Edinburgh festival to probe America’s creativity and cruelty

Nicola Benedetti said this year’s Edinburgh international festival will showcase American art that celebrates the US’s creativity and energy while also exposing its cruelty and hypocrisy. The Grammy-winning violinist, presenting her fourth festival, said Donald Trump’s explosive second term made that quest more important than ever, and called the bill the largest presentation of American artists in the festival’s history.

Themed All Rise to mark the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence, the festival opens with a 200‑performer show written for the Jazz at Lincoln Centre Orchestra by Wynton Marsalis, Benedetti’s husband. Highlights include a world‑first collaboration between pianist Yuja Wang and Marsalis’s orchestra; San Francisco Ballet’s return to Edinburgh with a work exploring AI; the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s final shows before Gustavo Dudamel bows out; theatre examining the Aids crisis and racist lynchings; and Clown Show, described as a contemporary portrait of America as a falling‑apart circus.

edinburgh festival, nicola benedetti, american art, all rise, wynton marsalis, jazz at, yuja wang, san francisco, los angeles, gustavo dudamel