Norfolk & Norwich Festival Sets New Commissions, World Premieres & More

Firmly established on the international arts scene as one of the big four UK arts festivals, Norfolk & Norwich Festival continues to expand its horizons. The 2015 Festival, running from 8 to 24 May, further strengthens its position as a major commissioning festival presenting new work from around the globe.

Commissions come from trailblazing site-specific theatre company WildWorks, one of the world's greatest contemporary circus companies Circa, and The Voice Project, whose site responsive choral promenade performances bring together internationally renowned composers, musicians and vocal soloists with the mass voices of open access choirs.

The Festival features the world premiere of X TNT's Dedriving Code (commissioned by IN SiTU network) and a UK debut for Willi Dorner's gravity defying Fitting. England's only UNESCO City of Literature presents the first UK performances of the stage adaptation of Eimear McBride's multi award winning novel A Girl Is A Half-formed Thing and 451 is a newly commissioned incendiary, high-octane outdoor performance based on Ray Bradbury's sci-fi classic Fahrenheit 451.

Other highlights include music from the brilliant Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds (who wrote the evocative score for Broadchurch) and his band and 80 year old jazz pianist Abdullah Ibrahim. The Mendelssohn Project celebrates the work of one of the most-celebrated figures of the early Romantic period and his peers while The Adnams Spiegeltent plays host to rhythms from around the world. There's a major exhibition of the work of Jeff Koons and Forest Fruit is an immersive art installation for kids coming to the UK for the first time.

Artistic Director William Galinsky said 'The Festival is about groundbreaking new work and this year sees more originally commissioned work and premieres than ever before. We're excited to have artists from different disciplines coming into the county who are exploring the dramatic Norfolk landscape and the medieval beauty of Norwich - one of the UK's most creative cities - and creating spectacularly impressive work.

Our theatre highlight Wolf's Child is a totally unique theatrical experience by leading site-specific theatre company WildWorks. We build on our unique relationship with Circa with the world premiere of What Will Have Been and The Voice Project take us on a choral journey around Sir Norman Foster's Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts and the adjacent Broad. There are premieres in all sections of the programme and the Festival is at the forefront of confirming Norfolk's position as a world-class cultural destination as well as enhancing the quality of life for those living here.'

For Wolf's Child the woods and grounds of the National Trust's 17th century Felbrigg Hall will become a spectacular stage set. This dark grown-up fairy tale of love, magical transformation and shape-shifting animals is set to be one of the theatre year's outstanding events, taking the audience on an immersive journey around the Felbrigg landscape as day turns to dusk. Norwich-based writer Eimear McBride's first novel A Girl is Half-formed Thing has scooped a fistful of literary prizes; now the new stage adaptation by celebrated Dublin company The Corn Exchange comes to the UK for the first time following 5 star reviews for its Irish debut.

The Festival has commissioned Australian contemporary circus masters Circa to create a dazzling new piece that will premiere in the Adnams Spiegeltent. What Will Have Been celebrates their ten years as an international touring company and artistic director Yaron Lifschitz has selected three of Circa's most celebrated artists for the show. Awe-inspiring acrobatics and extreme beauty will be set to a live rendition of Bach's partita for violin and a spine tingling electronic soundtrack. These will be the only UK performances of What Will have Been in 2015. The Observatory is a new co-commission with The Voice Project that brings together a 150 strong choir with musicians including pedal steel guitar maestro BJ Cole and composers including Orlando Gough, in an exploration of humankind's relationship with space and our attempts to understand it.

Free outdoor performances, are a cornerstone of the Festival programme. This year the Festival and Without Walls have commissioned 451, a large-scale 360-degree surround performance combining sound installation with dramatic action and pyrotechnics to depict a dystopian society where books are banned and firemen are employed to burn them. The UK premiere of Austrian choreographer Willi Dorner's Fitting sees dancers and acrobats fit themselves into nooks and crannies around the city centre, making us view our surroundings with fresh eyes. Brussels based X TNT specialise in maverick street interventions and premiere The Dedriving Code, a mischievous outdoor experiment into just what is permissible in public spaces.

[Live] Art Club at Norwich Arts Centre is home to the experimental and avant-garde elements of the Festival. These include Kim Noble's moving, comic, at times shocking, always thought-provoking You're Not Alone and a work in progress from Forest Fringe co-director Deborah Pearson. Artist/prankster Richard DeDomenici will reshoot no-budget versions of scenes from film and TV in their original locations for a special Norfolk version of his Redux Project. Live artists Odd Comic premiere My Champion Heartache, a look at people and their pets, before it heads to London for a week long run.

Artists Rooms brings a selection of work by Jeff Koons to Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery. Koons is renowned as one of the most important and controversial artists of our time and this exhibition, which runs to 6 September, is the biggest display of his work in the UK for a decade. The Measure of all Things, a new documentary loosely inspired by the Guinness Book of Records from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Sam Green, weaves together a series of portraits of record-holding people, places and things. Green will provide a live commentary accompanied by live music from New York based ensemble yMusic. Janek Turkowski's Margarete is a sensitive portrait of a woman's life under communism compiled from 64 reels of film found in an East German market. Turkowski will present the film and talk about how he edited her home movies in this intimate film screening for twenty people at a time. Forest Fruit from Belgian artist Naomi Kerkhove is the UK premiere of an interactive exhibition for children that takes them into a miniature textile world to stimulate their imagination.

Music from all over the globe is a large part of the Festival. Icelandic composer Ólafur Arnalds, whose music has underpinned ITV's Broadchurch, visits with his full band whilst charismatic South African legend Abdullah Ibrahim celebrates his 80th year with a melodious, imaginative jazz solo piano set. New York's The Hot Sardines have taken America by storm and are now conquering Europe with their electrifying goodtime jazz. The programme also features music from Ethiopia, Mali, Italy, Brazil, Romania, Austria, Russia, Ireland, France, Scotland and India.

Taking place in some of the city's finest churches, chapels and concert halls, this year's classical music programme has a strong focus on the music of Felix Mendelssohn. In a pivotal event Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra link up with a glorious line-up of vocal talent, including the country's leading bass Sir John Tomlinson and the Festival Chorus, to perform his Elijah, whilst The Philharmonia and Northern Chord Ensemble perform work from his wide repertoire. Austrian Ingolf Wunder, hailed as one of the world's most exciting young pianists, makes his first visit to Norwich and The Tallis Scholars perform in Norwich Cathedral.

The Adnams Spiegeltent returns to house Circa's show and a late night music programme featuring everything from the Malian punk blues of Songhoy Blues and Britfolk from Emily Portman & Sam Sweeney (Bellowhead) to Brazil's Flavia Coelho and London's House Gospel Choir with their uplifting take on the house sound of Chicago. There's also an opportunity to catch Ireland's High Queen, National Treasure, Performance Giant and Accidental Activist Panti Bliss in her smash hit comedy show, High Heels in Low Places.

As a UNESCO City of Literature Norwich is a thriving centre for words, ideas and debate as well as books. A lively literature strand, in association with Writers Centre Norwich, includes Rose Tremain, Sarah Waters and Green party MP Caroline Lucas, whilst naturalist Mark Cocker and author Patrick Barkham share their writing experience in two full-day Writing Rambles master classes out in the Norfolk countryside. This year's Literary Festival in a Weekend sees bestselling authors rub shoulders with political activists as Pussy Riot activist Masha Gessen explores the freedom of speech, Erica Wagner and Andrew O'Hagan debate the role of Amazon in the literary landscape and Caroline Criado-Perez talks about campaigning for women's rights.

Norfolk & Norwich Festival is funded and supported by Arts Council England, Norwich City Council and Norfolk County Council with the support of principal sponsors Abellio Greater Anglia, Adnams and Lafarge Tarmac and the generous support of other corporate partners, trusts and individuals. Norfolk & Norwich Open Studios is sponsored by Wex Photographic.

Box Office 01603 766400, online booking at http://www.nnfestival.org.uk with full information on all events.

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