Benjamin Britten Britten was a celebrated pianist and conductor, performing many of his own works in concert and on record. He also performed and recorded works by others, such as Bach's "Brandenburg concertos", Mozart symphonies, and song cycles by Schubert and Schumann. Together with Pears and the librettist and producer Eric Crozier, Britten founded the annual Aldeburgh Festival in 1948, and he was responsible for the creation of Snape Maltings concert hall in 1967. In his last year, he was the first composer to be given a life peerage. Britten was born in the fishing port of Lowestoft in Suffolk, on the
Shifnal Festival Shifnal Festival The Shifnal Festival was an annual Music, Arts and Culture Festival held in the market town of Shifnal, Shropshire. Little is known about the origins of the festival. A book published in 1904 by Harold Sadler suggests the festival was a local event held in the grounds of Aston Hall to the east of the town. Aston Hall was at the time owned by Colonel McClean. Sadler's book marks the festival as being The Hadley Orpheus Choir's first competitive success. Research carried out as part of the Shifnal Town Plan in 2008 suggested residents of the town were