Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) returns this year, running from Friday 4 – Sunday 27 August across key venues around the Scottish capital. Today organisers launch 2023's programme, the first under new Festival Director Nicola Benedetti's leadership. 

Inviting audiences to consider the transformative power of the arts, 295 events spanning dance, music, theatre and opera will take to Edinburgh's stages, performed by artists from 48 countries across six continents. Hoping to establish community, engagement and new perspectives at EIF, Benedetti was inspired by the words of Martin Luther King Jr when identifying the central question behind this year's programme: 'where do we go from here?'

^{Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater / Pictures: Dario Calmese}

Highlights from the programme include residencies from the Budapest Festival Orchestra (conducted by Iván Fischer), the London Symphony Orchestra, and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra Of Venezuela; two performance strands from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, including Alvin Ailey's well-known masterpiece Revelations, as well as new works by guest choreographers; brand new play Thrown by National Theatre Of Scotland, written by Glasgow movement specialist Nat McCleary and directed by Johnny McKnight; the European premier of FOOD, an absurd, immersive performance exploring the ways in which we prepare and enjoy sustenance, created and performed by renowned clown Geoff Sobelle; and a contemporary music programme featuring performances from sitar virtuoso Anoushka Shankar, electronic pop artist Alison Goldfrapp, indie singer Jake Bugg, and founding member of The Velvet Underground John Cale (amongst others). 

^{Catriona Price}

Performing at the opening concert at Usher Hall on Saturday 5 August is the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Edinburgh Festival Chorus' rendition of Buddha Passion, conducted by Chinese American composer Tan Dun. Inspired by Chinese and Sanskrit texts, this piece centres around a little prince on his journey to enlightenment. Over at the Festival Theatre on the same day will be Grammy-winning jazz singer and composer Cécile McLorin Salvant with her original production of Ogresse, a genre-spanning song cycle of 17 compositions following a lovesick monster through life, love and death.

^{Anoushka Shankar / Picture: Laura Lewis} 

Among the new additions to this year's festival is a series of concerts taking place at EIF's home on the Royal Mile, which will be known as The Hub. A more informal atmosphere will be created here with afternoon and evening events and performances from the likes of Palestinian singer Nai Barghouti, Scottish violinist Catriona Price and American bassist Endea Owens. 

Where last year's festival saw an overarching collaboration with Australian artists, this year EIF turn their attention to Korea in an extensive strand featuring shows from KBS Symphony Orchestra, National Changgeuk Company Of Korea, with their unique take on Trojan Woman which will fuse K-pop musical styles and ancient storytelling techniques, as well as a festival debut performance from classical pianist Yeol Eum Son and violinist Clara-Jumi Kang.

^{Trojan Women / Picture: National Theatre Of Korea}

Reflecting on the programme, Festival Director Nicola Benedetti says: 'Edinburgh International Festival has long been dedicated to advocating world-class performing art and innovating new ways to bring it to audiences. I am immensely proud of this year’s programme, and look forward to expanding on this legacy in 2023.'

EIF will also co-host a scaled-back version of the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), with support from Screen Scotland. More details, including the programme itself, will be announced in June.

Find EIF's full programme on the official EIF site.