Page 30 - Aldeburgh Festival 2022 FINAL COVERAGE BOOK

“This is all true of the vision Britten and Pears had,” says Wright. “They would not
have known that our society would have such a challenge with dementia, or would
have expected the socio-economic deprivation of our region. But what they did know
and work with was the unique power of music to connect people. The vision they
had for a music site that is locally rooted, but has a national and international
impact, is absolutely where we are now. “

Nicola Benedetti will perform at next year’s festival © Getty Images

This is also true for the development of the campus. “Nowadays, a program for
young artists is not that unusual, but 50 years ago it was very innovative,” he says.
“I wonder if seeing Tanglewood [the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s summer home]
in the 1940s made a lasting impression on Britten. There are photos of him and
Pears looking at a model of a refitted Snape Maltings before he even acquired some
of the additional buildings. A 1970 master plan looks suspiciously similar to how the
site has developed since.

The result is that Britten Pears Arts has become an important force in the local
economy. About 150-200 people work there, mostly in retail, food service and
charity, and a much larger impact comes from tourism. The aim is to raise £ 2million
per year through fundraising, more than what is received from the Arts Council, and
this is a challenge for the people of the Suffolk Coast.

Wright says he saw the importance of engaging with the community when he was
artistic administrator of the Cleveland Orchestra. “It’s as unlikely to have an
orchestra of this quality in a place like Cleveland as it is to have a festival like
Aldeburgh on the Suffolk coast,” he says. “What they share is an audience and a set