Event 21: Simon Armitage - poetry reading
King Street Halls, Kirkwall, 11am

Simon Armitage is one of Britain's most widely known and popular poets. He has received numerous awards for his work, which includes nine poetry collections, several novels and an acclaimed translation of the medieval poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. He has also written extensively for stage, radio and television.

‘Armitage creates a muscular but elegant language of his own out of slangy, youthful, up-to-the-minute jargon and the vernacular of his native northern England. He combines this with an easily worn erudition, plenty of nous and the benefit of unblinkered experience…' Sunday Times

Approximately 1 hour

Event 22: Hebrides Ensemble
Members of the BBC SSO*

Event 23: Festival Excursion
Royal String Quartet
with Andrzej Bauer cello
St Ninian's Church, Deerness
Depart Palace Road, Kirkwall, 2.30pm

Festival Film: The Pianist
New Phoenix Cinema, Pickaquoy Centre, Kirkwall

Roman Polanski’s Oscar-winning film is based on the extraordinary story of Polish musician Wladyslaw Szpilman. Set in Warsaw in World War II, The Pianist features music by Chopin, Bach and contemporary Polish composer, Wojciech Kilar.

The History of Orkney Literature - book launch
St Magnus Centre, Kirkwall, 6pm

From the skalds and sagamen of the Viking age to the colourful folklorists and translators of the Victorian era and the internationally acclaimed poets and novelists of the twentieth century, Orkney has developed a unique literary culture of its own. Dr. Simon Hall launches his new book The History of Orkney Literature with this lively tour through the history of Orkney writing, with readings in English and Orcadian vernacular.

Event 24: The Table
Jewson's Shed, Junction Road, Kirkwall, 6pm

Karbido present an extraordinary music-theatre piece for four men and a table. Four poker players emerge from the darkness and sit around a table. It’s not a game of poker, though, but a fantastic quartet performed on the table, which is transformed into a musical instrument capable of detecting and amplifying the most delicate vibrations. A mesmerising
performance which takes the audience on an acoustic journey round the globe.

‘Awesome, manic or witty. If it’s difficult to imagine, that’s because you’ll never have seen or heard
anything quite like it’ The Scotsman (5 stars)

‘An extraordinary musical spectacle’ The Times

Approximately 1 hour

Event 25: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Pickaquoy Centre, Kirkwall, 7.30pm

Michal Dworzynski conductor
Olga Pasichnyk soprano

Polish conductor Michael Dworzynski opens this delightful programme with a romantic work by his compatriot, Karlowicz, and closes it with one of the greatest Russian symphonies. In between we hear two magical evocations of childhood - Lutoslawski's delicate ‘Song-flowers and Song-stories' and Ravel's charming French fairy tales.

‘Michal Dworzynski is a huge talent - one of the most electric young conductors in the business' The Herald

‘The singing of Olga Pasichnyk [in ‘Chantefleurs et Chantefables'] is outstanding'
Gramophone magazine

Approximately 2 hours 10 minutes

Recorded for future broadcast on BBC Radio 3

Event 26: Trebunie Tutki
Jewson's Shed, Junction Road, Kirkwall, 6pm

Trebunie Tutki is a family band from Poland’s Tatra mountains. Playing fiddles, flutes, ‘regional’ cello, bass, bagpipes and wooden horn, these remarkable, award-winning musicians combine their own ‘highlander’ music with contemporary influences. The band’s distinctive sound is coupled with traditional costumes and dance to create a vibrant, colourful and unmissable show.

Approximately 1 hour 15 minutes

St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, 10.15pm

The award-winning pianist, composer and arranger, Leszek Mozdzer, is one of the finest Polish jazz musicians to have emerged in the past decade. His breathtaking improvisations on themes by Chopin demonstrate Mozdzer's immense technical prowess and musicality and have reinforced his position as one of the great virtuosi of the European jazz scene.

Approximately 1 hour