The Realisation Festival is five years old, so how is it shaping up? What ways best describe the gathering? And also, what of its distinctive coupling of music and improvisation with ideas and the challenges of today?

Two directors of the festival, Pippa Evans and Mark Vernon, share their sense of St Giles House, the place that hosts the weekend, as well as the genius brought by the Realisation Players, the improvisers of which Pippa is one.

They talk about improvisation itself and how it powerfully fits with the spirit of the gathering, being an emergent activity that doesn’t try to fix things but does invite participants to bring what they have. And they discuss that short word which is central to the festival: soul.

For more on Pippa’s work see http://www.pippaevans.com/