Press release: Tommy Smith performs in sax and art spectacular at the Edinburgh Fringe

Credit Tommy Smith

Tommy Smith performs in sax and art spectacular at the Edinburgh Fringe

Saxophonist Tommy Smith reunites with the internationally acclaimed artist Maria Rud in their Luminescence show at St Giles's Cathedral in Edinburgh from Thursday 15th to Saturday 17th August.

Marking the Cathedral's 900th anniversary, Luminescence is part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and will see Smith and Rud conversing in their respective artforms, with Rud's painted images projected onto the magnificent stained-glass window on the East Wall inside the church.

“We’ll begin each performance with no preconceptions of the direction the narrative will take,” says Smith. “Maria and I are both aware of aspects of the Cathedral’s history and of the legend of St Giles himself, but we won’t have them in mind during the performance. I'll start to play and Maria will respond by painting whatever the sounds I make suggest to her.”

Smith and Rud have now worked together several times. The artist painted live in response to the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra’s Where Rivers Meet online celebration of saxophone pioneers Albert Ayler, Anthony Braxton, Ornette Coleman and Dewey Redman, which Smith directed and featured in. They have also performed Luminescence in St Giles’ Cathedral previously, including a run of dates last August, when The Scotsman described their performance as “one of the most spectacular experiences of the Fringe”.

Smith, who has played solo in cathedrals and churches across the UK, is full of enthusiasm for St Giles' acoustics and feels that solo saxophone is the perfect instrument for the space. 

“I’ve played solo concerts where I've concentrated on mostly well-known melodies but Luminescence, being completely spontaneous, is different," he says. "Although I’m playing solo, I’m composing in the moment and I can see that Maria's reacting to me, and I'm reacting to her rhythmically."

St Giles’ Cathedral has been at the centre of events throughout history, including the Scottish Reformation in the sixteenth century. As well as being a working church, it is an important centre for civic services and in September 2022 it was the scene of Queen Elizabeth’s lying in state before her funeral in London.

“As a boy growing up in Edinburgh, I was always aware of St Giles’, although mostly from a distance,” says Smith. “It’s a big, awesome space inside, with wonderful architecture and an amazing stillness. We find inspiration from just being there, so it's a new experience every time for us.”