Mozart & More | Leia Zhu & LMP

/in , /by

London Mozart Players
Ruth Rogers director
Leia Zhu violin

Bartok Romanian Dances
Mozart Violin Concerto in G Major
Massenet Meditation from Thaïs
Coleridge-Taylor Four Noveletten

London Mozart Players return to Hastings for the first time in two years, bringing with them a very special guest, 15-year-old violin virtuoso Leia Zhu, who will perform Mozart’s enchanting third violin concerto.

Since her solo debut at the age of four, Leia Zhu has performed with orchestras around the world, including a performance of Tchaikovsky’s concerto with LMP in October 2021 that was broadcast on BBC Radio 3. Her awe-inspiring talent will shine through Mozart’s graceful and witty writing in this sublime concerto. Also on the programme is Coleridge-Taylor’s Four Novelletten, a brilliantly-crafted series of four dance-like pieces that recall Elgar and Dvorak.

At the heart of LMP’s residency in Hastings is the desire to inspire young people and widen the reach of classical music. This concert continues the orchestra’s collaboration with the Hastings Music Centre, with their young musicians performing ‘side-by-side’ with LMP players in a performance of Bartok’s Romanian Dances, lead and directed by Leia, LMP’s young artist in residence.

This will be an amazing opportunity to experience live classical music from this internationally celebrated chamber orchestra and its special young guest, who is surely an inspiration for every fledgling and aspiring musicians.

Clarinet Celebrations! LMP & Michael Collins

/in /by

Britten Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, Op.10*
Weber Clarinet Concerto No.2 in E flat major, Op.74
Montgomery Starburst*
Mozart Clarinet Concerto in A major, K.622

London Mozart Players
Simon Blendis leader/director*
Michael Collins director, clarinet, basset clarinet

It’s clarinet virtuoso Michael Collins’ 60th birthday year – the perfect excuse for a musical celebration!

The London Mozart Players return to the Queen Elizabeth Hall with Michael Collins who directs and takes the solo spot for two of the best-loved works in the repertoire – both inspired by friendships with great clarinettists. Mozart composed his still unsurpassed concerto with its sublime slow movement for Anton Stadler, who performed on a basset horn (the instrument Michael will also play for this work), while Weber was inspired by clarinettist and life-long friend Heinrich Baermann. These concertos display an engaging mix of beauty, daring and virtuosity, with Weber in particular demanding leaps and runs of the soloist. In a concert marking a milestone year, Michael Collins brings all his dazzling artistry to these evergreen masterpieces.

Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge is Britten’s tribute to his revered teacher, Frank Bridge. The ten variations present a musical portrait, suggesting ‘his integrity… energy…charm…wit…gaiety’ as Britten wrote on his sketches. A tour de force for LMP’s strings under the direction of Simon Blendis, the writing is daring and inventive, frequently parodying musical forms – opera, baroque, waltzes, marches and chants – but always on a virtuosic level.

The celebratory fireworks for the occasion are provided by Jessie Montgomery’s vibrantly inventive Starburst which fizzes and explodes with excitement and colour. The perfect soundtrack for any birthday party!

Rememberance Concert with Portsmouth Grammar School

/in /by

Jeff Moore Fiddlers Hill
Peter Maxwell Davies Farewell to Stromness
Jessie Montgomery Strum
Pande Shahov Till We Return
Mozart Requiem in D minor

London Mozart Players
Students from Portsmouth Grammar School
Jeff Moore, Pande Shahov & Gareth Hemmings conductors
Stefanie Kemball-Read soprano
Aurore Lacabe alto
Greg Taswell tenor
James Oldfield bass

PGS’ annual Remembrance Concert returns with a varied programme that starts with a massed ensemble of PGS Strings with the LMP strings in Jeff Moore’s exciting Fiddler’s Hill, conducted by the composer himself.  Peter Maxwell Davies’ haunting Farewell to Stromness will be played by PGS Senior Strings with the LMP followed by exciting young composer, Jessie Montgomery’s Strum.  The first half will end with Pande Shahov’s beautiful arrangements of Hampshire Folksongs for choirs and orchestra, Till We Return.  The second half of the programme features Mozart’s iconic Requiem.  Chamber Choir and Community Choir will be joined by soloists Stefanie Kemball-Read, Aurore Lacabe, Greg Taswell and James Oldfield accompanied by the London Mozart Players.

A Christmas Carol

/in , , , /by

A Christmas Carol

London Mozart Players Piano Trio
Nicoline Kraamwinkel violin
Sarah Butcher cello
Julian Rolton piano

Tama Matheson narrator

Chorister Quartet from Trinity School Croydon

Festive seasons past, present and future combine in this seasonal treat as Charles Dickens gives a dramatic re-telling of his classic tale: ‘A Christmas Carol’ in the intimate surroundings of the Fidelio Café in London’s Clerkenwell. In this exciting adaptation, actor Tama Matheson breathes fresh life into Dickens who takes to the stage to tell his moving morality tale of Scrooge, Marley, Tiny Tim and all those Christmas ghosts, accompanied by an atmospheric soundscape of Christmas carols. By turns gloriously funny, sad, joyous and heart-rending, this evocative blend of carols and drama captures the wonder, pathos and sheer spookiness of this Christmas classic. It’s the perfect way to get into the Christmas spirit!

The musical backdrop is provided by LMP’s piano trio Nicoline Kraamwinkel (violin), Sarah Butcher (cello) and Julian Rolton (piano), and a quartet of choristers from Trinity School, who will set the scene with some beloved Christmas carols including O Holy Night and Good King Wenceslas.

Tama Matheson and LMP were recently shortlisted for an RPS Award for Tama’s lyric-drama performance on Tchaikovsky, Bright Stars Shone for Us. Tama continues his brilliant storytelling in this performance of A Christmas Carol, which has had two years running of sell-out performances in the Elgar Room at the Royal Albert Hall, and in the Savvy Theatre at Fairfield Halls.

Tickets: £100 (includes the concert, a glass of prosecco and a three course dinner)

Grayshott Concerts: LMP and Sean Shibe

/in /by

Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez
Mozart Symphony No.25
Bizet Symphony No.1

London Mozart Players
Hilary Davan Wetton conductor
Sean Shibe guitar

Exciting young rising star Sean Shibe, Classical Guitar, makes his first visit to Grayshott to perform the famous Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquin Rodrigo. Programme includes Mozart’s Symphony No.25 and Bizet’s Symphony No.1.

Sean was the first guitarist to be selected for the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme, and the first guitarist to receive the Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Young Artists.

Christmas at Fairfield  

/in /by

Programme includes
Handel Messiah (excerpts)
Britten A Ceremony of Carols (excerpts)
Tchaikovsky Waltz of the Flowers
Anderson Sleigh Ride
Ding Dong Merrily on High!
The Twelve Days of Christmas
The First Nowell
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
O Come, All Ye Faithful
… and many more!  

London Mozart Players 
Simon Blendis leader
Croydon Philharmonic Choir
David Gibson conductor
Trinity Boys Choir 
David Swinson conductor
Croydon Citadel Band
Darrell Scholes conductor

Join the London Mozart Players and a host of talent from all around Croydon for a seasonal musical extravaganza – the perfect way to kick-start Christmas 2021. 

This December, the walls of Fairfield Halls’ famed concert hall will ring out with all the favourite festive tunes that play such an important part in your lead up to Christmas. Croydon’s resident orchestra will be joined by talented musicians from across our community to bring you the best in musical cheer, and ensure that your Christmas gets off to the perfect start. There’ll be sublime choral treats from the Croydon Philharmonic Choir, exquisite carols from Trinity Boys Choir and fabulous arrangements of best-loved tunes by the Croydon Citadel Band. And, of course, the London Mozart Players will perform quintessential treasures from the classical Christmas repertoire, from The Nutcracker to Sleigh Ride, and plenty in between. Plus, carols for all to sing with gusto!   

Christmas just isn’t Christmas without a ‘Ding Dong’ or a ‘Hark the Herald!’, and there’s plenty more besides in this seasonal smörgåsbord. Bring the whole family – and your santa hats – and celebrate a Croydon Christmas with LMP!

Wimbledon International Music Festival: Mozart Requiem & Haydn ‘Nelson’ Mass

/in /by

Mozart Requiem in D minor, K.626
Haydn Missa in Angustiis / ‘Nelson Mass’, Hob. XXII/11

London Mozart Players
The Academy Choir
Lucy Crowe soprano
Catherine Wyn-Rogers mezzo-soprano
Toby Spence tenor
James Rutherford bass-baritone
Nicholas Cleobury conductor

Haydn’s chief biographer H. C. Robbins Landon judged the Missa in Angustiis (Mass for Troubled Times) as ‘Haydn’s greatest single composition’. The day of its first performance coincided with Napoleon’s defeat at the hands of Admiral Nelson at the Battle of Alexandria. It shares the same dark orchestration as Mozart’s deeply moving ‘Requiem’.

Wimbledon International Music Festival: I Shall Hear in Heaven

/in /by

Tama Matheson I Shall Hear in Heaven
With music by Ludwig van Beethoven

London Mozart Players
Tama Matheson Beethoven
Suzy Kohane
Adam Karrie

A dramatic portrait of a child prodigy oppressed by his drunken father, to his emergence as the greatest musician of his day: Beethoven – a titan of will and imagination, a man who refused to be crushed by the buffeting of fortune, who overcame the worst obstacles that fate could put in his way.

Actor Tama Matheson (EastEnders, Heartbeat) breathes life into the tortured composer, presenting a man of deeply human qualities, who wore heavily the burden of his own genius and who, despite the frangible condition of his own mortality, pushed the world of music to a blazing new level. This powerful depiction will be interspersed with Beethoven’s incredible music, performed by the London Mozart Players.

Director, actor and writer Tama Matheson is Artistic Director of The Brisbane Shakespeare Festival and has worked as a freelance director in both theatre and opera around the world. He is an award-winning stage actor and has played a variety of TV roles, including EastEnders and Heartbeat. Tama has written several plays and one man shows including a series of collaborative plays about the lives of great composers.

For further information, take a look at the flyer.

 

LMP Chamber Ensemble at the Seaford Music Society

/in /by

Devienne Bassoon Quartet, Op.73 No.3
Paul Lewis Seaford Snapshots (world premiere)
Beethoven Septet, Op.20

London Mozart Players Chamber Ensemble
Simon Blendis violin
Judith Busbridge viola
Sebastian Comberti cello
Ben Russell double bass
Tim Lines clarinet
Sarah Burnett bassoon
Andrew Budden horn

Seaford Music Society continues its long tradition of promoting Professional Chamber Music with a 2021-2022 Season. The first chamber concert of the season opens with Devienne’s Quartet for bassoon, violin, viola and cello which may be new to many, but it is a stunningly beautiful work that demands virtuosity from all the players and closes with Beethoven’s Septet, which was apparently modelled on Mozart’s D Major Divertimento, and certainly it retains the light-hearted mood of Mozart’s work. The centre piece of the concert is the world premiere Brighton-born John Lewis’s Seaford Snapshots, which was commissioned by a member of the Seaford Music Society.

Little Red Riding Hood

/in , /by

‘Wolves aren’t always as clever as they think they are…’. In a half-term musical treat for children of all ages, the London Mozart Players presents Paul Patterson’s lively orchestral version of Roald Dahl’s wickedly witty ‘Little Red Riding Hood. Taken from Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes this is ideal for 5–11-year-olds but is also a sharply funny and inspiring treat for adults. Rebecca Kenny narrates this hilarious twist on the fairy-tale classic, performing with LMP in the stunning Hastings Library. It’s half an hour of pure magic that never fails to entertain, and a wonderful way to introduce budding musicians to the instruments of the orchestra.

Spotlight On… Júlia

/in /by

Mozart Overture, Don Giovanni, K.527
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor, Op.64
Beethoven Symphony No.4 in B flat, Op.60

London Mozart Players
Bedros Shetilian conductor
Julia Pusker violin
Ruth Rogers leader

London Mozart Players deliver drama with Mozart’s villainous paramour Don Giovanni, warmth and wit with Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony, and pure romance with Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto – performed by rising star Júlia Pusker.

London Mozart Players’ ‘Spotlight On…’ series continues with brilliant young violinist Júlia Pusker joining LMP on stage at St John’s Smith Square to perform a cornerstone of the repertoire — Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, his last major work. From the fast and passionate opening with its haunting melody and breathtaking cadenza through to the thrilling coda of the final movement, there is quicksilver beauty in every bar. Júlia, one of Hungary’s finest musicians and a founding member of the Ensemble Mirage, which featured in the 2016/17 St John’s Smith Square Young Artists’ series, will give a virtuoso performance of this beloved work.

‘A supple Greek girl between two giants’ is how Robert Schumann described Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony. Eclipsed by its formidable neighbours – the groundbreaking Eroica and the iconic Fifth – the Fourth Symphony is often overlooked, but it is a sensational work, full of freshness and spontaneity, with a character all its own

The concert opens with a dramatic scene-setter – the overture to Don Giovanni, one of Mozart’s most popular operas. Its spine-tingling opening is one of the most memorable in all opera. US conductor Bedros Shetilian takes the baton for a concert of classical treasures in the intimate and cherished surroundings of St John Smith Square.

 

Grand Opera Gala with the City of London Choir

/in /by

Rossini Overture to The Barber of Seville
Mozart Pasha Selim (Il Seraglio)
Puccini Quando me’n vo’ (La bohème)
Puccini Che gelida manina (La bohème)
Puccini O soave fanciulla (La bohème)
Bizet Au fond du temple saint (The Pearlfishers)
Mascagni Intermezzo (Cavalleria rusticana)
Mascagni Easter Hymn (Cavalleria rusticana)
Saint-Saëns Mon cœur (Samson and Delilah)
Verdi Pietà rispetto amore (Macbeth)
Verdi Chorus of Scottish refugees (Macbeth)
Verdi Quartet (Rigoletto)
Bernstein Overture to Candide
Bernstein Glitter and be gay (Candide)
Delibes Flower Duet (Lakmé)
Verdi Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves (Nabucco)
Mozart Non più andrai (The Marriage of Figaro)
Tchaikovsky Polonaise (Eugene Onegin)
Tchaikovsky Kuda, kuda (Eugene Onegin)
Bizet Habenera (Carmen)
Verdi Dite alla giovine (La traviata)
Verdi Libiamo ne’ lieti calici (Brindisi) (La traviata)

London Mozart Players
City of London Choir
Benjamin Pope conductor
Tali Ketzef soprano
Catherine Carby mezzo-soprano
Alexander James Edwards tenor
Colin Schachat baritone

At long last the London concert platform is open again… and what could be more welcome now than an evening of total immersion in the glorious world of opera? An international cast of soloists, the London Mozart Players and the City of London Choir present a glittering evening of romance, tragedy and high spirits: a fabulous selection of highlights from the world’s most popular operas. Heart-warming arias sit alongside rousing choruses from La Bohème, The Pearlfishers, Carmen, The Marriage of Figaro, Candide, Nabucco, La Traviata, Cavelleria Rusticana and more, all under the baton of conductor Benjamin Pope.

Mass in C Minor with Wimbledon Choral

/in /by

Panufnik Letters from Burma
Britten Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings
Mozart Great Mass in C Minor K.427

London Mozart Players
Wimbledon Choral
Neil Ferris conductor
Jeni Bern soprano
Llio Evans soprano
Thomas Elwin tenor
Jamie W Hall bass
Gareth Hulse oboe
Richard Watkins horn

This will be the first public performance by Wimbledon Choral, together with the London Mozart players, since Christmas 2019, and what greater way to celebrate than with Mozarts’s glorious Mass in C Minor, widely regarded as his masterpiece in the field of religious composition. With dramatic choral writing and wonderful solo scoring, this formidable work is studded with gems from operatic skill to baroque counterpoint.

Roxana Panufnik’s Letters from Burma, composed in 2004, was inspired by Aung San Suu Kyi’s vivid description of life in Myanmar while under house arrest.

Benjamin Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and String offers a contemplation of night and sleep through the poetry of Keats, Jonson, Blake and Tennyson.

Mozart Requiem with the Crouch End Festival Chorus

/in /by

Mozart Requiem
Jessica Curry Echo (World Premiere)
Brahms Schicksalslied

London Mozart Players
Crouch End Festival Chorus
David Temple conductor
Francesca Chiejina soprano
Kathryn Rudge mezzo-soprano
Ronald Samm tenor
Benjamin Bevan baritone

Crouch End Festival Chorus, under its conductor David Temple, joins with the London Mozart Players to perform Mozart’s Requiem, one of the greatest works in the choral repertoire. Commissioned in 1791 when the composer’s health was failing, Mozart created a work which was completed after his death by Süssmayr and contains some of his most sublime and evocative music.

 

CEFC also presents the World Premiere of a work by Jessica Curry, renowned for her award-winning scores for video games. Echo is based on an evocative Christina Rossetti poem combining passion and mystery.

 

Completing the programme is one of Brahms’s greatest choral pieces, the Schicksalslied (Song of Destiny).

Spotlight On… 2-concert package

/in , , /by

Please choose your ticket price in the dropdown menu above before you click the ‘Buy & Watch’ button.

 

This 2-concert package gives you access to both the Jess Gillam concert and the Leia Zhu concert. Please note our ‘Spotlight On…’ videos are only available for 30 days from date of initial broadcast. Once you have purchased your package, click the link below to watch the film.

Spotlight On … Jess: No longer available
WATCH – Spotlight On … Leia: available from Tuesday 19 October at 10am

A note on ticket prices:

The 2-concert package is only available while the Jess concert is online (ie until 11:59 BST Wednesday 13 October). You only need 1 ticket per concert per household and can pay the Standard £15 package price to access each concert. If you would like to pay a higher amount that equates to your usual ‘live concert hall’ price, and by doing so kindly support the LMP, then choose the £30 ‘Supporter’ or £45 ‘Premium Supporter’ packages. You can also add a donation (which will attract gift aid) during the payment process. Please choose your ticket price in the dropdown menu above before you click the ‘Buy & Watch’ button.

Christmas Classics at St Mary’s

/in , , , /by

Programme includes:
Traditional Once in Royal David’s City
Traditional Silent Night
Traditional Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Barnes Let the Carols Ring (new commission)
Traditional 12 Days of Christmas
Strauss Pizzicato Polka
Strauss Blue Danube
Anderson Sleigh Ride
Anderson Waltzing Cat
Elgar Salut d’Amour
Tchaikovsky excerpt from The Nutcracker
Handel Pifa from Messiah

London Mozart Players
Ruth Rogers director
and our Musical Star Competition Winner

We continue our series at St Mary’s Putney with a Christmas concert that has something in it for everyone, whether you love traditional carols, yuletide songs, or just mulled wine and mince pies! Full of the music we all turn to at this time of year, this fun and informal concert will be a wonderful opportunity for families and friends to gather at St Mary’s to share the joy and memories that these melodies evoke. Festive favourites Sleigh Ride, The 12 Days of Christmas and The Nutcracker will get us in the Christmas groove, alongside perennial favourites Silent Night, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, and many more. We also have an exciting première of a newly commissioned seasonal piece by young local composer Georgia Barnes

For more information about our Musical Star competition, and how to audition to sing with LMP at the concert, click here.

Mostly Mozart at Crystal Palace

/in /by

London Mozart Players
Leia Zhu violin
Ruth Rogers director
Croydon Music & Arts

Bartok Romanian Dances
Mozart Violin Concerto No.3 in G major, K.216
Massenet Meditation from Thaïs
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Four Novelletten

Since 2017, London Mozart Players’ annual community concert at St John’s has welcomed top classical stars to SE19 including Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Nicola Benedetti. In January 2022, it hosts another virtuoso soloist, 15-year-old Leia Zhu, performing Mozart’s enchanting third violin concerto.

Since her solo debut at the age of four, Leia Zhu has performed with orchestras around the world, including a performance of Tchaikovsky’s concerto with LMP at Fairfield Halls in October 2021. Her awe-inspiring talent will shine through Mozart’s graceful and witty writing in this sublime concerto. Also on the programme, alongside Bartok’s Romanian Dances and Massanet’s Mediation from Thaïs, is Coleridge-Taylor’s Four Novelletten, a brilliantly-crafted series of four dance-like pieces that recall Elgar and Dvorak.

At the heart of LMP’s residency at St John’s is the desire to inspire young people and widen the reach of classical music. This vision is the foundation for this community concert, which enables students, or those who do not normally go to concerts due to financial or health reasons, get the chance to experience the transformative power of classical music. A limited number (100) of tickets are also available to purchase. Buying your ticket ensures that someone less fortunate can attend.

This is an amazing opportunity to experience live classical music from this internationally celebrated chamber orchestra and its very special young guest, who is surely an inspiration for every fledgling and aspiring musician.

Tickets – £25 (includes reserved seating, programme and interval drink) – only 100 available.

Create Yarmouth

/in /by

Joao Domingos Bomtempo 3rd Movement from Symphony No.2
Bartok Romanian Dances (arrangement)
Bacewicz 1st Movement from Concerto for String Orchestra
Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending
Britten Simple Symphony
Sarah Freestone New Commission

London Mozart Players
Young Musicians from Great Yarmouth

A special performance by the London Mozart Players and 100 young musicians from Great Yarmouth, featuring a brand new piece they have created with composer Sarah Freestone, as well as orchestral music from around Europe.

Come and be inspired by a world class professional orchestra and emerging young talent from the local area.