Page 26 - Aldeburgh Festival 2022 FINAL COVERAGE BOOK

15 December 2021

MUSIC FESTIVAL
Aldeburgh festival broadens horizons

with first records scheduled for 2022

By Gary V. Crabtree

Set aside current trials and tribulations. Some music festivals are not just trying to
keep going, but making plans for a better and bigger future. Having proven to be
one of the most determined to stay active over the past 18 months, the Aldeburgh
Festival, co-founded by composer Benjamin Britten and tenor Peter Pears, his
partner, today announces a 2022 festival. who aims high.

It promises to be a busy year. Queen Elizabeth will celebrate her 70th birthday on
the throne with a Platinum Jubilee Festival June 2-5, which coincides with the
festival’s opening weekend. It’s also the 50th anniversary of the Britten Pears Young
Artist Program, now extended to projects and events throughout the year, and a day
of concerts will mark what would have been the 70th birthday of the composer and
former artistic director of Aldeburgh, Oliver Knussen.

“With these birthdays and everything in between, we felt the program could get very
crowded,” said Roger Wright, CEO of Britten Pears Arts, which runs the festival. “So
next year’s festival will last three weeks instead of two, as was the case for a short
period in the late 1960s.”