After many weeks of monitoring the circumstances and restrictions imposed by Covid-19, the hcmf// team and its Board of Trustees have reached the decision that it is not possible to produce our usual 10-day festival this November.
Whilst this is a huge disappointment to everyone involved with the festival, the safety and well-being of our staff, volunteers, artists and audiences – many of whom come to Huddersfield from across the UK and around the world – has been the primary consideration in reaching this decision. Taking into consideration our international programme and audience, travel restrictions, quarantine requirements and social distancing guidelines have also inevitably played a major part in our decision-making.
In place of the 10-day festival, we are working on producing a variety of programming across a number of online and broadcast platforms, to take place during what would have been hcmf// 2020’s opening weekend (Friday 20 – Sunday 22 November). Further specific announcements about the programme will be made soon.
In the meantime, we’re pleased to announce that the Israeli-American composer Chaya Czernowin, whom we had announced as hcmf// Composer in Residence for 2020, has accepted the festival’s invitation to become Composer in Residence for hcmf// 2021. We’re looking forward to working with Chaya on a wide-ranging exploration of her work, including new commissions.
More information here