Britten Pears Arts is thrilled to announce that it will host live music-making again in Snape Maltings Concert Hall from Friday 21 August, following the latest government announcement, becoming one of the first venues in the UK to return to regular concerts for a live audience.
Bringing together some of the musicians who would have performed during this year’s Aldeburgh Festival and Snape Proms, in addition to other star performers, Britten Pears Arts will be offering short concerts every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There will be two performances per day (2pm & 7pm), as well as some free informal pop-up outdoor performances by local musicians throughout the summer.
The first weekend (21 – 23 Aug) will feature Chineke! Chamber Ensemble performing a programme of works by Florence B. Price and Schubert (21 Aug); Violin Sonatas by Brahms and Franck from violinist Tasmin Little and pianist Martin Roscoe (22 Aug); a cello and a piano recital by Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason with repertoire by Beethoven, Bridge and Rachmaninov (23 Aug). Tickets for the first weekend go on sale on Saturday 15 August at 10am.
The second weekend will welcome songs and stories from singer and entertainer Joe Stilgoe (28 Aug); the London Philharmonic Orchestra stringsconducted by Edward Gardner performing works by Tippett and Thomas Adès, as well as Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, horn and strings with soloists Toby Spence and John Ryan (29 Aug) and accordionist Samuele Telari performing JS Bach’s Goldberg Variations (30 Aug). The ticket on sale date will be announced soon.
The programme beyond August will be revealed later in the month and will feature a broad range of music, with artists including saxophonist Jess Gillam, pianists Clare Hammond and Julian Joseph, folk musicians Kathryn Tickell and Amy Thatcher, and the Elias Quartet. There will also be opportunities for young musicians to perform, as part of Britten Pears Arts year-round programme of support and development.
To give as many people as possible the opportunity to enjoy the return of live music at Snape Maltings, Britten Pears Arts is offering an innovative ticket approach for its afternoon concerts. Every 2pm performance across the weekends will be ‘Pay What You Can’, so that audiences can hear 45 minutes of high-quality live music at a price they feel they can afford. All evening performances will be priced at £15 per ticket.
Roger Wright, Chief Executive, Britten Pears Arts said, ‘The impact of the pandemic continues to be enormously challenging for the performing arts sector. We have all greatly missed the thrill of live music-making and can’t wait to welcome musicians and audiences back to Snape Maltings Concert Hall. With the current guidelines and with safety as our top priority, we are fortunate that you have to drive, cycle or walk to Snape and, once here, that we have a large amount of space and fresh air, making it relatively straightforward to offer the necessary distance for the public. We hope to see old friends and make new ones through our ‘Pay What You Can’ afternoon performance offer. As one of the first music venues and organisations to pilot a return to indoor concerts, we are aiming to help build confidence again in the presentation of live events and will share our learnings with colleagues in the music sector.’
The safety of Britten Pears Arts’ audience, artists and staff is its top priority, and this may mean that line-ups, capacity and pricing may change at short notice.
Full listings and tickets for the first weekend online at www.snapemaltings.co.uk |Tel: 01728 687110]