Aldeburgh Festival 2024: Friday 7 – Sunday 23 June
Britten Pears Arts presents the 75th Aldeburgh Festival in June 2024
New production of Judith Weir’s opera Blond Eckbert opens the Aldeburgh Festival
Featured musicians are composers Judith Weir and Unsuk Chin; violinist Daniel Pioro and cellist Alban Gerhardt
New staging of Britten’s Curlew River 60 years after its first performance
Gweneth Ann Rand performs three major Messiaen song cycles
Orchestras include the London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, The Hallé, Britten Sinfonia and the Knussen Chamber Orchestra
Ensembles include BBC Singers, Ensemble Diderot, The Marian Consort, Nash Ensemble, Tenebrae and Vox Luminis
Artists include Christian Blackshaw, Claire Booth, Alice Coote, Julius Drake, Rolf Hind, Braimah, Isata and Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Matilda Lloyd, Steven Osborne, Andrè Schuen, Kathryn Stott and Elizabeth Watts
Continued commitment to new music with 23 world premieres (of which 10 are Britten Pears Arts commissions) and three UK premieres
The introduction of ‘Made in Snape’, a strand of new music created on Britten Pears Arts residencies at Snape Maltings by a wide range of pioneering contemporary artists
The Red House will be open daily during the festival with talks and exhibitions including ‘The Composer’s Place: Britten, the Festival and his Suffolk home’
Visual Art at Snape Maltings includes a new work from conceptual artist Cerith Wyn Evans; a new series Beryl & Pam featuring Maggi Hambling and Karen Densham; an exhibition exploring Britten and Pears’ friendship with artist Keith Grant; Conflagration, a painting and sound installation by Jelly Green and Lily Hunter Green; and a new collection of work from Suffolk painter Tessa Newcomb
BBC Radio 3 brings live music to listeners around the world with a series of broadcast Festival concerts
The programme for the 75th Aldeburgh Festival in 2024 is announced today (18 December) and takes place from Friday 7 to Sunday 23 June. The Festival opens with a new production of Judith Weir’s opera Blond Eckbert, a co-production with English Touring Opera. Judith Weir is one of four featured musicians - alongside composer Unsuk Chin, violinist Daniel Pioro and cellist Alban Gerhardt – and her music features in 10 concerts including the world premiere of her Second String Quartet and a new orchestral piece. Unsuk Chin’s music receives two UK premieres - Alaraph for symphony orchestra and a piece for 40 voices. Alban Gerhardt recreates - with pianist Steven Osborne - the recital given by Rostropovich and Britten in 1961 which included the first performance of Britten’s Cello Sonata – and performs both Elgar and Unsuk Chin’s Cello Concertos, the latter written for him. The first ever Aldeburgh Festival concert from 5 June 1948 is also recreated in a performance by Britten Sinfonia. Daniel Pioro features in seven concerts during the Festival including intimate performances in surprise locations, a recital with pianist Simon Smith, a collaboration with The Marian Consort and a performance of Britten’s Violin Concerto.
There will be a new staging of Britten’s Curlew River, 60 years after its first performance, as well as a rare chance to see Sumidagawa, the Japanese Noh play which inspired Britten’s church parable, performed by leading Japanese artists. Acclaimed Messiaen interpreter, Gweneth Ann Rand, performs the three major Messiaen song cycles over three concerts.
Visiting orchestras include the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Edward Gardner, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Knussen Chamber Orchestra conducted by Ryan Wigglesworth, The Hallé and Sir Mark Elder, and two performances involving the Britten Sinfonia conducted by Jessica Cottis and Olivia Clarke. Performances from visiting ensembles include the BBC Singers, Ensemble Diderot, The Marian Consort, Nash Ensemble, Tenebrae and Vox Luminis. Visiting artists include Christian Blackshaw, Claire Booth, Alice Coote, Julius Drake, Rolf Hind, Braimah, Isata and Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Matilda Lloyd, Steven Osborne, Andrè Schuen, Kathryn Stott and Elizabeth Watts.
Britten Pears Arts continues its commitment to new music with 23 world premieres (of which 10 are Britten Pears Arts commissions) from composers including Lara Agar, Tom Coult, Graham Fitkin, Robin Haigh, Joanna Ward, Judith Weir and Ryan Wigglesworth, plus three UK premieres of music by Unsuk Chin and Thomas Larcher.
In Snape and Aldeburgh, Britten Pears Arts continues the spirit of artist development which Britten and Pears established. Musicians are given time and space to develop their artistry as well as to experiment and create new work. ‘Made in Snape’ is a strand of new music created on residencies at Snape Maltings by a wide range of pioneering contemporary musicians including Xhosa Cole, Mark Sanders and Jason Singh; Emily Levy and Mella Faye; Holy Other; Tom Rogerson, Liam Byrne and Clare O’Connell. Nurturing young talent was also central to Britten and Pears’ vision and Britten Pears Young Artists appear throughout the Festival in everything from Curlew River to CAPPA and Festival masterclasses to French-song recitals.
Roger Wright, Chief Executive, Britten Pears Arts commented, ‘The 2024 Aldeburgh Festival is the 75th in the Festival’s history. The Festival continues to be distinctive and is recognised nationally and internationally, not least for its unique combination of music and place, with events presented in the wonderful surroundings of Snape, Aldeburgh and other Suffolk settings. This year, four featured musicians – violinist Daniel Pioro, cellist Alban Gerhardt and composers Unsuk Chin and Judith Weir – form the backbone of the programming and there is an exciting mix of opera, orchestras, choirs, singers, dance, chamber music, recitals, films, talks and a thrilling range of music from the medieval to the brand new, alongside a fascinating visual arts programme. We will also reflect our rich heritage with a number of events which recreate significant moments in the Festival’s history. We hope you will join us.’
Detailed Programme information
Opera
The 2024 Aldeburgh Festival opens with a new production of Judith Weir’s Blond Eckbert, a co-production by Britten Pears Arts and English Touring Opera.
Blond Eckbert is a dark story of isolation and mystery, based on a supernatural tale by the romantic author Ludwig Tieck.
Eckbert and Berthe live a life of quiet solitude in their forest home. One day, a visit from an old friend upends their lives. As mysteries swirl and dark secrets are revealed, Eckbert suspects his world is far stranger than it first appeared and that the past is maybe best left buried.
Conducted by Gerry Cornelius, the cast will be announced in early 2024.
The creative team includes director Robin Norton Hale (7 June, 7.30pm, Snape Maltings Concert Hall).
Featured Musicians
Judith Weir
Judith Weir is Master of The King’s Music and one of the UK’s most celebrated living composers. In Weir’s 70th birthday year, her Aldeburgh Festival residency includes 10 concerts featuring the composer’s works.
Ryan Wigglesworth leads the Knussen Chamber Orchestra in the first performance of Judith Weir’s Planet – a Britten Pears Arts commission written especially for this orchestra (11 June, 7pm, 11 June).
Alumni of the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme, the Leonkoro Quartet is one of Europe’s brightest chamber groups. It is 30 years since Judith Weir wrote her first string quartet, and this concert features the world premiere of her second, The Spaniard, a Britten Pears Arts and Wigmore Hall co-commission (13 June, 11am, Britten Studio).
The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra performs Weir’s Forest with conductor Ryan Wigglesworth. The composer says of the work: ‘nearly everything in the piece has grown from the tiny musical seeds encountered in the opening bars, and the composition has unfolded in a particularly natural and organic way’ (19 June, 7.30pm, Snape Maltings Concert Hall).
Judith Weir’s longstanding relationship with the BBC Singers is celebrated with a performance of her oratorio blue hills beyond blue hills, a five-movement cycle which charts the changing seasons (17 June, 7.30pm, Snape Maltings Concert Hall).
Weir’s mini opera for solo voice, King Harald’s Saga, is performed by soprano Claire Booth (10 June, 3pm, Britten Studio).
Steven Osborne’s piano recital features three of Weir’s miniatures: Michael’s Strathspey is based on a traditional Scottish dance and was written for composer Michael Finnissy; Fragile was commissioned as part of William Howard’s Love Song project and creates a resonant soundworld in a few short minutes and Chorale, for Steve joins other 2024 Festival repertoire in being a memorial piece, in this case for the American composer Steven Stucky (16 June, 11am, Snape Maltings Concert Hall).
Rolf Hind’s piano recital features Weir’s The Art of Touching the Keyboard. Weir comments: ‘in a single continuous movement, the piece demonstrates the many ways in which the piano keys can be touched, from the gentlest of strokes to the most vicious of blows’ (20 June, 11am, Britten Studio).
Britten Pears Young Artist Programme alumni, Trio Bohémo, makes its Festival debut. The programme includes two works by Weir: O Viridissima, which reimagines workings of Hildegard of Bingen, and her Piano Trio (20 June, 4pm, Britten Studio).
The Nash Ensemble celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2024 and performs Weir’s folkloric Distance and Enchantment for piano and string trio (22 June, 11am, Britten Studio).
The traditional Aldeburgh Festival Service includes Aldeburgh Voices performing Judith Weir’s setting of George Herbert’s poem A Wreath, commissioned in memory of Edmund Bridges (9 June, 10.30am, Aldeburgh Church). This same work will be performed by Tenebrae in a concert marking 60 years since the Aldeburgh Festival’s first visit to Ely Cathedral (12 June, 7pm, Ely Cathedral).
Unsuk Chin
Korean composer Unsuk Chin studied with Ligeti and her output features both electronic and acoustic scores. It is modern in language and lyrical in its communicative power.
Pianist Joseph Havlat begins the Aldeburgh Festival’s two-part presentation of Unsuk Chin’s Etudes (10 June, 3pm, Britten Studio) which is completed by Rolf Hind (20 June, 11am, Britten Studio).
Tenebrae gives the first UK performance of Unsuk Chin’s new work for 40 voices – a prelude to Tallis’ Spem in alium (12 June, 7pm, Ely Cathedral).
Composed especially for Alban Gerhardt and first performed at the 2009 BBC Proms, Unsuk Chin’s Cello Concerto has been described as “the biggest and most ambitious... and arguably the most important concerto for that instrument to appear since Lutosławski's in 1970. The solo writing pushes the cellist – the superb Alban Gerhardt – to the limits of what is possible, while constantly reassessing the way it and the orchestra respond to each other” (The Guardian). Gerhardt joins the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and conductor Ryan Wigglesworth (20 June, 7.30pm, Snape Maltings Concert Hall).
The Royal Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra and conductor Roderick Cox perform the UK premiere of Unsuk Chin’s Alaraph. The composer comments, ‘two images were especially important when composing this score: firstly, I was drawn to the concept of the so-called ‘heartbeat stars’, with their regular pulsation. The second image depicted certain aspects of Korean traditional music, both the 'static' courtly ritual music and the lively folk music, alluded to distantly in the work's gestures and structure in a compressed and highly stylized manner’ (22 June, 4pm, Snape Maltings Concert Hall).
Alban Gerhardt
‘One of the finest cellists around – expressive, unshowy and infinitely classy’ (The Guardian), Alban Gerhardt is renowned for his intense musicality, compelling stage presence and insatiable artistic curiosity.
Alban Gerhardt begins his Festival residency with Elgar’s timeless Cello Concerto performed with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Edward Gardner (8 June, 7.30pm, Snape Maltings Concert Hall).
He joins forces with soprano Claire Booth, pianist Joseph Havlat and violinist Charlotte Saluste-Bridoux to perform two works by Thomas Larcher. My illness is the medicine I need is based on extracts from interviews with patients of mental-health facilities, which Larcher describes as being of “a strong inner power, yet [they] do not claim to convey an overall picture of these people.” Splinters is for cello and piano and ‘the splinters of the title have ‘regressed’ into entire trees: the imagined concepts have been splintered through the compositional process … an image of one’s own soul and its abysses makes its way forward”. (10 June, 3pm, Britten Studio).
Alban Gerhardt is joined by his regular collaborator pianist Steven Osborne to recreate a seminal moment in Aldeburgh Festival history: the June 1961 recital by Britten and Rostropovich which saw the world premiere of Britten’s Cello Sonata, along with classic works by Schubert, Schumann and Debussy (14 June, 7pm, Snape Maltings Concert Hall).
Rostropovich’s visit to the Festival in 1961 also included performances of Bach’s cello suites. He described No.6 as “a symphony for solo cello” and Bach was one of Britten’s musical inspirations. Alban Gerhardt plays his chosen pairing of suites by Bach and Britten (15 June, 11am, Orford Church).
Gerhardt performs Unsuk Chin’s Cello Concerto with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and conductor Ryan Wigglesworth (20 June, 7.30pm, Snape Maltings Concert Hall).
Daniel Pioro
Violinist Daniel Pioro actively promotes new music and is interested in finding different ways of listening to and creating sound, as well as developing strong collaborations across the arts. The breadth of his artistry is showcased across seven events at this year’s Festival.
Daniel Pioro joins forces with pianist collaborator Simon Smith to perform Brahms’s three Violin Sonatas (8 June, 11am, Britten Studio).
Pioro is joined by The Marian Consort and director Rory McCleery for a concert created especially for Blythburgh Church at dusk. Tom Coult reimagines music by the mediaeval abbess Hildegard of Bingen and Kassia – the perfect match for The Marian Consort’s interest in marrying ancient and contemporary musical influences into a new coherent whole (10 June, 8pm, Blythburgh Church).
For a special Festival Walk in ancient woodland, Daniel Pioro adds a musical element that invites deep listening and connection with the natural music of the forest, inspired by the sonic mediations of the American composer Pauline Oliveros (12 June, 10am, Rendlesham Forest).
Daniel Pioro and harpsichordist David Gordon unite for a late-night event in which they intersperse Bach’s second Partita with free-spirited improvisation and sonic mediations (14 June, 10pm, Britten Studio).
An open invitation from Daniel Pioro to drop into his afternoon’s practice in the Red House Library – to listen to, discuss, and above all experience the magic of music as it is prepared and crafted in the rehearsal room (15 June, 12.30pm, The Red House Library).
Pioro joins a long line of leading violinists to perform Britten’s Violin Concerto at Snape Maltings. He is joined by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and conductor Ryan Wigglesworth. Pioro says: ‘The work itself is quintessential Britten: recurring drama, daring virtuosity and searing harmonies’ (19 June, 7.30pm, Snape Maltings Concert Hall).
As his final festival event, Daniel Pioro will meet, greet and play to a small number of lucky audience members, one at a time, in a secret seaside venue (20 June).
Curlew River and Sumidagawa
There will be a new staging of Britten’s church parable Curlew River, 60 years after its first performance, directed by Claire van Kampen. The stellar cast is led by music director Audrey Hyland and includes tenor Ian Bostridge, baritone Peter Braithwaite, bass-baritone Sir Willard White and singers and alumni from the Britten Pears Young Artists programme. The two performances in the beautiful surroundings of Blythburgh Church will be filmed with direction by Dominic Best (21 & 22 June, 8pm, Blythburgh Church).
Sumidagawa (“Sumida River”), one of the most renowned Noh plays, inspired Britten’s church parable Curlew River and there will a rare chance to see it at the Festival. Sumidagawa returns to the Aldeburgh Festival for the first time in 33 years and is presented by exceptional Noh performers from Japan including Shizuka Mikata in the role of the mother and the kotsuzumi player Tatsushi Narita. It will be preceded by a newly written English re-telling of the story by Xanthe Gresham Knight (18 June, 7.30pm, Snape Maltings Concert Hall).
Orchestras
Britten’s long passion for music from India and South-East Asia informed both his own compositions and the concerts he programmed for the Aldeburgh Festivals. The London Philharmonic Orchestra and its Principal Conductor Edward Gardner pair his suite from Britten’s Balinese-inspired music for the ballet The Prince of the Pagodas with the striking and exotic sound world of music from Bartók’s ballet The Miraculous Mandarin (8 June, 7pm, Snape Maltings Concert Hall).
Ryan Wigglesworth leads the Knussen Chamber Orchestra in two major works of Mozart and two first performances: Judith Weir’s Planet – a Britten Pears Arts commission written especially for this orchestra – and his own solo-piano piece Glasharmonie (11 June, 7pm, Snape Maltings Concert Hall).
Britten Sinfonia’s first concert features Holst’s opera Sāvitri. The libretto is based on a Sanskrit story in the Mahabharata and is performed by soloists Kathryn Rudge (Savitri), Anthony Gregory (Satyavān) and Ross Ramgobin (Death) and the Pagrav Dance Company. This concert also features the first modern performance of Imogen Holst’s Suite which was premiered at Wigmore Hall in in 1943 and oboist Nicholas Daniel performs Vaughan Williams’ Oboe Concerto (13 June, 7.30pm, Snape Maltings Concert Hall). Britten Sinfonia’s second concert recreates the first ever Aldeburgh Festival concert which took place on 5 June 1948. The Chaconny in G minor by Purcell, one of Britten’s major musical influences, and Handel’s Organ Concerto in D minor were paired with two new works: God’s Grandeur by Martin Shaw and Britten’s recently completed cantata Saint Nicolas. For this concert the Shaw is replaced by the world premiere of Robin Haigh’s LUCK with trumpeter Matilda Lloyd (15 June, 7.30pm, Snape Maltings Concert Hall).
The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra gives two concerts at the Festival with its Chief Conductor Ryan Wigglesworth. The first features two works that sprang from the seeds of melodies: Judith Weir’s Forest and Mahler’s Fourth Symphony with soprano Elizabeth Watts. Featured musician Daniel Pioro plays Britten’s Violin Concerto (19 June, 7.30pm, Snape Maltings Concert Hall). In the second concert, Unsuk Chin’s Cello Concerto pushes Alban Gerhardt to the limits of the possible and is paired with Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony (20 June, 7.30pm, Snape Maltings Concert Hall).
Conductor Roderick Cox makes his Festival debut with the Royal Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra performing Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony alongside the UK premiere of Unsuk Chin’s Alaraph, which is inspired by the traditional music of Korea and by ‘heartbeat stars’ (22 June, 4pm, Snape Maltings Concert Hall).
The Hallé and its Principal Conductor Sir Mark Elder close the 75th Aldeburgh Festival with a performance of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony and Steuart Bedford’s suite from Britten’s Death in Venice. Bedford conducted the opera’s premiere at the 1973 Aldeburgh Festival (23 June, 7pm, Snape Maltings Concert Hall).
Ensembles
In its 20th anniversary year, Vox Luminis and Artistic Director Lionel Meunier give the first UK performance of its concert production of Purcell’s The Fairy-Queen, described in Paris as ‘a must-see event in the world of Baroque music’ thanks to ‘Emilie Lauwers’ bold concept and staging, Mário Melo Costa's stunning visuals, David Carney’s hypnotic lighting, and Isaline Claeys & Simon Robson’s dramaturgy’ - sortiraparis.com (9 June, 6pm, Snape Maltings Concert Hall).
Ensemble Diderot gives two concerts at the Festival: the first is an exploration of Purcell and the musical influences he drew from Italy (10 June, 11am, Aldeburgh Jubilee Hall); the second concert draws on its acclaimed Paris album exploring 16th century French repertoire including works by Clérambault, Guignon, Rameau, Couperin, Leclair, Boismortier, Mondonville and Guillemain (11 June, 3pm, Britten Studio).
Tenebrae’s programme is based on Tallis’ famous 40-part motet Spem in alium, Unsuk Chin’s response to it, and the dramatic serenity of Tavener’s powerful choral works. The concert also features music by Byrd, Roderick Williams, Judith Weir, Eric Whitacre and James MacMillan– all perfectly suited to the soaring spaces of Ely Cathedral (12 June, 7pm, Ely Cathedral).
The Marian Consort’s first concert features Daniel Pioro – see above under Pioro (10 June, 8pm, Blythburgh Church). The second features the world premiere of Face to Face – part performance, part installation with music by Joanna Ward and Renaissance composers Casulana, Gesualdo, Meldert, Cipriano de Rore, Rossi and Giaches de Wert (15 June, several performances, Jerwood Kiln, Snape Maltings).
The Explore Ensemble and pianist/multimedia artist Zubin Kanga present first performances of Larry Goves and Lara Agar alongside new music by Laura Bowler and Alex Paxton (18 June, 3.30pm, Britten Studio).
The BBC Singers and Chief Conductor Sofi Jeannin join forces with the Castalian Quartet to perform Judith Weir’s oratorio blue hills beyond blue hills, Haydn’s ‘Sunrise’ Quartet and Messiaen’s Cinq Rechants (17 June, 7.30pm, Snape Maltings Concert Hall).
Celebrating its 60th Anniversary, the Nash Ensemble and soprano Claire Booth give two concerts at the Festival. The first is a late-night performance of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire – the tale of Pierrot, ‘drunk on moonlight’. This falls between Summer Solstice and the full moon (21 June, 10pm, Britten Studio). The second concert is conducted by Martyn Brabbins and the programme includes Mozart, Beethoven, songs by Julian Anderson and Judith Weir’s folkloric piano quartet (22 June, 11am, Britten Studio).
Chamber Music
The Henschel Quartet marks the 30th anniversary of its first Aldeburgh appearance in 1994, celebrating with Beethoven Quartets Nos. 1 & 9, alongside Freda Swain’s “Norfolk” Quartet (11 June, 11am, Orford Church).
In its Festival debut, the award-winning Leonkoro Quartet performs the world premiere of Judith Weir’s Second String Quartet alongside quartets by Haydn and Schubert (13 June, 11am, Britten Studio).
Trio Bohémo makes its Festival debut performing two works by Judith Weir alongside Novák and Brahms Piano Trios (20 June, 4pm, Britten Studio).
Siblings Braimah (violin), Isata (piano) and Sheku Kanneh-Mason (cello) together with Edgar Francis (viola) and Toby Hughes (double bass) perform Schubert’s ‘Trout’ Quintet. The programme also includes Mendelssohn’s Cello Sonata No 1 and Brahms Piano Trio No. 2 (21 June, 7pm, Snape Maltings Concert Hall).
Recitals
Acclaimed Messiaen interpreter Gweneth Ann Rand performs all three of Messiaen’s major song cycles in three concerts across the Festival. Each will be enhanced by projections featuring the artwork of Rachel Jones, the British visual artist acclaimed for her “captivating, jitteringly electric” work. She explains that “you can use colour and shape and form to speak to people in a way that isn’t about a spoken language – it’s about emotion and inciting feelings that don't have to be explained or expressed. It’s responsive, it’s instinctive, and a core part of all of us”. The first concert features the Peruvian-inflected Harawi with pianist Simon Lepper (8 June, 3.30pm, Britten Studio). The second recital – again with pianist Simon Lepper - combines love songs for Messiaen’s first wife - Poèmes pour Mi - with the Trois Mélodies which memorialised his mother (14 June, 3pm, Britten Studio). The final concert features Chants de terre et de ciel with pianist Allyson Devenish (17 June, 4pm, Britten Studio).
Internationally acclaimed lied interpreters, baritone Andrè Schuen (making his Festival debut) and pianist Julius Drake, give the UK premiere of Thomas Larcher’s Unerzählt (Untold). It is an intimate new song cycle that sets texts by W.G. Sebald, also known as the author of The Rings of Saturn, a paean to the Suffolk landscape. The programme also includes Schumann’s Liederkreis and Dichterliebe (9 June, 2.30pm, Britten Studio).
Pianist Steven Osborne performs the last two of Schubert’s sonatas which the composer wrote in the final months of his life alongside three miniatures by fellow Scot Judith Weir (16 June, 11am, Snape Maltings Concert Hall).
Pianist Rolf Hind performs a captivating sequence of piano works which embraces musical influences from around the world including his own composition Bhutani, Ravel, Messiaen, Debussy, Judith Weir, Unsuk Chin and Koechlin (20 June, 11am, Britten Studio).
Pianist Kathryn Stott begins her final tour as a professional performer at the Aldeburgh Festival. The breadth and artistry of Stott’s playing has been a significant part of the musical landscape for four decades. The programme includes the world premiere of a piece by Graham Fitkin – the tenth that she will have given! The rest is her personal choice of music, such as by Fauré (who died 100 years ago, in 1924), and drawing on pieces from Argentina, Australia and Norway among others (21 June, 3pm, Britten Studio).
A Festival favourite through the decades, Schubert’s Winterreise is performed by mezzo-soprano Alice Coote and pianist Christian Blackshaw (23 June, 11am, Snape Maltings Concert Hall).
New Music
23 world premieres (of which 10 are Britten Pears Arts co-commissions) and 3 UK premieres.
A continued commitment to new music at the Aldeburgh Festival is a recognition of the high quality of current compositional talent, particularly in the UK.
‘Made in Snape’ is a strand of new music created on residencies at Snape Maltings by a wide range of pioneering contemporary artists. Saxophonist Xhosa Cole joins forces first with Mark Sanders to create a one-off collaboration between saxophone, drums and sea (15 June, 3.30pm, Aldeburgh Sea Front) and second with sound artist Jason Singh in a workshop and ramble alongside the wildlife and nature surrounding Snape (16 June, 8.30am, Snape Maltings). Composer and performer Emily Levy and writer and director Mella Faye lead a world class ensemble of musicians, actors, dancers and visual artists in a moving and intimate portrayal of love, grief and human connection (16 June, 3pm). Electronic music producer Holy Other premieres new live multidisciplinary work, following a year of exploration and careful crafting during residencies at Britten Pears Arts and FACT Liverpool (16 June, 7.30pm, Britten Studio). Composer and pianist Tom Rogerson performs his new work with viola de gamba player Liam Byrne and cellist Clare O’Connell. Early music meets modern ambience in a performance that reimagines centuries-old musical elements into a new contemporary context (16 June, 9.30pm, Snape Maltings Concert Hall).
The Red House
The Composer’s Place: Britten, the Festival and his Suffolk home:
An exhibition exploring Britten and Pears’ lives in Aldeburgh and how this coastal town inspired them to establish the Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts.
In 1942, Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears returned to the UK, and specifically Suffolk, after their three-year stay in America. They moved first to Britten’s home in Snape and then, in 1947, moved to Crag House in Aldeburgh with its uninterrupted views of the sea. A year later the Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts was born, and it celebrates its 75th Festival in 2024.
This exhibition explores the importance of this part of the Suffolk cost to the Aldeburgh Festival’s founders and how the Festival grew into an event of international excellence which has always remained true to its roots (From 28 March, The Red House).
Visual Art
Pears and Colour: A group exhibition of works from the Britten Pears Art Collection exploring a joyful crux of Peter Pears’ collecting interests: primary colour. Artists include John Craxton, Duncan Grant, John Piper, Christian Rohlfs and Philip Sutton (28 March – 3 November, Kitchen Gallery, The Red House, Aldeburgh).
Cerith Wyn Evans: Britten Pears Arts presents a special Aldeburgh Festival Commission in the Sculpture Park from renowned conceptual artist Cerith Wyn Evans. For this neon installation, Wyn Evans takes inspiration from Japanese Noh theatre and a culture with which he has long been in love (27 April – 23 June, Dovecote Studio, Snape Maltings).
Beryl & Pam is a series of two-person exhibitions. This collaborative showcase features pioneering artist Maggi Hambling and radical ceramicist Karen Densham. This new series aims to foster a dialogue between two female-identifying/women artists and their respective bodies of work (27 April – 24 June, Winch Gallery, Snape Maltings).
Keith Grant: An exhibition exploring Britten and Pears’ friendship with Keith Grant which began in 1967, incorporating the works they owned by the artist. Now in his 90s, Grant is one of a few remaining living artists represented in Britten and Pears’ original art collection. The artworks and documentation in this exhibition are usually housed at The Red House. This exhibition marks the first in a series bringing elements of the collection to Snape Maltings (1 – 23 June, The Pond Gallery, Snape Maltings).
Conflagration: Jelly Green and Lily Hunter Green present paintings and a sound installation documenting ‘the fierce forces that are unleashed when the planet’s forests are pushed over the edge’ (11 May – 23 June, Building 7, Snape Maltings).
Tessa Newcomb: I Like Going to Bed Thinking About My Paintings: A collection of new work by one of Suffolk’s foremost painters, Tessa Newcomb, featuring memorable moments captured at The Red House and at Snape Maltings (25 May – 24 June, Maltings Gallery, Snape Maltings).
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 once again broadcasts from Aldeburgh Festival, bringing the magic to listeners at home.
Highlights include Alban Gerhardt and Steven Osborne’s recreation of a seminal moment in Aldeburgh Festival history: the June 1961 recital with Britten and Rostropovich which saw the world premiere of Britten’s Cello Sonata ; Britten Sinfonia’s recreation of the first ever Aldeburgh Festival concert which took place on 5 June 1948; Steven Osborne’s recital featuring works by Schubert and Judith Weir ; the BBC Singers and the Castalian Quartet ; both concerts with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Ryan Wigglesworth and the Kanneh Masons and Friends performing Schubert’s ‘Trout’ Quintet.