Sir John Rutter to unveil statue on Monday 10th November

It gives us enormous joy to finally announce the date of the unveiling.

The message at the heart of the Britten as a Boy campaign has always been one of inspiring future generations of local children to dream BIG.  It is therefore entirely appropriate that our statue of the young Benjamin Britten will be unveiled by Sir John Rutter, who, as a member of his school choir, was conducted by Benjamin Britten in the iconic 1963 recording of the War Requiem and was greatly inspired by the encounter. Sir John, who turned 80 this year, is one of Britain's best-loved composers.

Sir John Rutter CBE

The statue will be unveiled on Monday 10th November at 2pm in Kitchener’s Garden also known as the Twinning Gardens, close to Lowestoft’s Claremont Pier (with car park.) You can access the statue site from Kirkley Cliff Road or the Promenade.

Statue Location.

Postcode: NR33 0BY

Co-ordinates: 52°27'54.4"N 1°44'40.2"E

Google Plus code: FP8V+2QX Lowestoft

What3words: ///trails.stamp.feels

 

Unveiling Britten with song.

The ceremony will include the formal process of gifting the statue from the Britten as a Boy Statue Committee to East Suffolk Council for the children of the town. 

This will be followed by the premiere of a commemorative song, ‘What Bliss is Home’, with music by Suffolk composer Ben Parry (former director of the National Youth Choir) and lyrics by Zeb Soanes. The song’s title is taken from a diary entry made by Britten at the age of 15, expressing his deep affection for his hometown of Lowestoft and it will be sung by local schoolchildren.

You can freely download the words and sheet music for ‘What Bliss is Home’ from our website and listen to a recording which will shortly be available on all music streaming platforms.