Sam Moss, Community Impact Coordinator - East, on our approach to creating new programmes of work in rural Suffolk communities experiencing place-based isolation

Since 2024, I have taken a central role in the planning and production of two projects delivered by Britten Sinfonia: Musical Memories, A Place for Music, and the legacy project Musical Journeys, managed by Suffolk-based arts organisation Cohere Arts.

These projects were supported by Mid Suffolk District Council, who had identified rural loneliness and isolation as a growing concern, particularly among older residents and people living with dementia. They wanted to look at providing meaningful, enjoyable musical activity for older people in both community and care settings.

Rural loneliness and connection

Mid Suffolk District is a predominantly rural area, with three market towns and multiple village communities. Over a third of the population is retired. Rural public transport is very limited, so access to activity outside of a hyper-local area is only available to those with cars. There is also a high cost of coaches to access curriculum-enhancing activity in larger towns, which proves preventative for small rural schools. All of this contributes to a lack of access to musical activities, and fewer opportunities for shared experiences.

Our earlier projects in the district gave us a strong understanding of these local challenges. When our relationship with the District Council was re-established in 2023, we wanted to build on our previous work with older people and extend it more widely within rural communities to open up access to orchestral music and creative activities.

The Birth of Musical Bridges

Having heard about the issue of rural isolation and loneliness through our previous project work, we were keen to enable further connectivity between residents, particularly across the generations. A Place for Music had an inter-generational aspect and we felt this was really important to continue this within the small, rural communities around the arts venues.

So, in November 2025, I started researching arts and wellbeing organisations and groups in three key locations to see how we could make this project idea a reality. This research highlighted the more rural north of the district, as needing support. Alongside this, I scoured the Council’s Culture Policy and contacted local councillors to gauge their interest and potential support, as well as organisations holding a broad oversight of arts in rural areas.

Through this, I identified two small arts venues: The Bank Arts Centre, in the market town of Eye and Wingfield Barns in a rural village. Both venues have a performance programme, offer a selection of arts workshops and gather local social groups; they are seeking to become more established and to extend their audiences. We saw the opportunity to support the venues with their priorities, where they lacked capacity and funds, to develop their participative offer and programme orchestral music.

On the back of this, I had conversations with the leaders of a range of arts and social groups based in the area, including a Rural Coffee Caravan, community choir, high school music lead and primary school trust – all now part of Musical Bridges. After receiving many enthusiastic responses, the project plan and priorities were shaped by all this information and ongoing conversations.

The project comes to life

Musical Bridges exists to bring local people together; children, families, adults and older residents, through shared creative experiences, shaped by them and rooted in the realities of rural daily life.

In previous projects in the region we had settled on a pattern of an introductory concert, co-creation workshops and a culminating concert to celebrate the new compositions created in the workshops by participants.

For Musical Bridges, we decided that the initial concert should act as the inspiration for the following workshops. Also, that the concert programme themes should be shaped by local residents not the musicians. I visited a Rural Coffee Caravan morning and Village Voices Community Choir AGM to consult with those gathered. I discovered that the pace of village life, being within nature, aware of the passing seasons, the wildlife, especially birdsong, was greatly significant for people’s sense of calm and enjoyment of life.

This was shared with the project team, who came up with an eclectic and vibrant programme for the initial concert, everything from Haydn’s String quartet, nicknamed The Lark, to the Beatles Here Comes the Sun; to a folk tune by Suffolk composer Benjamin Britten to Faure’s Pavane – a dance of Tudor days linking to local history.

The workshops provide inter-generational connection facilitated through musical activity. This includes fun musical explorations with pre-school children and their family carers, who then enjoy refreshments with the adult group, before the adults gather to work with music leader, Sam Glazer, on song composition. Their final composition will be performed with Britten Sinfonia in the celebration finale concert and will also be shared with the local community choir, so that it has a life beyond the concert in their repertoire.

Providing creative opportunities for children and young people

Alongside the community activity, we’re also piloting other new approaches with local schools through Musical Bridges.

We're working with Wingfield Barns, a community-focused space dedicated to supporting the arts, who want to develop opportunities for local primary schools to create artwork to be exhibited in their gallery. This relationship encourages the local schools’ engagement with arts activities, enables children to see their work on display to the public and raises the awareness of Wingfield Barns as an arts and community hub. Through Musical Bridges, Wingfield Barns has been able to welcome primary school groups to experience the introductory concert; the first live orchestral experience for many children.

We're also working with local A level music students providing them with composition opportunities. Hartismere School students have been set a composition brief to develop musical sketches in preparation for their masterclass with our music leader.

These compositions will be performed by a couple of their peers and a Britten Sinfonia orchestral player at the celebratory finale concert. This provides an opportunity for them to compose for multiple instruments and consider the texture and melodic interplay of the music. It is also a meaningful addition and complement to their A level coursework, rather than a one-off workshop experience.

Musical Bridges builds on our years of learning in Mid Suffolk: deep knowledge of rural communities, strong relationships with local venues and schools, and extensive research into what local residents actually need and enjoy. By drawing together different generations and supporting partners to grow their creative offer, the project marks a new phase in how we work across the district. We hope we've helped many people feel more connected to each other and to the the beautiful places they live in.