Now in its 48th year, Perth Festival of the Arts returns to the Fair City for 10 days in May, when it will host a mix of 35 cultural events. This year, they cover everything from touring West End shows, to an art exhibition in a marquee, and varying generations of chart-topping artists. These seven must-see events won’t be found anywhere else in Scotland this summer.

ETO’s Macbeth: Thursday 16th May

Gerry Cornelius conducts his first opera for ETO, in this new production of Verdi’s interpretation of Shakespeare’s iconic play directed by James Dacre. Follow Macbeth in a blood-soaked journey to the throne and watch a guilt-ridden Lady Macbeth descend into the depths of despair. Starring Grant Doyle (Macbeth) and Tanya Hurst (Lady Macbeth).

Perth Festival of the Arts is the only Scottish date for Macbeth in ETO's 2019 spring tour. There will also be a pre-show talk.

Russian Philharmonic (of Novosibirsk): Saturday 25th May

One of the greatest Russian regional orchestras, the Russian Philharmonic (of Novosibirsk) brings a programme of great Russian music, conducted by Thomas Sanderling with Sergey Redkin (piano).

Sergey was the winner of the prestigious Tchaikovsky piano competition for his performance of Rachmaninov’s ever popular Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini. The orchestra will perform two works by Tchaikovsky including his richly colourful Romeo & Juliet Overture and his final composition and greatest symphony; the Pathetique.

Horrible Histories: Barmy Britain: Friday 24th May

This is the history of Britain with the nasty bits left in. Peep into the world of Samuel Pepys and help Georgian detectives find the headless man.

Presented by The Birmingham Stage Company, this show appeared in the West End as Barmy Britain – Part Four. It tours this summer for the first time, with Perth Festival as its only Scottish date. Suitable for children aged 5+

ArTay: 16th-19th May – free event

ArTay is an exciting, curated exhibition of established Scottish artists and fresh new talent, woven together in an unmissable pop-up gallery. Displaying over 300 works of art, the exhibition will offer the curious browser and the serious collector an unrivalled choice. Paintings, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, glass, woodwork, metalwork and jewellery are all there to admire and buy.

Double-bill at Perth Theatre - Eleanor’s Story and The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff : Thursday 23rd May

This special double-bill weaves together two different tales with themes of inspiration and hope. The internationally-acclaimed Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl in Hitler’s Germany is a short, theatrical adaptation of Eleanor Ramrath Garner’s award-winning memoirs, detailing her youth as an American caught in Second World War Berlin. Written and performed by her granddaughter, Ingrid Garner.

This unique piece of modern folk theatre is presented by three-time BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winners, The Young’uns. The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff is the true story of one man’s journey from begging on the streets of England to fighting against fascism in the Spanish Civil War. It’s a timely, touching and often hilarious musical adventure of this working class hero who witnessed some of the momentous events of the 1930s.

Shows can be viewed as individual productions, or as a double-bill.

Cross Trust Young Musicians: Friday 24th May

In a performance created especially for the festival, The Cross Trust presents four award-winning artists in an evening of classical, jazz and traditional music; Anna Michels (classical piano), Murphy Robertson (classical saxophone), Luca Manning (jazz voice) and Iona Fyfe (traditional voice) all pay homage to musical traditions whilst simultaneously developing their own voices.

Includes Rachmaninov, contemporary works for saxophone, Gershwin and traditional song from the North East of Scotland.

Fairport Convention: Sunday 19th May

Fairport Convention has been making great music for over 50 years and is credited with originating British folk-rock music. The show will feature a mix of long-established Fairport favourites and exciting new material from Simon Nicol (guitar and vocals), Dave Pegg (bass guitar), Chris Leslie (fiddle, mandolin and vocals), Ric Sanders (violin) and Gerry Conway (drums and percussion).

Critical acclaim includes the coveted BBC Lifetime Achievement Award; Radio 2 listeners voted Fairport’s ground-breaking album Liege & Lief the most influential folk album of all time.

Perth Festival runs 16th – 25th May 2019

www.perthfestival.co.uk

ETO Macbeth's Witches - Credit Richard Hubert Smith

Sergey Redkin, pianist with the Russian Philarmonic

Barmy Britain, Horrible Histories - production shot