Continuing the legacy of Benjamin Britten, who encouraged the breaking down of boundaries between the amateur and professional, Aldeburgh Education has inspired over fifty years of performances and events involving the local community.

Aldeburgh Education works on a huge variety of innovative, original and inspiring projects all year round. It works with schools and juvenile offenders as well as with young developing artists and musicians. The work of the Education department enables professional composers, performers and artists of all creative disciplines to work within the community. The work increasingly uses new technology and includes the creation of an online virtual arts centre known as TAG (The Aldeburgh Gateway).  

The work of Aldeburgh education can be divided into numerous strands, some of which are described below:  

Prison projects

Now into its fifth year, extensive and groundbreaking project using the arts and technology that takes place at Her Majesty’s Prison and Young Offenders Institute Warren Hill. Aldeburgh Education’s nationally recognised work and models have inspired several other communities to adopt a similar approach.

TAG - The Aldeburgh Gateway

Aldeburgh Education’s virtual arts centre, known as TAG, has brought together communities across the UK and Europe through online commissions, resources and specific exchange projects. For example, A Cultural Mirror (2004) enabled pupils to compare and celebrate the diversities of many cultures and communities of rural life in Suffolk with urban, inner-city living in Tower Hamlets, London.

Schools

In addition, Aldeburgh Education works extensively with schools across East Anglia, playing host to more than seventy schools each year through various projects. These include Discover Snape Days and A Celebration of Schools’ Music, repertoire-focussed study days, commissions and special projects.

Education & the Community

The East Coast Beach Symphony (June 2004) launched Aldeburgh Education’s research and commitment to continued development of links with the local community and across Suffolk, building working relationships through innovative projects and a variety of groups.