A unique partnership between Mid Suffolk District Council and Britain’s most renowned contemporary chamber orchestra, the London Sinfonietta, will see musicians coming to Stowmarket in May for concerts at the Museum of East Anglian Life and lead music workshops with nine Mid Suffolk schools.

Composer Fraser Trainer and poet Dean Parkin will be visiting the Museum, alongside school groups, to discover more about Mid Suffolk’s history and changing heritage. Taster workshops with world-class London Sinfonietta musicians will also be taking place at Blackthorpe Barn and Haughley Barn for smaller rural schools to attend.  The orchestral residency will end with two celebratory concerts on Sunday 30 May, at 2pm and 4pm, in the Great Barn at the Museum of East Anglian Life, Stowmarket.  Prices will be £6.50 for adults, £5.50 for concessions and £3.50 for children under 16. Price includes entry to the Museum and one of the concerts.

Zoey Furzer, Arts Officer for Mid Suffolk District Council said: “This is a great opportunity for children to work with musicians with international renown and bring first-class performers into Stowmarket. We’re really excited about giving children and young people the opportunity to perform in front of their friends and families and to create new work which will be inspired by their local town”

This work is featured as part of a 2-year county-wide project called Surf and Turf. It began last year by surfing the coast with public events in Felixstowe and Shotley, and will move on to the turf of Newmarket in September later this year.

People can follow the Surf and Turf website, hear the work and contribute to memories for the ‘I remember’ postcards at http://www.surfandturf.org.uk or pick up a postcard from the Stowmarket Tourist Information Centre or Stowmarket Library.

The ‘I remember’ postcard has been specifically commissioned for this project by artist Rachel Latimore, and depicts images of Stowmarket over the years.