A classical music festival is celebrating unparalleled success after its 10-day run of concerts by internationally acclaimed artists enjoyed record attendances.
On Sunday, 9 August, the final concert for the 2015 Absolute Classics International Musicians Platform was hosted in Thornhill and attended by a capacity audience comprising people from the immediate local area and throughout Dumfries and Galloway.
The 2015 festival presented concerts by the some of the who’s who of the classical world including Tasmin Little OBE and John Lenehan who were described as “two of Britain’s best performers” on Classic FM.
The festival enjoyed a 58 per cent rise in audience attendance from last year, which is representative of the region-wide interest Absolute Classics is continuing to gain year on year.
Absolute Classics director Alex McQuiston told DGWGO “We have built on our growing reputation for providing high quality music and have established a strong group of local supporters who have attended the majority of this season’s concerts and who have also introduced many friends.
“Therefore we have been able to increase our audience by 58 per cent on last year’s attendance for the festival concerts.”
And audiences were thrilled with the quality and standard of the concerts, reporting a 100 per cent satisfaction rate with the quality of the event and overall experience.
Alex explained: “Our exciting new partnership with McMillan Hotels allowed everyone to experience high calibre classical music in the splendid surroundings often associated with the genre.
“The festival got off to a flying start when the Cally Palace took delivery of one of Blüthner’s Concert Grand Pianos, taking ten men to get it up into the palatial bowed drawing room through the marble lobby.
“The beautiful surroundings and wonderful hospitality of the Cally set the scene for a superb festival and week of masterclasses. I want to extend my thanks to their team for all their support in making the week run smoothly.”
