Britten Pears Arts announces Summer of Snape programme

Britten Pears Arts has announced its upcoming Summer at Snape, which is set to feature over 50 events at Snape Maltings Concert Hall and The Red House. The season will embrace a broad range of musical repertoire as well as offering activity-based workshops for young people and adults.

Tickets are available from 18 May for the festival, which kicks off on 26 July with conductor John Wilson’s Sinfonia of London presenting Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra and Charlie Lovell-Jones’ performing Walton’s Violin Concerto. In addition to ensembles and visiting artists and soloists, the programme will also include classicist Mary Beard exploring women’s stories alongside soprano Nardus Williams and lutenist Elizabeth Kenny, as well as performances from West African kora player Sona Jobarteh and family concerts with the London Mozart Players, Apollo 5

Britten Pears Arts chief executive Roger Wright said: ‘Our aim with Summer at Snape is to welcome visitors and audiences, regular and first timers, to our two sites and let music and the arts transform lives and bring people and communities together. Our summer programme has always had a wide range of activity and musical styles – this year more than ever.’

At the Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Simon Over leads Southbank Sinfonia and soloist Karen Kuronuma in a programme including Brahms’ Second Symphony and Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto. The venue will also feature Peter Whelan directing the Irish Baroque Orchestra in a programme of Baroque classics, while the London Symphony Orchestra and its chief conductor Antonio Pappano team up with violinist Vilde Frang to perform a programme of Elgar and Sibelius. The BBC Concert Orchestra makes its return to Snape Maltings for a special recording of BBC Radio 3’s Friday Night is Music Night presented by Katie Derham.

Summer at Snape also welcomes visiting artists including violinist Alina Ibragimova and pianist Cédric Tiberghien for a recital of Beethoven, Janáček, Enescu, and Barry, while classical guitarist Miloš Karadaglić performs works arranged for solo guitar. The season will also see Leeds International Piano Competition winner and BBC New Generation Artist Alim Beisembayev perform Schubert, Debussy, and Chopin and 2021 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Song Prize winner Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha join forces with pianist Simon Lepper to perform Mahler and Wagner alongside South African songs. The season closes with Sir Stephen Hough’s piano recital of romantic music by Liszt, Chopin and Chaminade.

Snape Maltings Concert Hall will see United Strings of Europe and its artistic director Julian Azkoul join percussionist Beibei Wang for a performance based on their new album Through the Night, which features music spanning nearly 500 years, including the world premiere recording of Daniel Kidane’s Be Still.

To showcase the culture of Suffolk, where the arts and heritage charity Britten Pears Arts is based, the season will include local choirs, music groups and storytellers presenting music and stories from the local community. For younger audiences the season will feature the London Mozart Players’s Stan and Mabel series for children aged 3 and above, plus a range of concerts and interactive workshops such as Apollo5’s Family Come & Sing. Vocalists and instrumentalists from the Aldeburgh Young Musicians (AYM) programme will close their 5-day residency with a performance telling the story of The Pirates of Thorpeness Bay through West End hits, under the guidance of West End professionals Christopher Augustine, Becca Toft, Emma Bassett, and Jonny Gibson.

Wright said: ‘Our summer programme has always had a wide range of activity and musical styles – this year more than ever… We hope it is a programme filled with exciting opportunities for you to take part and to enjoy what’s on offer.’