Concerts will be resuming at the world famous Snape Maltings Concert Hall from the end of May marking the start of ‘Summer at Snape’.
Britten Pears Arts will be returning to live music-making with audiences indoors at Snape Maltings from Friday May 21, subject to the rollout of the government’s roadmap.
The first event sees the return of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Pianist, conductor and composer Ryan Wigglesworth will direct Mozart from the piano and conducts a programme featuring his own work alongside music by Julian Anderson and Britten. There will be two concerts at 4pm and 7pm and the latter will be broadcast that evening on BBC Radio 3.
These concerts will be given in memory of the pianist and conductor Steuart Bedford, who died in February this year and was an artistic director of the Aldeburgh Festival from 1974 - 1998.
In May, June and July, Britten Pears Arts will again be offering short concerts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday - usually with two performances a day - and bringing together musicians who would have performed at last year’s Aldeburgh Festival and Snape Proms, in addition to other star performers.
In August Snape Maltings Concert Hall will host daily performances in the spirit of the Snape Proms from outstanding artists and ensembles from the worlds of classical music, folk and jazz, while in July and August there will be free outdoor performances as well.
On Saturday May 22, mezzo soprano Dame Sarah Connolly and pianist Joseph Middleton will perform a recital featuring music by Brahms, Mahler, Bridge and Tippett at 7pm.
On Sunday May 23, award-winning pianist Nicholas McCarthy will be showcasing the dynamic world of left-hand repertoire, including pieces by Bach, Bartók, Scriabin, Strauss, and Julie Cooper. McCarthy was born without his right hand and is currently the world’s only one-handed concert pianist. he showcases
May 28-30: Folk Weekend
On Friday May 28, there will be a showcase for East Anglian folk talent with a folk double bill from Alden and Patterson & The Shackleton Trio. They will perform as a duo, trio and then together as a five piece at 6pm and 8.30pm and will feature a mixture of their own material and traditional folk standards.
Three-time winners of the BBC Folk Awards, The Young ‘Uns are three male folk singers from the North of England performing folk songs with heart and humour. On Saturday May 29 they will perform two shows at 3pm and 7pm.
Honey & the Bear are a Suffolk based folk and roots vocal and multi-instrumental duo that combine delicately interweaving vocal harmonies with emotive and evocative song writing. On Sunday May 30 Honey & the Bear perform two shows at 3pm and 7pm.
At 1.30pm and 5pm the same day, Britten’s arrangement of English folk songs for voice and piano are performed by Britten Pears Young artists, soprano Milly Forrest and tenor Laurence Kilsby, with pianist and Britten expert Roger Vignoles. They are joined by Maz O’Connor, described by The Guardian as ‘one of folk’s brightest young talents’, who will sing her own versions of the original folk melodies.
Finally, on Bank Holiday Monday, May 31, Michael Tilson Thomas will conduct the London Symphony Orchestra in a programme featuring Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 2 and Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Yuja Wang as soloist, making her Snape debut.
Meanwhile, in Aldeburgh, Britten and Pears’ home, The Red House reopens on May 20. The house, including the library, composing studio and gallery spaces, will open for visitors along with a new pop-up outdoor garden café. Open Thursdays to Sundays from May 20, 11am – 4pm.
Tickets for the May concerts and admission to The Red House will go on sale on Saturday May 1 at 10am. Full listings and tickets available online or by telephoning 01728 687110.
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