Good news for Britten Sinfonia whose community-infused playlist concerts get a financial boost for a run in late 2026.
It’s been quite the year for Britten Sinfonia. Oleg Shebeta-Dragan playing Copland’s Clarinet Concerto with them at Norfolk and Norwich Festival, Esfahani’s Bach Keyboard Concertos on Hyperion (a refreshing must-listen from beginning to end), their stint performing to patients at Norfolk and Norwich Festival, and now the news they’ve secured a National Lottery Touring Fund grant from Arts Council England for their Surround Sound concerts running in October and November this year.
On paper these out-of-town settle-yourself-down-on-a-yoga-mat and listen aren’t easy things to write about in a preview (especially when your previous copy looks like gushing on a re-read). But the quotes from those who have benefitted from the extra access bear the thinking out. It remains a crying shame that few trumpet (pun intended) Britten Sinfonia’s considerable solid turnaround since the shock of their 2023 ACE funding cut. Where has the indignation expressed by so many back then, gone?
Everyone likes an underdog. Indeed, it’s de rigeur for us lot living on an island subject to all manner of buffeting winds, trends, and agendas. Britten Sinfonia are the plucky outliers. The playing is razor sharp (see the Hyperion release referenced earlier), the programming caters for the audience in Britten Sinfonia’s catchment area, and they understand what the most vulnerable of their beneficiaries need.
Surround Sound is a bittersweet thing. Remembering walking into the event at Chelmsford, I recall getting a call from a family member talking about legal procedures needing to be executed for an ageing relative. Floor lights, yoga mats, and wine from a can are now potent sensory reminders of the beginning of an even more challenging time than what had gone before. As playlist concerts go, Britten Sinfonia really know how to trigger and soothe them at the same time.
Britten Sinfonia’s Surround Sound tour runs from 27th October until 27th November 2026.
Canterbury Cathedral – Tuesday 27 October 2026 (Canterbury Festival)
Ely Cathedral – Wednesday 28 October 2026
Norwich Cathedral – Friday 20 November 2026
Peterborough Cathedral – Wednesday 25 November 2026
Lincoln Cathedral – Friday 27 November 2026
