to attract top names is being tried by the Island's continued lack of facilities. By Patricia Calnan What do Yehudi Menuhin, Jessye Norman, Emlyn Williams have in common? Incredibly, this `dream team' of the performing arts were just part of the exceptional line-up of talent offered at the first Bermuda Festival in 1976.

While subsequent years have not quite matched that stellar array, the policy of inviting artists who are just on the threshold of international fame has remained an important part of the philosophy of subsequent organisers. The Bermuda Festival still presents world-class artists at a fraction of what it would cost to see them overseas. There are, however, a few warning clouds on the horizon. For until now, thanks to the whole-hearted support of corporate sponsors, organisers have been able to keep standards up and prices down. That support, in spite of leaner times for the Island, appears to be as strong as ever.

It is worth remembering that when it started, the Festival was seen as a revolutionary effort to remove the perception that Bermuda was something of a wealthy cultural desert. If the corporations have been unstinting in their support of the Festival, the benefits have been two-way. The Festival has enhanced the image of Bermuda as a sophisticated place in which to conduct business, with many sponsors using the Festival as an attraction for annual conventions and conferences.

But there is a growing concern that no matter how many generous sponsors step forward to support the performing arts, the ability of the Festival organisers to attract top talent is being severely tried by the Island's lack of facilities. Seventeen years after the Festival began, stars who fill the Met or the Royal Albert Hall, are still being asked to perform in tiny City Hall.

"We desperately need a permanent home,'' says Dr. Stanley Ratteray, Festival chairman from 1981 to 1987. "It is going to be more and more difficult to bring in top artists. It's no longer viable to pay the sort of fees they command unless we have a larger venue.'' As an example, he cites the visit of James Galway. The world's most famous flute player was more than happy to give fans an extra performance at City Hall but his fee could not be covered by the small number of seats available.

The policy of inviting artists who are on the threshold of international fame is an important part of the Bermuda Festival's overall philosophy. This philosophy has served us well and if some of the artists who have entertained us over the past 16 years were on the way down rather than up, there have been many megastars such as Cleo Laine and Victor Borge, for whom age will never stale their infinite variety.

In 1974, then Governor Sir Edwin Leather took his ideas for an arts festival to a somewhat sceptical public. His plan was thought too ambitious. Being Sir Edwin, he persisted in his dream, undoubtedly assisted by his old friend, Sir Yehudi Menuhin, who agreed to appear the first year.

Sir Yehudi's appearance at that first Festival led to an innovation in the musical life of Bermuda. The world-renowned violinist gave an extra concert and donated the proceeds to setting up the Menuhin Foundation. Through the foundation, teachers of strings are brought to Bermuda to teach throughout the primary school system and some secondary schools. Their presence in the classroom and on the concert platform has had an inspirational effect on Bermuda's music.

Writing in the 10th anniversary Festival programme, Sir Edwin explained that he, and his dedicated group of volunteers had pursued their vision in order to: "...give our own people in every walk of life and every age and income bracket a chance to hear and see great artists perform in an intimate way which would otherwise be impossible in a small country like Bermuda; for only by doing so can one make a real contribution to opening new horizons of excellence to our young people; to show them what success, what joy, what real human happiness can be achieved by devotion to the musical arts.'' The phrase `musical arts' is a telling one, giving credence to the notion that music has been allotted the lion's share of exposure over the years.

There can be little doubt that drama has been the Cinderellaof the Festival, added almost as a `P.S.' to the main fare.

In the early years, American and Canadian theatre schools presented Shakespearean plays that, on the whole, were inferior to some productions of the Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society.

Having secured the services of the Royal Shakespeare Company, these offerings have remained very much of the token variety rather than full productions.

Pleasant as it is to hear a few of the Bard's greatest speeches so beautifully declaimed, they tend to be strung together by the flimsiest of unifying themes. And, all too often, `entertainments' are selected which, under some pretext or another, can be read from a text. However gifted the actors, the lingering impression is of a hurriedly contrived play reading, rather than consummate theatre.

The constant lack of any plays of substance is surely the weakest thread in the Festival strategy. This year, for instance, we have a British bedroom farce and - wait for it - Shakespeare in the Saddle, billed as "an entertaining trek through Shakespearean acting in America''.

Entertaining? Probably. Uplifting? Possibly - but hardly Festival fare. A unique opportunity to stage substantive, but not necessarily large, plays by professional actors has been cast aside.

Suggestions that the Festival might concentrate its future efforts entirely on music and dance are hotly denounced by Festival organisers. "There is an emphasis on music but we have always presented the whole gamut of the performing arts,'' says Peter Lloyd, now in his fifth year as chairman. "So far as I know, no-one has seriously given thought to changing the nature of the Festival and making it purely a music event. My view, when I took over as chairman, was `if it works, don't fix it!' I know that many people like the idea of being able to take the whole family to see a conjurer or magic show.

And I believe the Derek Nimmo farce was the first to sell out this year.'' He is confident that this year's programme will follow the well-tried formula of providing "something for everyone'' and also features young artists on the way to fame and fortune.

Peter Lloyd is pleased that the Festival has been able to secure the young Scottish percussionist, Evelyn Glennie, who is believed to be the first deaf musician to achieve international fame. Described by London's Daily Telegraph as "a quite exceptional talent'', she has already won a Grammy Award and has been voted one of the "10 outstanding women in the world''.

Soprano Harolyn Blackwell has also been gaining a lot of attention, Lloyd says, especially since her appearance with Pavarotti at the Met was filmed for the Great Performances series on TV. She first gained attention when she appeared in the Glyndebourne production of Porgy and Bess under the baton of Simon Rattle: "It caused a sensation and the recording later won the CD of the Year award. She could be another Jessye Norman,'' speculates Mr. Lloyd.

When the young Portuguese pianist Artur Pizarro won the famed Leeds Competition two years ago, the jury was unanimous in their choice. "But even more unusual,'' says Lloyd, "everyone agreed, for once, that the jury was right!'' There are now murmurs amongst the musical elite that Pizarro could well join Rubinstein and Horowitz in the ranks of the immortals.

How are artists selected? Lloyd says the Festival is well known overseas and agents send "an enormous amount of material'' and the organisers always welcome suggestions from the public: "We also receive very useful information from publications that specialise in festivals and who give us practical advice, such as `this artist was the tops, that one was a pain'.'' They also rely on recommendations from artists and a network of personal relationships built up over the years with return visitors, such as the English Chamber Orchestra or the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Local participation has become a Festival tradition, with the National Dance Theatre of Bermuda and a Choral programme under the direction of Marjorie Pettit sharing the limelight this year.

Praising the standard of local performers which, he says, "gets better and better'', Dr. Ratteray says it is unlikely that the ratio will increase: "We are very lucky to have such an exceptional pool of talent right here in Bermuda but there is a limit to what an Island this size can offer from within its own ranks.'' The Festival has grown up alongside many Bermudians. Warren Cabral, who is also heavily involved as a writer, actor and director on the local theatre scene, says he can barely remember Bermuda without its annual invasion of the arts: "I love the Festival and have been going since I was about 12. It's been a part of my life.'' He, too, feels that in order to grow the Festival must acquire an adequate home. "We need a Royal Bermuda Festival Hall. It's long overdue. I'm not suggesting the Government should pay. It should bea massive community effort,'' he stresses.

On the subject of facilities, Mr. Lloyd confirms that the Festival Committee has been assisting the Anglican Cathedral in its efforts to improve the acoustics, so that greater use can be made of its potential as a venue for some larger productions.

"We do operate on a shoe-string,'' he says, "but felt it was very important to try and help out with this situation. So we paid for a report by experts on available options and we financed the employment of consultants who are reviewing a new system that is being designed especially for the Cathedral.'' Pointing out that the Bermuda construction stone acts like a sponge, absorbing rather than reflecting sound, he is hopeful that a new technique, developed by the Dutch, will finally overcome the acoustics problem.

It is also hoped that this year will see a stronger link between the visual and performing arts. Both the Bermuda Society of Arts and the National Gallery will be open for the pre-Festival hour and the National Gallery is encouraging sponsors and other supporters to hold their receptions and parties at the Gallery.

Says Gallery director Laura Gorham, "As I understand it, the City Fathers' vision of City Hall is of a `cultural centre' with all the Arts under one roof.'' And hopefully, in the not too distant future, a theatre that will give the Bermuda Festival the setting it needs and deserves. Patricia Calnan is arts critic of The Royal Gazette.

The American Tap Dance Orchestra American soprano Harolyn Blackwell (City Hall, February 19 and 22) has appeared with Pavarotti at the Metropolitan Opera.

ROBERT SHIELDS, Who performs at City Hall February 10-13, was the first American to win a scholarship' to Marcel Marceau's school in Paris. His solo performances, a combination of song, dance and even talking, embrace the world of Barnum & Bailey, The Marx Brothers, and Michael Jackson. The Brilliant future is predicted for Portuguese pianist Arthur Pizarro, who will perform at City Hall on February 8-9 in this year's festival.

RG MAGAZINE FEBRUARY 1993