Aldeburgh to shore tragically without him. The sculpture is controversial in the local area, with some local residents considering it spoiling the beach. It has been vandalised with graffiti and paint on 13 occasions. There have been petitions for its removal and for its retention. A nearby aerodrome "Royal Naval Air Station Aldeburgh" was used during the First World War as a Night Landing Ground and for the training of observers. Outside the town, the Snape Maltings is the venue for the Aldeburgh Festival held every June. Aldeburgh Music Club was founded by Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears in 1952. The
Britten-Pears Orchestra of around 124 young musicians came to Suffolk to train and perform both in the Concert Hall in Snape and as part of the BBC Promenade Concert season at the Royal Albert Hall, as well as on a short European tour. In 2012, Aldeburgh Strings was created to perform under the baton of Markus Däurnet at the 2012 Britten Weekend, when the programme included Britten’s "Prelude and Fugue", "Lachrymae" and "In memoriam Dennis Brain". Britten-Pears Orchestra The Britten-Pears Orchestra, formerly The Snape Maltings Training Orchestra, is the youth orchestra of the Britten-Pears Young Artists Programme at Snape Maltings, run by