Britten Pears Arts is a large music education organisation based in

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, England. It aims to continue the legacy of composer

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

and his partner, singer

Peter Pears Sir Peter Neville Luard Pears ( ; 22 June 19103 April 1986) was an English tenor. His career was closely associated with the composer Benjamin Britten, his personal and professional partner for nearly forty years. Pears' musical career started ...

, and to promote the enjoyment and experience of music for all. It is a

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

. The charity manages two historic locations on the Suffolk coast:

Snape Maltings Concert Hall Snape Maltings Concert Hall is an arts complex on the banks of the River Alde at Snape, Suffolk, England. It is best known as one of the main sites of the annual Aldeburgh Festival. It is now one of two headquarters for Britten Pears Arts, w ...

, a converted Victorian malting building on the edge of the

River Alde The River Alde and River Ore form a river system in Suffolk, England passing by Snape, Suffolk, Snape and Aldeburgh. The River Alde and River Ore meet northwest of Blaxhall. From there downriver the combined river is known as the River Alde pa ...

in the village of

Snape, Suffolk Snape is a small village in the England, English county of Suffolk, on the River Alde close to Aldeburgh. At the 2011 census the population was 611. In Anglo-Saxon England, Snape was the site of an Snape ship burial, Anglo-Saxon ship burial. Sna ...

, and The Red House, the former home of Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears. The organisation was founded by

and

Eric Crozier Eric Crozier OBE (14 November 19147 September 1994) was a British theatre director, theatrical director, opera librettist and producer, long associated with Benjamin Britten. Early life and career Crozier was born in London and studied at the Ro ...

in 1947 as an organisation to present the first Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts in 1948. Each year Britten Pears Arts promotes the Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts, the

Snape Proms Snape may refer to: Places * Snape Island, Hudson Bay, Canada * Snape, North Yorkshire, a village in England * Snape, Suffolk, a marshland, a village and an arts centre in England People * Andrew Snape (1675–1742), headmaster of Eton College * ...

, concert series at Easter and October, together with a year-round performance programme at

and other venues on the Snape site. The Britten Pears Young Artist Programme, formerly known as the Britten–Pears School for Advanced Musical Studies, provides development opportunities for musicians early in their professional lives, between the ages of 18 and 25. Aldeburgh Young Musicians offers a programme of music mentoring for "promising young musicians" aged 10–18. Aldeburgh Education offers an annual programme of work involving the wider community, while Aldeburgh Residencies provides opportunities for established artists to develop their creative talents.

History

While touring with the

English Opera Group The English Opera Group was a small company of British musicians formed in 1947 by the composer Benjamin Britten (along with John Piper, Eric Crozier and Anne Wood) for the purpose of presenting his and other, primarily British, composers' operat ...

in Europe in 1947, the composer

, tenor

and producer

developed the idea of a music festival in

Aldeburgh Aldeburgh ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the English county, county of Suffolk, England, north of the River Alde. Its estimated population was 2,276 in 2019. It was home to the comp ...

, where

Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

had a house on Crag Path.''Benjamin Britten, A Biography'' by Humphrey Carpenter, 1992 An executive committee was formed under the chairmanship of the Countess of Cranbrook and the first meeting took place at Thellusson Lodge, Aldeburgh on 27 October 1947. The first Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts was held from 5 to 12 June 1948, under the Artistic Direction of

Pears Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in late summer into mid-autumn. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the family Rosaceae, bearing the pomaceous fruit of the sa ...

and

Crozier A crozier or crosier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholi ...

, with the

Earl of Harewood Earl of Harewood (), in the County of York, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The title was created in 1812 for Edward Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood, a wealthy sugar plantation owner and former Member of Parliament fo ...

as president and Elizabeth Sweeting as general manager. Needing to expand the Festival into larger premises, in 1967, the Festival management acquired a lease on disused Victorian buildings at

Snape Maltings Britten Pears Arts is a large music education organisation based in Suffolk, England. It aims to continue the legacy of composer Benjamin Britten and his partner, singer Peter Pears, and to promote the enjoyment and experience of music for all ...

, and converted the largest of the redundant malthouses into Snape Maltings Concert Hall. The Snape Maltings Foundation Ltd was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee, no. 980281, on 21 May 1970 under the name of Snape Maltings Foundation Ltd. to manage the Snape buildings and develop further buildings on the site. The initial subscribers were

Imogen Holst Imogen Clare Holst (; 12 April 1907 – 9 March 1984) was a British composer, arranger, conductor, teacher, musicologist, and festival administrator. The only child of the composer Gustav Holst, she is particularly known for her education ...

, Fidelity, Countess of Cranbrook, Marion, Countess of Harewood, Charles Gifford and The Lord Goodman. The company was registered with the

Charity Commission The Charity Commission for England and Wales is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's Government that regulates registered charities in England and Wales and maintains the Central Register of Charities. Its counterparts in Scotland and ...

as the Aldeburgh Foundation, registration number 261383, on 23 July 1970. The company changed its name to Aldeburgh Festival–Snape Maltings Foundation Ltd (known as AF-SMF) on 7 September 1976, and to Aldeburgh Foundation on 12 October 1983. In November 1997, the name of the company was changed to Aldeburgh Productions, and from July 2006 until the merger in April 2020 it had the name Aldeburgh Music.

Background and ethos

Following its successful launch in 1948, the

Aldeburgh Festival The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the town of Aldeburgh, Suffolk and is centred on Snape Maltings Concert Hall. History of the Aldeburgh Festi ...

expanded year by year until it outgrew the available venues in the town. When redundant malting buildings in Snape became available in 1965, an initial 25-year lease was taken on the largest of the Victorian malthouses, and it was converted by Arup Associates (architects and engineers) and Wm. C. Reade (builders) into Snape Maltings Concert Hall. The 820-seat Hall was opened by HM The Queen on 2 June 1967. From that date, the main events of the annual Festival were relocated to

. A major fire in 1969 led to the re-development of the site, re-opening the following year, and gradually what was once a Concert Hall for a three-week Festival, became a year-round venue, including the introduction in the 1980s of the annual

. From the very beginning, part of the artistic vision of the original directors had been the development of young musical talent. As early as 1953,

and

, committed to the musical development of young people, formed the idea of having a school of music at Snape. The fundamental concept was "to prepare and promote young singers or string players for professional life at the very highest level." It took until September 1972 for the first masterclasses to be given, by

, and in 1975 a Snape Maltings Training Orchestra rehearsed and performed at the Hall for the first time. Following the death of

in 1976, the Benjamin Britten Memorial Appeal was launched, and the barley store adjacent to the Concert Hall was converted by Arup Associates into the Britten–Pears School for Advanced Musical Studies. Opened on 28 April 1979 by the patron of the Aldeburgh Foundation, HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, the School incorporated a 120-seat recital room (today named the Peter Pears Recital Room), a top-floor Seminar Room, with many practice rooms in between and a reference library, the Holst Library. Over the years, such artists as

Dame Joan Sutherland Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, (7 November 1926 – 10 October 2010) was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano known for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s to the 1980s. She possessed a voic ...

Ann Murray Ann Murray (born 27 August 1949) is an Irish mezzo-soprano. Life and career Murray was born in Dublin. Having won a number of prizes at the Feis Ceoil, she studied singing at the College of Music (now the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama, ...

, Sir Thomas Allen,

Galina Vishnevskaya Galina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya (, Ivanova, Иванова; 25 October 1926 – 11 December 2012) was a Russian soprano opera singer and recitalist who was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1966. She was the wife of cellist Mstislav Rostropo ...

Murray Perahia Murray David Perahia ( ; born April 19, 1947) is an American pianist and conductor. He has been considered one of the greatest living pianists. He was the first North American pianist to win the Leeds International Piano Competition, in 1972. ...

, Sir

Charles Mackerras Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras (; (17 November 1925 – 14 July 2010) was an American-born Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associ ...

Elisabeth Söderström Anna Elisabeth Söderström (married name Olow; 7 May 192720 November 2009) was a Swedish soprano who performed both opera and song, and was known as a leading interpreter of the works of Janáček, Rachmaninoff and Sibelius.Elizabeth Sleeman, ' ...

and

Dawn Upshaw Dawn Upshaw (born July 17, 1960) is an American soprano. She is the recipient of several Grammy Awards and has released a number of Edison Award-winning discs; she performs both opera and art song, and her repertoire spans Baroque to contempo ...

as well as

himself have been notable teachers, while its many alumni have included

Thomas Adès Thomas Joseph Edmund Adès (born 1 March 1971) is a British composer, pianist and conductor. Five compositions by Adès received votes in the 2017 Classic Voice poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000: ''The Tempest (opera), The T ...

Ian Bostridge Ian Charles Bostridge CBE (born 25 December 1964) is an English tenor, well known for his performances as an opera and lieder singer. Early life and education Bostridge was born in London, the son of Leslie Bostridge and Lillian (née Clark). ...

Simon Keenlyside Sir Simon Keenlyside (born 3 August 1959) is a British baritone who has performed in operas and concerts since the mid-1980s. Biography Early life and education Keenlyside was born in London, the son of Raymond and Ann Keenlyside. Raymond play ...

and Dame Felicity Lott. From the beginning, the Festival was committed to working with and for its local community, breaking down the barriers between amateur and professional. Education and working with young people always featured, and this continues today with Aldeburgh Education involving the local community as creators and performers as well as audiences. The department now runs 3 year-round programmes and in 2011–12 delivered 432 sessions, with over 15,000 participants, over 17,000 audience members and 147 artists. In 2012 the annual Celebration of Schools’ Music, presented in association with Suffolk County Council, celebrated its 25th year at Snape Maltings Concert Hall. Aldeburgh Residencies was launched in 2003 to offer bespoke development opportunities to established artists. The Residencies enable individuals and ensembles to come to Snape to create new work, develop new partnerships and explore new possibilities. Aldeburgh Young Musicians is a Centre for Advanced Training (CAT), created in 2007 with funding from the government to provide advanced music mentoring for exceptionally talented young musicians aged between 8 and 18 based in the Eastern Region. The growth of the work of Aldeburgh Music led to the need for more accommodation, and further semi-derelict buildings adjacent to the Concert Hall on the Snape Maltings site were acquired in 2006 on a 999-year lease, and the Aldeburgh Music Development Plan launched to raise the money necessary for their conversion. Following a successful £16 million fund-raising campaign, a new Creative Campus was opened in May 2009, designed by architects

Haworth Tompkins Haworth Tompkins is a British architecture studio, formed in 1991 by architects Graham Haworth (b. 1960) and Steve Tompkins (b. 1959). Based in London, the studio works throughout the public, private and subsidised sectors at a wide spectrum, ...

. The Hoffmann Building contains the Britten Studio (capacity 340), the Jerwood Kiln Studio (capacity 80) and a number of rehearsal spaces. The Britten–Pears Building has been redeveloped and now incorporates the Trask Artists’ Cafe. A small studio has been created out of the derelict Victorian Dovecote. In

, the Pumphouse, Aldeburgh Music's small alternative venue, has been redeveloped.

Aldeburgh Music Today

The Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts remains at the core of Aldeburgh Music's annual programme. Artistic directors of the Aldeburgh Festival have included composer

Thomas Ades Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

(1999-2008) and from 2009-16

Pierre-Laurent Aimard Pierre-Laurent Aimard (born 9 September 1957) is a French pianist. He focuses on contemporary music. Biography Aimard was born in Lyon, where he entered the conservatory. Later he studied with Yvonne Loriod and with Maria Curcio. In 1973, h ...

. Traditionally starting on the second Friday in June and running for 17 days, events are presented not only in the various venues at Snape Maltings, but in all the traditional Festival venues such as Aldeburgh Parish Church, Orford Church,

Blythburgh Blythburgh is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. It is west of Southwold and south-east of Halesworth and lies on the River Blyth. The A12 road runs through the village which is spli ...

Church and the Festival's original home,

’s Jubilee Hall. Site-specific events have taken place elsewhere, such as

Sizewell Sizewell is an English fishing hamlet in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. It belongs to the civil parish of Leiston and lies on the North Sea coast just north of the larger holiday village of Thorpeness, between the coastal tow ...

Beach (Everlasting Night, 2011),

Leiston Leiston ( ) is a town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. It is close to Saxmundham and Aldeburgh, north-east of Ipswich and north-east of London. The town had a population of 5,508 at th ...

Long Shop Museum The Long Shop Museum is an industrial heritage museum in the town of Leiston in the English county of Suffolk.RAF Bentwaters Airbase ( Faster than Sound), and community events on the beach. The Pumphouse, situated off the marshes on the outskirts of the town, provides an informal, alternative performance venue. Although

’s work always features in the Festival – and played a large role in 2013, his centenary year – it by no means dominates the programme, which continues to commission and present new work from contemporary composers, as well as exploring themes across many genres. The Festival's Artists in Residence have included composer-conductor

Oliver Knussen Stuart Oliver Knussen (12 June 1952 – 8 July 2018) was a British composer of contemporary classical music and conductor. Among the most influential British composers of his generation, his relatively few compositions are "rooted in 20th-cen ...

, a former artistic director of the Festival, in 2012, and composer George Benjamin in 2015. Previous contemporary composers to be examined in depth in recent festivals include

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde music, avant-garde composers in the latter half of the ...

and Marco Stroppa (2011), George Benjamin and

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music. Born in Montb ...

(2010),

Harrison Birtwistle Sir Harrison Birtwistle (15 July 1934 – 18 April 2022) was an English composer of contemporary classical music best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects. Among his many compositions, his better known works include '' T ...

and

Elliott Carter Elliott Cook Carter Jr. (December 11, 1908 – November 5, 2012) was an American modernist composer who was one of the most respected composers of the second half of the 20th century. He combined elements of European modernism and American " ...

(2009) and

György Kurtág György Kurtág (; born 19 February 1926) is a Hungarian composer of contemporary classical music and pianist. According to ''Grove Music Online'', with a style that draws on " Bartók, Webern and, to a lesser extent, Stravinsky, his work is c ...

(2008). Festivals also include work by the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme, including Britten–Pears Alumni. A programme of fringe events takes place at The Pumphouse in Aldeburgh.

Snape Proms

The Snape Proms take place throughout August each year in the Concert Hall. Some seats in the main block are removed, and audiences sit on cushions on the floor. With a different concert each evening throughout the month, the Proms present an eclectic range of music, including classical, jazz, folk and world music, and incorporate comedy and poetry.

Easter Festival

An Easter Festival is mounted each year, together with an autumn weekend generally themed around the work of

Britten–Pears Young Artist Programme

Since the very first course in 1972, over 10,000 young artists have attended what started as the Britten–Pears School for Advanced Musical Studies, and is now called the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme. Masterclasses for singers, ensembles, instrumentalists and composers are held from March until October. There are also opportunities for emerging young professional musicians to work with conductors, soloists and orchestral principals in both the Britten–Pears Orchestra and the Britten–Pears Baroque Orchestra. Many of the masterclasses are open to the public, and each course culminates in a public performance, including at the

and

. Auditions are held across the world, now using modern technology to access countries on the other side of the globe. Previous conductors of the BPO include

Edward Gardner Edward Gardner may refer to: * Edward W. Gardner (1867–1932), American balkline and straight rail billiards champion * Edward Joseph Gardner (1898–1950), U.S. Representative from Ohio * Ed Gardner (1901–1963), American actor, director and wr ...

Kirill Karabits Kirill Karabits (; born 26 December 1976) is a Ukrainian conductor. Biography Early life The son of the conductor and composer Ivan Karabyts, Karabits was born in Kyiv (then in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union). In his youth, Karabits s ...

Vasily Petrenko Vasily Eduardovich Petrenko (; born 7 July 1976) is a Russian-British conductor. He is currently music director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Biography Of Russian and Ukrainian ancestry, Petrenko was born in Leningrad, USSR. He attend ...

and

Robin Ticciati Robin Ticciati (born 16 April 1983, in London) is a British conductor of Italian ancestry. Biography Ticciati's paternal grandfather, Niso Ticciati, was a composer, arranger, cellist, and keyboardist. His father is a barrister, and his mother ...

. The Britten–Pears Baroque Orchestra, formed in 1992, is formed each year to work on baroque repertoire, and previous tutors have included period specialists

Richard Egarr Richard Egarr (born 7 August 1963) is a British conductor and keyboard player. Biography Born in Lincoln, Egarr received his early musical training as a choirboy at York Minster and at Chetham's School of Music. He was an organ scholar of ...

Emmanuelle Haïm Emmanuelle Haïm (; born 11 May 1962) is a French harpsichordist and conductor with a particular interest in early music and Baroque music. Early life, student and assistant years Haïm was born and grew up in Paris, and was raised Catholic alt ...

Laurence Cummings Laurence Alexander Cummings (born 1968) is a British harpsichordist, organist, and conductor. He is music director of the Academy of Ancient Music. Biography Cummings was born in Birmingham and educated at Solihull School, Christ Church, Oxford ...

Andreas Scholl Andreas Scholl (born 10 November 1967) is a German countertenor, a male classical singer in the alto vocal range, specialising in Baroque music. Born into a family of singers, Scholl was enrolled at the age of seven into the Kiedricher Chorbube ...

and

Harry Bicket Harry Alexander Clarence Bicket (born 1961) is a British conductor, harpsichordist and organist. He is particularly associated with the baroque and classical repertoire. Bicket was educated at Radley College, Christ Church, Oxford, where he ...

. Singers are auditioned for song recital courses, and recent courses have included American and French song with Dawn Upshaw. Singers and orchestra come together to perform opera; recent productions have included Death in Venice and Albert Herring, and

Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include mélodie, songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among th ...

’s '' Les Mamelles de Tiresias'' in

’s arrangement. Each year there is a digital media course, called New Music/New Media. String quartets come together each spring and present a weekly recital of "work-in-progress" at the Jubilee Hall, and in late summer the International Academy of String Quartets provides further opportunities for working on repertoire. Menahem Pressler,

and the

Arditti Quartet The Arditti Quartet is a string quartet founded in 1974 and led by the British violinist Irvine Arditti. The quartet is a globally recognized promoter of contemporary classical music and has a reputation for having a very wide repertoire. They ...

have all taught masterclasses.

Aldeburgh Residencies

Aldeburgh Residencies are designed for established musicians and other artists. It is intended for the development of specific creative projects, each generally lasting for a week – longer, sometimes, in the case of composers. Groups or individuals are generally funded by Aldeburgh Music for their accommodation, food and travel, and are expected to allow some public access to the work being undertaken. This may be in the form of an informal Open Session performance, but may also be a full performance in an upcoming

or concert series. Residencies are supported by the John Ellerman Foundation. Artists to benefit from an Aldeburgh Residency include

Mark Padmore Mark Padmore (born 8 March 1961) is a British tenor appearing in concerts, recitals, and opera. Early life He was born in London on 8 March 1961, and raised in Canterbury, Kent, England. Padmore studied clarinet and piano prior to his gainin ...

Gwyneth Herbert Gwyneth Herbert (born 26 August 1981) is a British singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and record producer. Initially known for her interpretation of jazz and swing standards, she is now established as a writer of original compo ...

, Netia Jones and Pippa Nissen,

I Fagiolini I Fagiolini is a British vocal ensemble specialising in early music and contemporary music. Founded by Robert Hollingworth at Oxford in 1986, the group won the UK Early Music Network’s Young Artists’ Competition in 1988 and a Royal Philharmo ...

, Exaudi, Alex Wilson (working on a new collaboration with two Malian musicians, preparing for a tour and new CD), the

Aurora Orchestra Aurora Orchestra is a British chamber orchestra, co-founded in 2004 by conductors Nicholas Collon and Robin Ticciati. The orchestra is based in London, where it is Resident Orchestra at Southbank Centre and Resident Ensemble at Kings Place. The ...

Mitsuko Uchida is a Japanese-English classical pianist and conductor. Born in Japan and naturalised in England, she is particularly notable for her interpretations of Mozart and Schubert. She has appeared with many notable orchestras, recorded a wide repert ...

and

Katie Mitchell Katrina Jane Mitchell (born 23 September 1964) is an English theatre director. Life and career Mitchell was born in Reading, Berkshire, raised in Hermitage, Berkshire, and educated at Oakham School. Upon leaving Oakham, she went up to Mag ...

. A particular strand of Aldeburgh Residencies entitled the Composer Residency Scheme enables three composers each year to spend three weeks working on individual new projects. Amongst the composers and librettists participating in this programme have been

Anna Meredith Anna Howard Meredith (born 12 January 1978) is a Scottish composer and performer of electronic and acoustic music. She is a former composer-in-residence with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and former PRS/RPS Composer in the House with S ...

, Larry Groves, Simon Limbrick,

Mark Ravenhill Mark Ravenhill (born 7 June 1966) is an English playwright, actor and journalist. Ravenhill is one of the most widely performed playwrights in British theatre of the late-twentieth and twenty-first centuries. His major plays include '' Shoppi ...

and

Conor Mitchell Conor Mitchell is a Northern Irish composer, librettist and theatre-maker. His play, ''The Dummy Tree'', was commissioned by the Royal National Theatre for their 2009 New Connections series. Conor has been a great supporter of Youth Music Theatr ...

, Man Fang,

Tansy Davies Tansy Davies (born 29 May 1973, Bristol) is an English composer of contemporary classical music. She won the BBC Young Composers' Competition in 1996 and has written works for ensembles such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orc ...

, Christian Mason and

Charlotte Bray Charlotte Bray (born 1982) is a British composer. Her work has been performed by The Royal Opera, London Sinfonietta, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, and BBC Symphony Orchestra. Biography Charlotte Bray was born in 1982 and raised in High W ...

Aldeburgh Alumni

Jerwood Opera Writing Programme

The Jerwood Opera Writing Programme develops new work in the field of opera. The first Jerwood Opera Writing Foundation, led by Artistic Advisor

Giorgio Battistelli Giorgio Battistelli (born 25 April 1953) is an Italian composer of contemporary classical music. A native of Albano Laziale (province of Rome), he studied at the conservatory in L'Aquila and is a former student of Stockhausen and Kagel. Battistel ...

and a distinguished faculty of experienced practitioners, featured three week-long workshops in March, July and October 2007. Ten of the participants were composers, mostly at the start of a professional career but with little or no experience in writing opera, while the remaining participants were a mix of poets, playwrights and directors with an interest in, but no experience at that stage of, writing libretti. In 2010, the second Jerwood Opera Writing Foundation course began, involving composers, writers and directors both in the UK and worldwide. The participants, twenty composers, writers and directors, took part in three week-long workshop-led courses at

in November 2010, March and July 2011. The workshops mixed practical exercises, theory and discussion, with contributions from teachers including

, Stephen Langridge, Stephen Plaice,

David Sawer David Sawer (born 14 September 1961) is a British composer of opera and choral, orchestral and chamber music. Biography Sawer was born in Stockport, England. After attending Ipswich School, he studied music at the University of York where he b ...

Lavinia Greenlaw Lavinia Elaine Greenlaw (born 30 July 1962) is an English poet, novelist and non-fiction writer. She won the Prix du Premier Roman with her first novel and her poetry has been shortlisted for awards that include the T. S. Eliot Prize, Forward Pri ...

Jonathan Dove Jonathan Dove (born 18 July 1959) is an English composer of opera, choral works, plays, films, and orchestral and chamber music. He has arranged a number of operas for English Touring Opera and the City of Birmingham Touring Opera (now Birm ...

and

Orlando Gough Orlando Gough ( ; born 1953 in Brighton, Sussex) is a British composer, educated at Oxford, and noted for projects written for ballet, contemporary dance and theatre. Collaborators have included Siobhan Davies, Alain Platel, Shobana Jeyasingh ...

amongst others, and culminated in performances of mini music-theatre works created by the twenty participants. At the end of November 2011, Aldeburgh Music invited applications for Jerwood Opera Writing Fellowships from composers and writers and their collaborators who wanted to develop a particular opera project for commission and performance. Fellowships were to give support during the development of a new opera by providing a collaborative, supportive environment, as well as financial and practical support and expertise, such as workshops and mentoring. Over sixty applications were submitted from countries worldwide and the following four proposals were each awarded a Jerwood Opera Writing Fellowship: ''Knots and Do-Nots'' – composer

Sasha Siem Sasha Kathrine Siem (born 1984, in London) is a British-Norwegian singer-songwriter and composer. Early life Sasha Siem was born in London, England, to Kristian Siem, a Norwegian businessman, and his South African wife Karen Ann, née Moross. H ...

and director Ted Huffman; ''Pleasure'' – composer Mark Simpson and writer Melanie Challenger; ''Thanatophobia'' – composer Joanna Lee and writer Hannah Silva; and ''Beyond the Pale'' – composer Benjamin Scheuer, writer Tom Swift and director Tom Creed.

Aldeburgh Education

Over 8,000 young people participate in Education projects each year. The latest initiative is Group A, a non-audition choir for young people of between the ages of 13 and 18, and The Big Shout, an opportunity for members of the community to come together to sing. Aldeburgh Education also devises training in participatory settings for artists at all levels. Aldeburgh Education has been working with

Suffolk County Council Suffolk County Council is the upper-tier Local government in England, local authority for the county of Suffolk, England. It is run by 75 elected county councillors representing 63 divisions. It is a member of the East of England Local Governme ...

since 1987, and has been a lead partner in the Suffolk Music Education Hub since 2012. It has worked with HM YOI Warren Hill since 1999, and with Lapwing, an organisation providing individual learning programmes for young people who have complex barriers to learning, since 2009, as well as with a variety of local and national arts organizations around the UK and beyond including the development of audio/visual interactive media.

Aldeburgh Young Musicians

Aldeburgh Young Musicians (AYM) was created to fill the perceived gap in Aldeburgh Music's engagement with the musical development of younger people. Funded by the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

, each of 45 young musicians between the ages of 8 and 18 has a tailored, individual learning programme, which co-ordinates individual lessons, intensive weekends and residential holiday courses, expert professional advice, mentoring and performance opportunities. Individual students are matched to tutors for additional tuition which can be done on-line. AYM works in partnership with

Music Service, Pro Corda, Junior Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the

Purcell School The Purcell School for Young Musicians is a specialist private music school for children, located in the town of Bushey, south Hertfordshire, England, and is the oldest specialist music school in the UK. The school was awarded the UNESCO Mozar ...

. In 2011–12, new strands were added to the Aldeburgh Young Musicians programme: AYM Apprentices for younger students who have shown musical talent and potential but need further musical support and development before joining the main scheme; AYM Open House providing the opportunity to Aldeburgh Young Musicians to use rehearsal facilities with other AYMs, provide a venue for individual lessons or master-classes, a private practice space and specialist coaching days; and AYM Exchanging Worlds Ensemble, launched for the Cultural Olympiad 2012. This commissioning group is cross cultural and cross genre in content, working collaboratively and exchanging global musical conversations. Connected to the Aldeburgh World Orchestra and Cultural Olympiad, two AYM composers were commissioned to create a new fanfare to be performed by the Aldeburgh World Orchestra brass section for the Olympic Torch Relay, performed when the Relay travelled to

and

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

on 5 July 2012.

Faster than Sound

Faster than Sound is a strand of activity, supported by the

Paul Hamlyn Paul Hamlyn, Baron Hamlyn, (born Paul Bertrand Wolfgang Hamburger; 12 February 1926 – 31 August 2001) was a German-born British publisher and philanthropist, who established the Paul Hamlyn Foundation in 1987. Early life He was born Paul Be ...

and Esmée Fairbairn Foundations, exploring connections between traditional music and new media, developing new collaborations between experimental musicians from different backgrounds, including electronic and classical. Starting in 2006 with performances in disused hangars at

RAF Bentwaters Royal Air Force Bentwaters or more simply RAF Bentwaters, now known as Bentwaters Parks, is a former Royal Air Force station about northeast of London and east-northeast of Ipswich, near Woodbridge, Suffolk in England. Its name was taken fr ...

, Faster than Sound, co-produced with Joana Seguro from Lumin, is now based in the Hoffmann Building at

. Since 2009, there have been five week-long residencies each year, culminating in a performance. Recent presentations include I Burn for You, a new music theatre piece based on Dracula, by Ian Wilson (composer) and Tom Creed (director); Symmetry with Marcus du Sautoy and Fall Back connecting the legacy of Dubstep with some of the earliest experiments in electronic music and projection. During the 2012

, choral ensemble EXAUDI teamed up with sound artist Bill Thompson and students from the University of East Anglia and presented a promenade performance in the Hoffmann Building of

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

’s

Song Books A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a Song structure, structure, such as the common ABA form, ...

. Other Faster than Sound projects in 2012 include ''Star-Shaped Biscuit'', text and music by

David Toop David Toop (born 5 May 1949) is an English musician, author, curator, and emeritus professor. From 2013 to 2021 he was professor of audio culture and improvisation at the London College of Communication. He was a regular contributor to British ...

, which will be performed in one of the remaining semi-derelict buildings at

. Later in 2012, composer Richard Baker and sound artist Brian Duffy collaborate on a new work exploring the hidden voices of electronic toys and toy instruments in combination with a small chamber ensemble.

TEDx Aldeburgh

TED is a US-led non-profit organisation devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It brings together in international conferences, people from the worlds of Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED). Aldeburgh Music hosted the inaugural TEDx Aldeburgh Conference on 6 November 2010. Hosted by the TED music director Thomas Dolby and produced by Joana Seguro as an opportunity of having in one place great minds and explorers of contemporary music, the event featured talks by

Tod Machover Tod Machover (born November 24, 1953, in Mount Vernon, New York), is a composer and an innovator in the application of technology in music. He is the son of Wilma Machover, a piano, pianist and Carl Machover, a computer scientist. He was named ...

Martyn Ware Martyn Ware (born 19 May 1956) is an English musician, composer, arranger, record producer, and music programmer. As a founding member of both the Human League and Heaven 17, Ware co-wrote hit songs such as " Being Boiled" and "Temptation". Wa ...

William Orbit William Mark Wainwright (born 15 December 1956),"William Orbit." ''Contemporary Musicians''. Vol. 30. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2000. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, 7 May 2017. Available onlinvia ''Encyclopedia.com'' known ...

Tim Exile Tim Exile (or Exile) is the recording alias of Timothy Charles Shaw, a producer and performer of electronic music spanning drum and bass, IDM, breakcore and gabber. Early life Exile was educated at Rendcomb College from 1990 to 1997 and studie ...

Imogen Heap Imogen Jennifer Jane Heap ( ; born 9 December 1977) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and entrepreneur. She is considered a pioneer in pop music, particularly electropop, and in music technology. While attending the ...

, Ash Nehru of

United Visual Artists United Visual Artists (UVA) is a London-based art practice founded in 2003 by British artist Matt Clark (b.1974). UVA's diverse body of work integrates new technologies with traditional media such as painting, sculpture, performance, and site-sp ...

. In addition, there were TED talk videos from

David Byrne David Byrne (; born May 14, 1952) is an American musician, writer, visual artist, and filmmaker. He was a founding member, principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of the American New wave music, new wave band Talking Heads. Byrne has ...

Itay Talgam Itay Talgam (; born 24 March 1958, Tel Aviv) is an Israeli conductor and business consultant. Biography Itay Talgam studied at the Rubin Academy and received a degree in philosophy from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He started out as a pi ...

Evelyn Glennie Dame Evelyn Elizabeth Ann Glennie, (born 19 July 1965) is a Scottish percussionist. She was selected as one of the two laureates for the Polar Music Prize of 2015. Early life Glennie was born in Methlick, Aberdeenshire, in Scotland. The i ...

and

Benjamin Zander Benjamin Zander (born 9 March 1939 in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, England) is an English conductor, who is currently the musical director of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. Biography Benjami ...

. The gathering of people and ideas coincided with Aldeburgh's New Music New Media course for emerging professional composers and musicians, led by

. The second conference was held on 5 November 2011 when the speakers included Vincent Walsh, Peter Gregson, Kingslee Daly, Jennifer Stumm,

Nitin Sawhney Nitin Sawhney (; born 1964) is a British musician, producer and composer. A recipient of the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement award in 2017, among multiple international awards throughout his career. Sawhney's work combines Asian and other ...

, Kathy Hinde and the Modified Toy Orchestra.

Visual Arts: SNAP

The

has always included the visual arts as well as music, and a number of exhibitions are curated each year to accompany the music programme. From 2011, the main exhibition of contemporary art has been promoted under the title SNAP, at various locations around the Snape Maltings site, organized by Abigail Lane. In 2012, featured artists included Glenn Brown, May Cornet,

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

Ryan Gander Ryan Gander (born 1976) is a British artist. Since 2003, Gander has produced a body of artworks in different forms, ranging from sculpture, apparel, writing, architecture, painting, typefaces, publications, and performance. Additionally, Gander ...

Maggi Hambling Margaret J. Hambling (born 23 October 1945) is a British artist. Though principally a painter, her best-known public works are the sculptures '' A Conversation with Oscar Wilde'' and '' A Sculpture for Mary Wollstonecraft'' in London, and the ...

, Mark Limbrick, Emily Richardson and

Gavin Turk Gavin Turk (born 1967) is a British artist from Guildford in Surrey, and was considered to be one of the Young British Artists. Turk's oeuvre deals with issues of authenticity and identity, engaged with modernist and avant-garde debates surround ...

. Aldeburgh Music is also responsible for running the Peter Pears Gallery in Aldeburgh and the Pond Gallery at Snape Maltings. For most of the year these galleries are hired out to local artists, but provide the space for Aldeburgh Music-curated exhibitions during the

People

The first artistic directors of the

were

and

remained artistic directors until their respective deaths, in 1976 and 1986. After Britten died, the artistic direction of the Festival was shared; many world-class musicians joined the artistic team, including at various times

Philip Ledger Sir Philip Stevens Ledger, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE, FRSE (12 December 1937 – 18 November 2012) was an English classical musician, conducting, choirmaster and academic, best remembered as Director of the Choir of King' ...

Colin Graham Colin Graham OBE (22 September 1931 in Hove, England – 6 April 2007 in St. Louis, Missouri) was a stage director of opera, theatre, and television. Graham was educated at Northaw School (Hertfordshire), Stowe School and RADA. Early in his ...

Steuart Bedford Steuart John Rudolf Bedford (31 July 1939 – 15 February 2021) was an English orchestral and opera conductor and pianist. He was the brother of composer David Bedford and of singer Peter Lehmann Bedford and a grandson of Liza Lehmann and H ...

Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian Cello, cellist and conducting, conductor. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was well known for both inspiring and commissioning new works, which enl ...

Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born 19 January 1955) is a British conductor with German citizenship. He rose to international prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, while music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1980–1998). Rat ...

John Shirley-Quirk John Stanton Shirley-Quirk CBE (28 August 19317 April 2014) was an English bass-baritone. A member of the English Opera Group from 1964 to 1976, he gave premiere performances of several operatic and vocal works by Benjamin Britten, recording th ...

and

. In 1999, a sole artistic director in the Britten mould – composer, solo performer, accompanist and conductor – was appointed in

, joined in 2004 by composer

John Woolrich John Woolrich ( ; born 1954 in Cirencester) is an English composer. Biography Woolrich has founded a group (the Composers Ensemble), a festival (Hoxton New Music Days), and has been composer in association with the Orchestra of St John's and t ...

, first as Guest Artistic Director then as an Associate Artistic Director. Adès had first appeared at an

as a member of the Britten–Pears Young Artist Programme on the New Music course in 1992. Adès was succeeded by

in 2009, again supported by

returned for the 2012 Festival as Artist in Residence. Chief executive of Aldeburgh Music from 1998 to 2014 was Jonathan Reekie, who left in Spring 2014 to become Director of Somerset House Trust. He was succeeded by Roger Wright, CBE, the former Controller of BBC Radio 3, who took up the post in September 2014. Roger Wright left the role in Summer 2024 and was replaced as CEO by Andrew Comben. The current Chairman of the Aldeburgh Music Council is Sir Simon Robey. The President of Aldeburgh Music is the Lord Stevenson of Coddenham CBE, Aldeburgh Music Chairman from 2000 to 2012.

Music

The Britten–Pears Library holds an archive of programmes dating back to 1948. Aldeburgh Music has commissioned and presented many world premieres over the years, starting with many of Britten's own compositions from 1948. A selection of composers whose works have been premiered by Aldeburgh Music include

, Gerald Barry,

Richard Rodney Bennett Sir Richard Rodney Bennett (29 March 193624 December 2012) was an English composer and pianist. He was noted for his musical versatility, drawing from such sources as jazz, romanticism, and avant-garde; and for his use of twelve-tone technique ...

, Deirdre Gribbin,

, Nicola LeFanu,

Colin Matthews Colin Matthews, OBE (born 13 February 1946) is an English composer of contemporary classical music. Noted for his large-scale orchestral compositions, Matthews is also a prolific arranger of other composer's music, including works by Berlioz, ...

Thea Musgrave Thea Musgrave Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 27 May 1928) is a Scottish composer of opera and classical music. She has lived in the United States since 1972. Biography Born in Barnton, Edinburgh, Barnton, Edinburgh, Mus ...

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded as a major composer. Shostak ...

and

John Tavener Sir John Kenneth Tavener (28 January 1944 – 12 November 2013) was an English composer, known for his extensive output of choral religious music, religious works. Among his best known works are ''The Lamb (Tavener), The Lamb'' (1982), ''The ...

Facilities

Aldeburgh Music is based at Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Snape,

Saxmundham Saxmundham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is set in the valley of the River Fromus about north-east of Ipswich and west of the coast at Sizewell. The town is bypassed ...

. It now has a 999-year lease, negotiated with the overall site owners, Johnny and Alesha Gooderham, in 2006, on all its facilities at

. Snape Maltings Concert Hall is an 830-seat international concert hall, converted from a redundant Victorian malthouse in 1967. The Concert Hall incorporates a Restaurant and the Oyster Bar, and displays exhibitions in the Concert Hall Gallery. A Visitor Centre off the main foyer houses the Box Office, an information point and a shop. The Hoffmann Building, converted from semi-derelict malting and storage buildings adjacent to the Concert Hall, was opened in 2009 and houses the Britten Studio (340 capacity), the Jerwood Kiln Studio (80 capacity), the Foyle and the Weinrebe Studios, as well as office and circulation space. The Britten-Pears Building was converted from an old barley store in 1979 to create the Britten–Pears School for Advanced Musical Studies, now renamed the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme. The building contains the Peter Pears Recital Room (120 capacity) and a number of practice and seminar rooms, and the Holst Library. Adjacent is the Trask Artists' Cafe. The Pond Gallery is a small art gallery, let to local artists, and adjacent is a long room currently known as Building 19, awaiting further development. In Aldeburgh itself, events take place during the Festival at the Jubilee Hall, the Aldeburgh Parish Church, and the Pumphouse. Performances also take place at other venues around Suffolk including the churches of Orford and Blythburgh. Site-specific events have been held in a number of locations, including Aldeburgh and Sizewell beaches, Bentwaters Airbase, and Leiston Long Shop Museum.

References

External links

Britten Pears Arts

Snape Maltings

Aldeburgh Music

Britten Pears Arts - Snape Maltings

Britten Pears Arts - The Red House

Britten Pears Arts - The Archive

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20041208051703fw_/https://www.britten-pears.co.uk/about_bpl.htm The Britten-Pears Library - The Library {{Authority control Music charities based in the United Kingdom Charities based in Suffolk Benjamin Britten