St Magnus International Festival 2025

It was my great pleasure to act as official photographer for the 2025 St Magnus International Festival. Here you can see a selection of my favourite pictures from the 18 performances I attended.

Performances took places throughout Orkney, but the primary concert venue was of course the magnificent setting of St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall. The Festival Technical Team did a brilliant job lighting the 12th Century sandstone cathedral, variously in hues of red, blue and purple. With the addition of the natural light of the Summer sun streaming through stained glass, this made for a riot of colour which was a joy to photograph.

Fenella Humphreys provided a moving tribute to the late Peter Maxwell Davies, one of the key founders of St. Magnus Festival, whom I knew as a child when my mother was involved with the Festival and Max lived on Hoy. Fenella played Last Postcard From Sanday, the final piece written by the composer, for which he left no indication of dynamics or articulation, and therefore open to interpretation. The other music played at her solo performance struck me as carefully chosen to accompany this piece, and to evoke the experience of the remote, wild island life which Max sought. They included, for example, the Scottish premiere of Stormfield Songs by Laura Shipsey, A Fledgeling Bird Takes Flight by Robert Saxton, and The Lone Seafarer by Sally Beamish, amongst others.

Having worked in the His Majesty’s Theatre in Aberdeen for several years, I have spent time absorbing the magic of live theatre and music – scrutinising stage lighting, sets, and performers. I am used to working quietly on the periphery while the audience is absorbed in the show, and I greatly enjoyed capturing these things on camera during the Festival.

The highlight of the Festival calendar for me was Seven Rings with Escocia Duo. Katrina Lee and Roberto Kuhn Versluys had the honour of being the first musicians ever to play a public performance in the esoteric setting of Kirkwall Kilwinning Masonic Lodge. This was a challenge to photograph in several ways – not least the extremely low light conditions. The musicians were lit only by a single LED panel on the floor between them. The meeting room of the Lodge had dim blue lights around the perimeter, and contained some symbolic artifacts associated with Freemasonry which were not permitted to be captured on camera.

The music of Escocia Duo consisted of virtuoso interpretations of South American folk and tango, as Roberto hails from Argentina. It was a privilege to be allowed to capture this wonderful performance in such a special setting.

St. Magnus International Festival also some Literary Hour events. Festival poet Niall Campbell read from his collected works in Stromness Academy Theatre, and later teamed up with Echo Vocal Ensemble for musical accompaniment in the remote location of St. Ninian’s Kirk, Deerness.

In Kirkwall Baptist Church, to a packed room Jen Stout read from her book Night Train to Odesa, about on her experiences in Russia and Ukraine at the outbreak of war. She had some horrific stories to tell, but displayed humour and great resilience (and photography). It was enlightening to hear of her first-hand experiences, particularly given the disinformation, propaganda, and generally poor state of investigative journalism we are usually subjected to.

In Stromness, Vaigan B’ The Shore celebrated the life and work of poet and naturalist Robert Rendall, whose work was written in Orkney dialect. Readings were performed by fellow Orcadians including Barbara Johnston, Graham Garson, and others. They were accompanied by artist Ingrid Grieve, who painted a seascape live on stage over the duration of the show. This was broadcast on a large screen, along with some readings by Robert Rendall himself in his distinctive voice.

There were two incredible concert pianists performing at the 2025 St Magnus International Festival – Mihai Ritivoiu and Nikita Lukinov. I greatly enjoyed both concerts but they were markedly different in character, with Nikita Lukinov being bombastic and Mihai Ritivoiu striking me as more of a traditionalist. I attempted to capture the spirit of Mihai’s maestro performance by lengthening the exposure time (supporting my camera on the stage), and capturing the blur of his hands in action.

Eleanor Grant and Gus McQuade performed together as Grant McQuade Duo in Harray Hall, and teamed up with Stevens & Pound in St Magnus Cathedral. Gus McQuade also performed solo acoustic guitar at Swannay Brewery. These performances were a celebration of music as storytelling in a wide range of forms, from traditional Elizabethan music to Joni Mitchell, and from expressive Catalonian classical guitar to jazz. Will Pound‘s harmonica playing seemed to be a very pure form of intuitive self expression – an interesting juxtaposition against Delia Stevens‘s very lively and fun percussion.

I put myself in the firing line by sneaking down the stairs at the back of the stage to capture a shot of Resol Quartet at the beginning of their show Plan and Elevation in Stromness Town Hall, but I think it was worth the trouble. As I have studied architecture to degree level myself, I particularly enjoyed their rendition of Caroline Shaw‘s titular composition inspired by it.

Graeme Leak‘s show Saved featured two 1970s organs he had rescued and refurbished, along with exposed rotating speakers, amusingly titled cassette tapes, a home-made one-string oil can bass, and other eccentric audio gear. His show was a delight, as he played with the equipment live and chased balls around with drumsticks on top of a mic-ed up drum head. At the Q&A afterwards, Graeme cited Ivor Cutler as an influence, and this was certainly evident in the humour of his show.

Thanks to all the performers and venues for accommodating me while I took these photographs, and to Alasdair Nicolson and the St. Magnus International Festival team for providing me with the opportunity to do so.