The Red House, Aldeburgh was the home of the Suffolk composer, Benjamin Britten and his partner, the tenor Peter Pears. Visitors can explore The Red House, visit Britten’s library, studio, an extensive museum and exhibition space as well as 5 acres of gardens. We are pleased to confirm that on 31 March 2020 The Red House (The Britten-Pears Foundation) and Snape Maltings merged to create a new organisation called Britten Pears Arts.

Britten-Pears Arts maintains one of the UK’s most important centres for music and artistic research and was established to promote the musical legacy of Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears.

We are proud of our education and learning achievements over the past two years and have made huge developments in reaching and engaging all audiences, forming strong relationships with our local communities. Classical music is not traditionally seen as family friendly or accessible. However, The Red House have transformed our offer to inspire a more diverse audience. This includes adults, schools, and families.  In doing so, we have moved from a site with limited interaction with families, to one which welcomes and engages with all groups.   Our interaction with schools and young people has more than tripled over this period, with a wide variety of activities for schools, families, and children from ages 0-18.

We have an extensive programme for schools and have won awards for our educational and learning offer. All school sessions have been developed with input from teachers and local schools and all work to link the story of Benjamin Britten and music, to all areas of the curriculum. More information can be found at

https://brittenpears.org/visit/school-visits/

Lockdown has given us a challenge to maintain and strengthen these relationships. It has resulted in the solidification of a number of these relationships with local communities, schools and other organisations.

The Education Skills Sharing Session will cover the following questions/topics:

  • How can we reach and engage our isolated communities both in and out of lock-down.?
  • How can we listen to vulnerable communities during this time?
  • Has lock down resulted in the emergence or any new partnerships or opportunities?
  • How have we maintained our close relationships with schools during lock down?
  • What activities are you doing to increase access during lockdown?
  • How can you engaged 13-18 year olds in your museum, now and in the future?

Join in from 15:00-17:00 on the @gem_heritage Twitter account!