After about a year of preparation, fundraising, change of personnel, and this other thing called Covid-19, we got to Edinburgh Fringe in August. Well, technically, Chris was out there two weeks before us handling the business in the form of sightseeing and attending a friend’s wedding.
The anticipation was immense and excitement overwhelming. However, what amazed me was the reactions from the fellow musicians and the audience. We were incredibly fortunate to have the support of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) in organizing the crew, thanks to the introduction from our good friend Marc Brew. The folks at the RCS couldn’t have been more warm and welcoming (thank you Sam and Ben!). It almost felt like we were meeting a long lost cousin that we didn’t know existed. The musicians of the RCS were incredibly high level and professional. I was often happily surprised in their interpretation of some passages, sometimes shockingly so, as they displayed superb musicianship in executing the pieces.
The enthusiasm from the audience was encouraging to say the least. Except for the second date, which was a Monday, we had nearly full house every single performance. This was very touching and reassuring given that we didn’t have a massive marketing budget for the show. Many of them walked up to us saying that this was the best show they’ve seen at the Fringe. And there were many shows to choose from. Over 3000 of them. We knew of some horror stories from people who had to cancel the show due to no one showing up.
There were wonderful reviews ranging from mostly 4 to 5 stars. There was that one 2 star review by this lady who just didn’t seem to want classical and hip-hop to be together. To each’s own. We eat peanut butter and tuna sandwiches here (I kid). More like Siracha-mayo which is bomb dot com. I actually was happy to see the one negative review that triggered an old guard conservatism and essentialism. One because even in the negative review, she really couldn’t fault what we did, just questioned why. Also, because if it’s all positive, it’d be a fascism.
This tour gave us so much conviction and evidence to validate our unusual endeavor. After all, no one really wants Siracha-mayo at first. They all say they want new things but when presented with something truly novel, people tend to shy away from it. Therefore, all innovation requires implementation, which requires time and effort, which is life. And we all felt these ten extraordinary days at the largest and perhaps the greatest performing arts festival in the world, provided us abundant love and inspiration to keep moving forward.
There are a couple exciting developments that we want to keep it down low but more to come fosho (as in for sure).
Thank you Charles, Nick, and the crew at SpaceUK. Thank you Matthew and Clare for your expert guidance in PR and marketing. Thank you Marc for the awesome intro and dance. And of course, thank you to the musicians and folks at the RCS.
With much gratitude,
JooWan Kim
Artistic director/composer
Ensemble Mik Nawooj
Photo credit - Richard Walker