Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts

Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts

June

The English fishing village of Aldeburgh, located on the North Sea about 100 miles from London, may seem an unlikely place for an international music festival. But it was here that English composer Benjamin Britten, singer Peter Pears, and writer-producer Eric Crozier—who together led a touring opera company, the English Opera Group—founded the Aldeburgh Festival in 1948. Then as now, the festival embraced the community as both audience member and participant, and sought to bring together established and new artists. Britten and other composers often premiered their works at the festival, many of which were inspired by the people and landscape of Aldeburgh. When the festival grew out of its performance spaces, a new venue, the Snapes Maltings Concert Hall, was built in 1967 on the site of a former malt brewery barn.
Today, in addition to the 17-day festival, activities continue year-round through Aldeburgh Productions and include classical, folk and jazz concerts; opera; contemporary dance; the Britten-Pears School for Advanced Musical Studies; the Snape Proms; and the Easter Festival.

CONTACTS:
Aldeburgh Productions
Snape Maltings Concert Hall
Snape, Suffolk IP17 1SP United Kingdom
44-17-2868-7110; fax: 44-17-2868-7120
www.aldeburgh.co.uk

SOURCES:
GdWrldFest-1985, p. 89
IntlThFolk-1979, p. 155
MusFestEurBrit-1980, p. 42
MusFestWrld-1963, p. 21