I've raised £100000 to erect a statue of Benjamin Britten as a boy on the seafront in Lowestoft, Suffolk.
Organised by Britten as a Boy Statue
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TOTAL RAISED SO FAR IS £30,336.23
(plus ongoing total - top right of this page)
Periodically we withdraw funds to meet each stage of our campaign. Work has now started in earnest on creating the finished statue but we still have to raise another £65,000. Please help us!
Lowestoft is to honour its most famous son, Benjamin Britten, with a statue of the composer as a boy, overlooking the sea which inspired his music.
A team of passionate locals are leading a community project to erect a statue of the young composer on the seafront opposite the house in which he was born, to inspire future generations of the town’s children.
BENJAMIN BRITTEN - Benjamin Britten is Lowestoft’s most accomplished son. Born in 1913, he showed musical talent at an early age and went on to become a central figure of 20th-century British music as an outstanding composer, conductor, and pianist. His best-known works include the opera Peter Grimes (1945), the War Requiem (1962) and the orchestral showpiece The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra (1945). With his professional and personal partner, the tenor Peter Pears, he founded the Aldeburgh Festival. He was made a Freeman of Lowestoft in 1951, awarded the Order of Merit by Her Majesty the The Queen in 1965 and was the first musician to be elevated to the peerage as Baron Britten in 1976, just six months before he died.
ABOUT THE SCULPTOR — IAN RANK BROADLEY His effigy of HM Queen Elizabeth II has appeared on all UK and Commonwealth coinage since 1998 and his figures surround one of the most important war memorials since WWII, the Armed Forces Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. His statue of Diana, Princess of Wales, commissioned by the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex, was installed in the gardens at Kensington Palace on what would have been her 60th birthday.
NOTABLE SUPPORTERS — full list at www.brittenasaboy.com/supporters Dame Janet Baker, Sir Thomas Allen, Lord Fellowes, The Countess of Euston, Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk
Rather than the adult Britten at the height of his powers, we choose to celebrate him as the Lowestoft boy who went on to achieve great things. We hope this beautiful statue will inspire future generations of Lowestoft children to gaze out to the horizon and dream big.” - Zeb Soanes, Broadcaster (Classic FM) and children's author
The Britten as a Boy statue committee have engaged the UK’s foremost sculptor in bronze, Ian Rank Broadley. He said,
“The genius of Britten appeared in childhood. A statue of him as a boy in Lowestoft can inspire generations of children to follow their dreams. Bronze is for eternity, Britten deserves no less.”
We believe this is the first time a public figure has been commemorated as a child. Local artist and teacher, Ruth Wharrier said,
“This statue will be a gift to generations of children. It will inspire and encourage them to have confidence in their own abilities and help them to achieve their dreams.”
Peter Aldous, MP for Waveney said,
“A statue of Britten as a Boy, close to where he was born and grew up, would be a fitting tribute to one of the 20th Century’s most prominent musical figures. It would also be an important landmark from which both local people and visitors to Lowestoft can draw inspiration and it would showcase Benjamin Britten’s close bond with the North Sea.”
Adnams Plc have generously distilled a special limited edition Britten whisky to launch fund raising for the statue, which will be bottled in May and sold through their website. Fergus Fitzgerald, Head of Production for Adnams, who lives in Lowestoft, said,
“For children growing up in Lowestoft, the statue should serve as a reminder that Britten was someone who walked the same streets as they did and braced into the same winds and went on to do something extraordinary. I hope that Britten as a Boy can inspire a new generation to believe they can achieve whatever they want to.”
The statue has been welcomed by East Suffolk Council, Kirkley People’s Forum and the family of Benjamin Britten. Britten's Great Nieces, Tamara and Sophie our our project patrons.
To follow the project and add your support please visit www.brittenasaboy.com
STATUE COMMITTEE Phil Aves, Kim Boundy, Fergus Fitzgerald, Matt Grafton, Zeb Soanes, Elizabeth Talbot, Ruth Wharrier, Fraser Wilson, Prof. Justin Vickers.
