Benedetti becomes Edinburgh International Festival Director

Violinist NICOLA BENEDETTI will become Director of Edinburgh International Festival, the first Scot and first woman to lead the organisation in its 75 year history.

She takes up post on October 1, replacing FERGUS LINEHAN.

Benedetti was the youngest ever recipient of the Queen's Medal for Music in 2017. In 2019 she established the Benedetti Foundation, which provides music workshops in 103 countries. In 2020 she formed the Benedetti Baroque Orchestra and won a Grammy for classical music, and in 2021 she was BBC Music Magazine's Personality of the Year.

"In many ways she reflects the spirit of this festival; internationally recognised and respected but Scottish to her core, she's dedicated to advocating world-class music making and innovating new ways to bring it to audiences," Board Chair KEITH SKEOCH said.

Benedetti said she looks forward to serving the festival and continuing its founding tradtion of "transcending political and cultural fracture".