converting unusual spaces the Festival opens the doors on its vast new performance space – Orkney Auction Mart, and the debut performance of its new Festival Orchestra.
The Festival Orchestra is a new ensemble bringing together visiting musicians under the baton of Festival Director Alasdair Nicolson. Their Opening Concert: Welcome to Orkney begins with founder Peter Maxwell Davies’ work of the same name, written for an early St Magnus Festival.
Through the festival Orkney Auction Mart hosts several performances, including the anticipated world premiere of Jasper the Kirkwall Cat, a new large-scale work by Alasdair Nicolson written for the Festival Orchestra and local children. Jasperwas king of Kirkwall’s high street, and even had his own Facebook profile. A regular visitor to businesses up and down the main street, including the festival’s office and box office, Jasper passed away in 2023 but stories of him are still frequently and fondly shared.
Orkney Auction Mart is also the venue for Orkney’s high-energy, fiddle led folk group Fara and a performance from The Cooperation Band, a renowned brass band based in Glasgow who have won the Scottish Championship 36 times.
This year marks their festival debut in this performance, also teaming up for a very special collaboration with the Wallace Collection, established by titan of the brass world, John Wallace who died in January this year. The Invisible Symphony in St Magnus Cathedral is early Venetian composer Gabrieli’s work transcribed by John Wallace who always wanted this enormous and breathtaking work to be performed in Kirkwall’s Cathedral. This performance is dedicated to John, a frequent attender of the Festival and the Cathedral over many years.
Back in the Mart concert hall is one of the annual highlights, the Festival Chorus concert, which this year brings together Mozart’s staggering Requiem and the overture to his opera The Magic Flute with Argentinian composer Golijov’s beautiful meditation Tenebrae.
At the heart of the Festival programme is a strong Icelandic presence. Centuries old, the relationship between Orkney and Iceland is one of the deepest and most culturally significant in the North Atlantic.
The 2026 Festival brings a rare UK performance from one of Iceland’s leading ensembles, the all-male vocal group Voces Thules whose award-winning programmes bring together research and performance to share secular medieval poetry and song drawn from sagas to folk music. This is a rare chance to hear Iceland’s musical heritage.
The Festival is proud to present the UK premiere of Mörsugur, a striking opera written in 2022 blending a soprano voice with cinematic audiovisuals in a story created from a poetic Icelandic tale of mythic-like heroines and darkness and light. The performance at Orkney Theatre promises an immersive and theatrical journey of discovery and a tour-de-force turn from soprano Heiða Árnadóttir.
Bringing her fiery bold stage presence, award winning Icelandic-American cellist Geirþrúður Anna Guðmundsdóttir brings a performance that juxtaposes Bach Cello Suite No.2 in B minor with the technically demanding Gudmundur Hafsteinsson’s Spuni 1 – presenting it not as a niche contemporary work but as part of a living solocello tradition alongside Bach.
Music soars throughout the programme, from the blazing artistry of the Fibonacci Quartet to the return of seemingly telepathic pianist duo Samson Tsoy and Pavel Kolesnikov. O Duo and Royal Birmingham Conservatoire percussionists continue their rare George Crumb American Song Book cycle in the Cathedral alongside popping up at the popular weekend morning concert with cinnamon buns in Harray.
The internationally renowned Marian Consort draws audiences to the south of the islands for a transcending programme bridging the Renaissance to the present day featuring classic works by Byrd and Tavener alongside Nico Muly, Tom Coult, Edmund Finnis and a world premiere from Daniel Kidane. Their concert at St Magnus Cathedral spans an even greater period from early plainchant to a new commission from acclaimed English composer Emily Hazrati.
Armenian-American viola da gamba player, singer and composer Lucine Musaelian makes her Scottish debut with a magical sound-world fusing music of the 16th and 17th centuries with traditional Armenian folk tunes.
The Festival also welcomes guitarist Chris Amer with a concert of his debut album Making Peace With What Is – a collection of musical sketches inspired by photos taken by his Orcadian grandfather Danny Nicolson. Chris is joined by pianist Fergus McCreadie and saxophonist Matt Carmichael.
The tradition of placing music in the landscape across the islands continues with an accordion tour across Hoy led by Neil Sutcliffe, who also travels to the island of Rousay with pianist Anna Michels, together they are The Bubblyjock Collective. The Collective also presents Quines– a brand new programme celebrating female Scottish composers and neglected women from Scottish history, with a newly commissioned song cycle from Highlander Lisa Robertson Quines, based on Gerda Stevenson’s poetry collection.
The popular Festival Club returns after several years hiatus, settling in The Neuk at The Albert Hotel. Regular slots from Orcadian fiddler Eric Linklater’s house band are set to entertain audiences in this informal, late evening hang-out.
The Festival’s storytelling traditions are equally rich this year. The literary strand Time to Talk brings journalist and academic Dominic Hinde exploring Scotland’s identity in his Drifting North; novelist Fiona Robertson on her book Stone Lands, exploring place, memory and Scotland’s cultural terrain; best-selling author Philip Parris’s epic tale of love, faith and survival set against the Covenanter’s shipwreck off Orkney A Fire in their Hearts; Len Pennie, poet and Scots-language champion; and Linden Bicket discussing her literary biography of the impressive Ann Scott-Moncrieff, born Agnes Shearer on Orkney in 1914.
Theatre and family audiences can find moments of magic throughout the Festival. Trick of the Light Theatre’s The Suitcase arrives at Orkney Theatre with its inventive, visually imaginative storytelling. The Assembly Project creates another magical musical moment as David Knotts and John Gallas’ Bestiary of Brilliant Beasts brings endangered species to the stage with joy and energy.
Being rooted in its community remains central to the Festival’s spirit. This year the festival celebrates the artists and crafters of the islands with open door studios over the two weekends.
It also showcases local artists, musicians and stories through its Johnsmas Foy commissions which this year answer the provocation: The Air We Breathe. The winning submission is Veni Creator Spiritus, exploring the ancient idea of air being synonymous with a divine spirit breathing life into all things, brought to life by three saxophonists and a movement artist with a bespoke film capturing the atmospheric and visible evidence that winds blow on Orkney.
The Wallace Collection and O Duo and BRC percussionists will bring their spectacular music making to the islands’ schools, and local children will once again be given free tickets to festival performances.
This year there are more opportunities than ever to submit work through new initiatives. The best of the Poetry Competition submissions will be celebrated in an anniversary pamphlet; the premiere of Composers’ Competition winner will be performed by The Hebrides Ensemble as part of their Stromness performance, which also embraces Peter Maxwell Davies, Thea Musgrave and Judith Weir. These Festival favourites also bring their recent project Time Beyond Time featuring Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the end of time and Arthur Keegan’s reflection on the same work.
A special retrospective exhibition is being brought together with local residents and long-term festival fans sharing keepsakes and memories of an incredible 50 year history, accompanied by a panel conversation reflecting on the festival past, present and future with Glenys Hughes, Ian Ritchie and Alasdair Nicolson.
This 10-day celebration of intimate, connected, spectacular, transformative arts filling the daylight of northern summer comes to a close with a spectacular anniversary procession developed with street arts and circus experts SURGE. The Glasgow based company will work with local groups and schools to create a moving, breathing creative celebration which will tour the centre of Kirkwall connecting landmarks from the busy harbour area to the cathedral at the heart of the festival on Broad Street. Expect kites, music and bagpipes and more.
And the final word goes to the highly entertaining Auskerry bringing the festival to a close at the Wrap Party.
Festival Director Alasdair Nicolson said: “As we reach our 50th anniversary, we’re celebrating by bringing new performers to join us for their Festival debuts alongside old friends who we had to invite to be part of this special year. We are absolutely delighted to be welcoming so many musicians and artists from Iceland, celebrating the deep ties that bind our islands. And to showcasing the brilliant creatives here on the Orkney islands. I hope you will join us for this special anniversary festival.”
Emma Gee, Arts Officer at Orkney Islands Council said: “It is St Magnus International Festival’s 50th anniversary and this year they have pulled out all the stops (probably literally!) and extended the programme across a week packed full of cultural events and concerts. With a new performance space at Orkney Auction Mart and parading the centre of Kirkwall, premieres to well-loved classics, stories that honour local heroes like Jasper the cat, to work that recognises a significant contribution to the music industry such as by John Wallace there is something for everyone here and much to celebrate. Happy Anniversary St Magnus Festival!”
Emma Campbell, Music Officer at Creative Scotland said: “As it hits its 50th anniversary, there’s a freshness to this year’s St Magnus Festival that goes beyond the core theme of Air that blows through the programme. With new works, a new orchestra and a new performance space, this midsummer event is deepening its ties to local talent and heritage while reflecting wider international dimensions through a special focus on Iceland. It’s this dynamic blend of music, theatre, literature, craft and street performance that places Orcadian identity on a global platform and makes the St Magnus Festival one of the key events on Scotland’s cultural calendar.”
Full programme and ticket details are available at stmagnusfestival.com