Page 31 - Aldeburgh Festival 2022 FINAL COVERAGE BOOK

of supporters who have [a powerful] sense of ownership, and it will pay off in all
kinds of ways. If the alternative is indifference, you are dead in the water.

Vivi Vassileva will perform Gregor A Mayrhofer’s ‘Recycling Concerto’ on instruments
made from recycled waste

As a result of this could be closer cooperation with the United States. The Ojai Music
Festival in California runs closely parallel to Aldeburgh and the two have shared
projects in the past. Wright favors such a collaboration “if festivals in general can be
less valuable in knowing who gets what first”.

A cloud on the horizon is Britten’s music coming out of copyright in 2047. A taste
came during the lockdown, when £ 1million in performance royalties was lost
overnight.

Wright says Aldeburgh knows he can’t delay thinking until 2045. One possible
answer is to develop the last third of the derelict Snape Maltings site, likely for
student and tutor housing. . “It would be a throwback to Britten and Pears’ vision for
a creative campus. It’s in our sights, but it represents a huge investment project.

In the meantime, all eyes are on the 2022 festival. The Queen’s jubilee will be
marked by the music of her coronation year, such as the sequel to Britten’s
opera Gloriana. A highlight of the homage to Knussen will be the premiere of his
unfinished orchestral work Cleveland Pictures. A series of works on climate change
includes the intriguing work of Gregor A Mayrhofer Recycling Concerto, featuring
hundreds of rubbish reshaped in percussion. As Wright says, “No stillness. “

Aldeburgh Festival 2022, from June 3 to 26, brittenpearsarts.org