Orchestral Series Highlights 2021 (Edinburgh International Festival)

The Edinburgh International Festival is one of the world’s most diverse, enriching celebrations of music, and its return in 2021 after the global pandemic brought much joy. This year’s highlights pair old and new: compelling performances by various orchestras of Beethoven and Mendelssohn intertwined with thrilling late 20th- and 21st-century miniatures. Anna Clyne’s “PIVOT” (premiered here by the BBC Symphony Orchestra) and Peter Maxwell Davies’ atmospheric 1993 work “A Spell for Green Corn,” featuring the BBC Scottish Symphony, both brilliantly and playfully integrate traditional folk influences. Another premiere, “Blush” by Ayanna Witter-Johnson, performed here by Chineke! Orchestra, is a vibrant fusion of classical, jazz, and R&B. And Mendelssohn’s sparkling A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a dramatic treat in the hands of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.