Page 638 - Aldeburgh Festival 2022 FINAL COVERAGE BOOK

IMAGE SOURCE,MICK HOWES/ Image caption, Almost £100,000 is needed to be raised for the
sculpture of the composer, said the group behind the project

Britten, who died in 1976, was born at what is now a guesthouse at 21 Kirkley Cliff
Road on 22 November 1913 and the statue will be placed near that address.
Mr Soanes said the Britten as a Boy project wanted the statue to not only
commemorate the "town's greatest son" but also to "inspire the town's children to
achieve their ambitions".

He said they decided the statue should represent him as a 14-year-old boy as that
was when his mother took him to the Norwich and Norfolk Festival and introduced
him to the composer Frank Bridge who "spotted Britten's talent and encouraged
him".

"We thought that was the perfect moment to capture Britten, just when his life was
about to change," said Mr Soanes.

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A maquette of the statue was unveiled on Saturday and will be on display at
the First Light Festival in Lowestoft in June.
Mr Soanes said the actual statue would be 9ft (2.7m) and would be a life-sized figure
of Britten as a boy, sitting on top of a wooden groyne.
He said the fundraising team had given themselves a year to raise the £99,000
needed.