Page 36 - Aldeburgh Festival 2022 FINAL COVERAGE BOOK

Expansion has been driven by the acquisition of the whole site at Snape Maltings,
which has raised the profile of the year-round work. This includes high-profile

masterclasses and Aldeburgh Young Musicians, but much else besides —
community work in creative health, such as for patients with dementia and

Parkinson’s disease, and in criminal justice in local prisons.

“This is all true to the vision Britten and Pears had,” says Wright. “They would not
have known that our society would have such a challenge with dementia, or have

expected the socio-economic deprivation in our area. But what they did know, and

worked with, was music’s unique power to connect people. The vision they had for a
site for music that is rooted locally, but makes a national and international impact, is

absolutely where we are now.”

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

That is equally true for the development of the campus. “These days a young artists
programme is not such an unusual thing, 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 pictures of him
and Pears looking at a model of a redeveloped Snape Maltings even before they had