Live Concert: Spotlight on…Jess

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Mozart  Symphony No. 35 in D Major, K.385 (Haffner)
Glazunov Concerto in E flat for alto saxophone & string orchestra
Nyman Saxophone Concerto, Where the Bee Dances

London Mozart Players
Jess Gillam saxophone
Ruth Rogers leader
Jonathan Bloxham conductor

Former BBC Young Musician finalist and now BBC broadcaster Jess Gillam joins London Mozart Players in two spectacular works for saxophone including Nyman’s electrifying ‘Where the Bee Dances’. Gillam brings virtuosity and ‘life-affirming talent’, as described in the BBC Young Musician final, to an evening that takes in Glazunov’s romantic and beautifully lyrical Saxophone Concerto. The programme, under the baton of Jonthan Bloxham, is completed by an LMP favourite – Mozart’s ‘Haffner’ Symphony No.35.

Gillam burst onto the music scene in 2016 as the first saxophonist ever to reach the final of the BBC Young Musician competition. She has wowed audiences and inspired young musicians with her passion for music ever since – her first album, Rise, released in April 2019, shot to No.1 in the UK’s Official Classical Charts, while her second album Time was released in autumn 2020. If you thought the saxophone was just for jazz, think again: this will be an extraordinary night of music-making from a Classical Brit-winning soloist and an internationally celebrated orchestra.

There will be two concerts on the same day to accommodate social distancing. 

This concert will be filmed for later release on the LMP website. 

As part of LMP’s 100k Challenge (to reach 100,000 children and young people through music in 2021) we are working with schools and music hubs across the UK to make our Spotlight concert films available to schools for a limited time, for free, along with specially curated ‘listening guides’ for different age groups.

If you would like your schools to be part of this initiative, please contact Tegan Eldridge for more information.

Grayshott Concerts: Howard’s Way

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Haydn arr. Salomon Symphony No.94 “Surprise”
Beethoven arr. Lachner Piano Concerto No.3

London Mozart Players
Howard Shelley piano/conductor

Our very good friend Howard Shelley performs Beethoven’s great Piano Concerto No 3 and conducts Haydn’s ever-popular Surprise Symphony.  

Grayshott Concerts: Best of Baroque

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Vivaldi Concerto for Strings in G minor RV157
Bach Violin Concerto in A minor BWV1041
Vivaldi Mandolin Concerto in C major RV425
Telemann Viola Concerto in G major TWV51:G9
Bach Concerto for Two Violins in D minor BWV1043

Adrian Butterfield violin
Sijie Chen violin
Judith Busbridge viola
Simon Mayor mandolin

We return to Grayshott with Bach’s Double Violin Concerto, the super-sparkling Vivaldi Mandolin Concerto in C and Telemann’s Viola Concerto in G.

ONLINE EVENT: Piano Explored – Hummel Zoom Q&A

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Join us for our second ‘Watch Party’ Zoom Q&A with Howard Shelley and members of the LMP directly after the third Piano Explored concert (Hummel Piano Concerto No. 4) on Thursday 22nd April at 2.30pm. If it’s anything like our first zoom Q&A after the Mozart No.21, it will be full of enlightening (and amusing) answers from Howard and the LMP team. Tickets are free, but numbers are limited!

Please note registrations via the website close at 1pm.

The Zoom link will be sent to all participants before 1:00pm on Thursday 22nd April. If you don’t receive the link by then, please check your spam folder. If you wish to register after 1pm, then please email [email protected] for the link.

ONLINE CONCERT: Beethoven & Britten

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Britten Simple Symphony
Beethoven Concerto for Violin in D

Jonian Ilias Kadesha violin
London Mozart Players

If you missed LMP’s Classical Club concert with Jonian Ilias Kadesha last November, when he performed Beethoven’s epic Violin Concerto, then you won’t want to miss a futher opportunity to see this incredible musician in action. A leading talent of his generation, Jonian joins LMP for another electrifying performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D. The lyricism and exuberance of Beethoven’s work are complemented by the characterful movements of Britten’s Simple Symphony, labelled by the composer as ‘boisterous, playful, sentimental’ and ‘frolicsome’.

This performance, filmed at St Martin-in-the-Fields is part of the SMITF Fresh Horizons concert series, and is for online viewing only. Concert goes live on Thursday 25th February at 7.30pm and will be available to view on demand for the following 30 days.

Mozart Zoom Q&A

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Join us for an enlightening Zoom Q&A with Howard Shelley and members of the LMP directly after the second Piano Explored concert (Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21) on Thursday 18 March. You’ll get some extra insights from Howard as well as a preview of the next concert in the series. Please note registrations via the website close at 1pm.

The Zoom link will be sent to all participants at 1:00pm on 18 March. In case you don’t get the link, please check your spam folder. If you wish to register after 1pm, then please email [email protected] for the link.

Live Concert: Spotlight on…Leia

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Mozart Magic Flute Overture
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D major, Op.35
Beethoven Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op.93

London Mozart Players
Leia Zhu violin
Jonathan Bloxham conductor
Simon Blendis leader

Join us for the magnificent final concert in the Spotlight On series, when LMP brings the music of three classical giants – Mozart, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky – to Fairfield Halls. The concert showcases the prodigious talents of 14-year-old violinist Leia Zhu, who is destined for a stellar career. She will bring all her virtuosic talent to one of the favourites of the violin repertoire, Tchaikovsky’s lyrical and expressive Violin Concerto in D. LMP will also perform Beethoven’s short, ebullient and somewhat experimental Eighth Symphony and the concert kicks off with Mozart’s cheerful Overture to his beloved opera The Magic Flute. Conductor Jonathan Bloxham will be in charge of proceedings; this will be a highlight of LMP’s autumn season!

As part of LMP’s 100k Challenge (to reach 100,000 children and young people through music in 2021) we are working with schools and music hubs across the UK to make our Spotlight concert films available to schools for a limited time, for free, along with specially curated ‘listening guides’ for different age groups.

If you would like your schools to be part of this initiative, please contact Tegan Eldridge for more information.

ONLINE CONCERT: Piano Explored – Mozart & Moscheles

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Mozart Piano Concerto No.6 in B-flat major, K.238
Moscheles Piano Concerto 1 in F major, Op.45

London Mozart Players
Howard Shelley Piano

Directing from the piano, Howard Shelley introduces a two-concerto concert that pairs a Mozart masterpiece with an unknown gem. Mozart’s beautifully expressive Piano Concerto No. 6, written when the composer was only 20, shows young Mozart at his finest and hints at the expressive intensity to come. Lively writing at the outset is followed by a refined and expressive slow movement reminiscent of the Andante of concerto no.21, before a finale packed with terpsichorean themes brings the concerto to an exuberant end. In the hands of the LMP and Howard Shelley, Mozart’s charming melodies will dance between the pillars of St John’s Smith Square’s stunning baroque interior. Moscheles may be a new name for many, but Mozart lovers will find much to admire in his 1819 piano concerto, which is packed with Mozartean grace and lyrical melody. Howard Shelley, an acclaimed exponent of repertoire which bridges the Classical and Romantic periods, will bring stylistic elegance and nimbleness to this delightful work, bringing the season to a lively end.

‘Shelley’s performances combine spirit and finesse’ Classic FM

Want to know more about the pieces. Download our Piano Explored brochure.

 

Having trouble buying or watching? Try our help and FAQs.

 

 

ONLINE CONCERT: Piano Explored – Hummel

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Hummel Piano Concerto No.4 in E, Op.110

London Mozart Players
Howard Shelley piano

Johann Nepomuk Hummel was one of the most talented pianist/composers of his day, and a musical ‘bridge’ between the Classical and Romantic eras. Hummel’s works are full of joie-de-vivre, their harmonic and lyrical variety showcasing his prodigious, virtuosic talent. If you are unfamiliar with Hummel, then the E major piano concerto is the perfect starting point, and Howard Shelley, a champion of this much-underrated composer, will bring all his consummate musicianship to the piece’s playful piano passagework. Take an hour with the London Mozart Players and Howard Shelley to judge Hummel’s genius for yourself, you will be convinced.

‘Howard Shelley proves a supremely eloquent advocate of the composer, with his refined, shapely phrasing, crystalline textures’ BBC Music Magazine

Want to know more about the pieces. Download our Piano Explored brochure.

Having trouble buying or watching? Try our help and FAQs.

 

 

ONLINE CONCERT: Piano Explored – Mozart

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Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K.467

London Mozart Players
Howard Shelley piano

In March 2021, our Piano Explored concert was dedicated to a real favourite of the classical repertoire. Mozart composed his twenty-first piano concerto in a hugely busy period of his life but the music is perfectly poised, and the concerto has the majesty and immensity of his greatest symphonies. The beautifully expressive slow movement, which in the 1960s experienced a burst of fame as the theme for art house film ‘Elvira Madigan’, verges on the operatic, with a quiet melody moving over a pulsating accompaniment. This concert also includes Howard Shelley’s enlightening insights into the piece, delivered before the LMP and the impeccably stylish Shelley perform this technically demanding and hugely popular masterpiece.

‘He is an artist of electric vitality and cultured exuberance’ Fanfare, USA

Want to know more about the pieces. Download our Piano Explored brochure.

Having trouble buying or watching? Try our help and FAQs.

 

 

ONLINE CONCERT: Piano Explored – Saint-Saëns & Mendelssohn

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Saint-Saëns Piano Concerto No.2 in G minor, Op.22
Mendelssohn Capriccio Brillant in B minor, Op.22

London Mozart Players
Simon Blendis leader
Howard Shelley piano

The spring 2021 season of Piano Explored opened with Saint-Saëns much-admired second piano concerto – a tour de force for any pianist. By turns tempestuous, flighty and lyrical, this concerto breaks convention by having each succeeding movement faster than the last in a structured accelerando, ending with an exhilarating conclusion. Berlioz described Saint-Saëns as ‘an absolutely shattering master pianist’, and in Howard Shelley we have our own master at work. In this lunchtime concert, Saint-Saëns is paired with Mendelssohn’s a charming one-movement Capriccio Brillant, which reveals the best in sophisticated pianistic art. The gentle melancholy of the Andante and the contrasting dizzying arpeggios, chromatic runs and octave leaps of the Allegro will allow Howard Shelley to demonstrate his virtuosic skills and profound musicality. Howard’s entertaining and informative introduction will be followed by a performance of both works by the LMP with Howard directing from the piano.

‘[An] aristocratic command of the glittering keyboard pyrotechnics.’ Daily Telegraph

Want to know more about the pieces. Download our Piano Explored brochure.

Having trouble buying or watching? Try our help and FAQs.

 

 

ONLINE concert: Four World Seasons

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Astor Piazzolla Four Seasons of Buenos Aires
Roxanna Panufnik Four World Seasons

Ruth Rogers director/soloist
London Mozart Players

 

The London Mozart Players, directed by leader Ruth Rogers, present two very different but equally exciting and invigorating works that celebrate the changing seasons.

2021 sees the centenary of Astor Piazzolla, the Argentine composer who revitalised the music of his homeland, particularly music inspired by the tango. Fiery, passionate, tense and driven by an endless supply of rhythmic energy, Piazzolla’s music transports us to the sweltering squares of Buenos Aires, none more so than his ‘Four Seasons of Buenos Aires’. As Vivaldi was inspired by spring, summer, autumn and winter, so is Piazzolla, but the seasons in Buenos Aires inspire a more sultry, slinky and seductive set of pieces that will raise all our temperatures!

Also inspired to present the changing year in music, LMP’s Associate Composer Roxanna Panufnik composed ‘Four World Seasons’ as a modern response to both Vivaldi and Piazzolla but mainly influenced by music from around the world. She makes the theme entirely her own, spiriting us away on an adventurous world tour. This virtuosic piece delivers bird song from a Japanese spring, introduces complex string settings representing a Northern Indian summer, takes us to the dizzy heights of autumn in Albania, and depicts a Himalayan winter complete with chiming Tibetan singing bowl.

The concert will be filmed under Covid guidelines for online release on 28 January and will be available to view on demand for 30 days.

This concert is part of St Martin in the Fields ‘Fresh Horizons’ 14-concert series. You can buy a Season Pass for £98 (over £40 discount).

Buy Tickets here.

Live Concert: Spotlight on… Isata

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London Mozart Players
Isata Kanneh-Mason piano
Simon Blendis leader
Stephanie Childress conductor

Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No.1 in G minor, Op.25
Beethoven Symphony No.2 in D major, Op.36

Charismatic young pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason, the eldest of the Kanneh-Mason siblings, and acclaimed conductor Stephanie Childress, join LMP for a concert programme that fizzes with life-affirming exuberance.

Beethoven’s majestic Symphony No.2 takes the orchestra on a journey of expression and invention from its opening through to the ravishing finale – complete with a magnificent coda that ends the work with a flourish of timpani- and trumpet-laden triumph.

But the spotlight is on our soloist Isata Kanneh-Mason, who performs Mendelssohn’s first piano concerto, a showcase of captivating melodies and glittering passagework that will highlight the prodigious talent of our virtuoso performer. A BBC Young Musician finalist, four-time winner of the Royal Academy Iris Dyer Piano Prize (among many other prizes) and multi-scholarship winner, Isata is much in demand in concert halls around the UK and abroad, and LMP musicians are hugely looking forward to performing alongside her.

‘She is a pianist who makes lines sing beautifully and virtuosic passages dance, finding intimacy and eloquence at telling moments…’ – BBC Music Magazine.

There will be two concerts on the same day to accommodate social distancing. This concert will be filmed for later release on the LMP website. 

As part of LMP’s 100k Challenge (to reach 100,000 children and young people through music in 2021) we are working with schools and music hubs across the UK to make our Spotlight concert films available to schools for a limited time, for free, along with specially curated ‘listening guides’ for different age groups.

If you would like your schools to be part of this initiative, please contact Tegan Eldridge for more information.

Live Concert: Spotlight on… Sheku

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Mendelssohn The Hebrides ‘Fingal’s Cave’, Op.26
Dvořák Cello Concerto in B minor, Op.104

London Mozart Players
Sheku Kanneh-Mason cello
Jaime Martin conductor
Ruth Rogers leader

London Mozart Players, under the baton of Jaime Martin, bring a duet of musical masterpieces to Fairfield Halls in June, with the solo spotlight shining on acclaimed cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, who will perform the pinnacle of the repertoire, Dvorak’s stirring and poignant cello concerto. Since its premiere in 1896, this concerto has become one of the most performed and most recorded pieces for the instrument. Epic and symphonic in scope, it is full of memorable themes, and resonates with a lyricism that’s bound to stir the emotions, particularly in the hands of our talented soloist, Sheku. LMP is delighted to be performing again alongside this remarkable young musician in this touching, powerful work.

The concert opens with Mendelssohn’s Hebrides overture, a painterly tone poem that evokes memories of a trip to Scotland, particularly the dramatic sight of Fingal’s Cave on the Isles of Staffa.

These two socially-distanced concerts will be the first concerts at Fairfield Halls when it reopens after lockdown.

This concert will also be filmed for a limited release on the LMP website in June 2021.

As part of LMP’s 100k Challenge (to reach 100,000 children and young people through music in 2021) we are working with schools and music hubs across the UK to make our Spotlight concert films available to schools for a limited time, for free, along with specially curated ‘listening guides’ for different age groups.

If you would like your schools to be part of this initiative, please contact Tegan Eldridge for more information.

Live Concert: Seaford Music Society

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Programme
Haydn Baryton Trio in G Major, HXI:124,
Beethoven String Trio Number 5 in C Minor, Opus 9, Number 3
Dohnányi Serenade in C Major for String Trio, Opus 10

London Mozart Players String Trio
Ruth Rogers violin
Judith Busbridge viola
Sebastian Comberti cello

The London Mozart Players Chamber Ensemble presents a feast of delights from a trio of wonderful composers. The music will take you on a journey from the mid-1700s to the beginning of the 20th century. The appetizer is one of 126 trios written by Haydn for a Baryton, an extraordinary stringed instrument that Haydn’s patron Prince Nikolas of Esterhazy was a great exponent. This is followed by a passionate, energetic and stormy trio, opus 9 in C minor, written when Beethoven was 28 and a delightful Serenade written by Erno Dohnanyi in 1902 will round off the recital. A banquet to please all palates!

Live Concert: Howard Shelley and the London Mozart Players at St Paul’s Knightsbridge

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Programme
Mozart Divertimento in D major, K136
Beethoven Piano Concerto No 3 in C minor, Op 37.

The curtain rises on St Paul’s winter concert series with a celebration of Beethoven’s 250th anniversary. The exceptional pianist, communicator and Conductor Laureate of the London Mozart Players (LMP) Howard Shelley directs a performance of Beethoven’s sublime Piano Concerto No. 3. The concert opens with Mozart’s well known Divertimento K 136.

Howard Shelley has enjoyed a distinguished career since his acclaimed London debut in 1971. He has a special relationship with the LMP with whom he has worked closely for 45 years. They have given hundreds of concerts and made many recordings and overseas tours together. An Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Music, he was awarded an OBE for his services to classical music in 2009.

Notes

  • The concert will last one hour. There will be no interval.
  • There will be no reserved seating in the pews – please maintain suitable social distancing during your time in the building.
  • There is a wheelchair ramp to access the building, but no accessible WC for those in wheelchairs.

Standard COVID rules apply

  • Please do not come to the church if you are feeling unwell, or have any COVID symptoms
  • Hand sanitizer will be available as you enter the church.
  • Unless you are exempt by law, we ask that you wear a face covering and maintain appropriate social distancing during your time in the building.

Live Concert: Christmas Comfort and Joy

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Programme includes:

Corelli Christmas Concerto
Vivaldi ‘Winter’ from The Four Seasons
Anderson Sleigh Ride
Anderson The Typewriter
Christmas songs including ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ performed by special guest Daniel Todd, chorister with Trinity Boys Choir

2020 has been quite a year, and London Mozart Players is determined to see it out bringing joy and comfort to all, with four Christmas concerts packed with seasonal favourites and winter warmers. Our festive programme brings together the music we all love at Christmas, from traditional carols, to yuletide songs and classical favourites: Vivaldi’s ‘Winter’ from The Four Seasons will have your teeth chattering while Irving Berlin’s ‘White Christmas’ and Rossetti’s ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ will conjure up the magic and memories of all our best Christmases. There’s something for everyone, including, of course, traditional mulled wine and mince pies. Do join us as we reconnect one last time this year, sharing the joys of live music and bringing a little slice of Christmas cheer.

COVID-restrictions and safeguarding

In accordance with government guidelines, social distancing measures will be in place at the venue to ensure everyone’s safety.

You will be seated in a bubble the size of which corresponds to the number of tickets you have booked, with 2m between bubbles. Please note that you can only share a seating bubble with members of your household or support bubble. If you are coming with a friend who is not part of your household or support bubble, please book your tickets separately as you need to be given two separate bubbles.

Tickets need to be bought online. Due to current COVID safeguarding measures, there are no ticket sales on the door.

Live Concert: Christmas Comfort and Joy

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Programme includes:

Corelli Christmas Concerto
Vivaldi ‘Winter’ from The Four Seasons
Anderson Sleigh Ride
Anderson The Typewriter
Christmas songs including ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ performed by special guest Daniel Todd, chorister with Trinity Boys Choir

2020 has been quite a year, and London Mozart Players is determined to see it out bringing joy and comfort to all, with four Christmas concerts packed with seasonal favourites and winter warmers. Our festive programme brings together the music we all love at Christmas, from traditional carols, to yuletide songs and classical favourites: Vivaldi’s ‘Winter’ from The Four Seasons will have your teeth chattering while Irving Berlin’s ‘White Christmas’ and Rossetti’s ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ will conjure up the magic and memories of all our best Christmases. There’s something for everyone, and the St Mary’s café will be open for refreshments too. Do join us as we reconnect one last time this year, sharing the joys of live music and bringing a little slice of Christmas cheer.

COVID-restrictions and safeguarding

In accordance with government guidelines, social distancing measures will be in place at the venue to ensure everyone’s safety.

You will be seated in a bubble the size of which corresponds to the number of tickets you have booked, with 2m between bubbles. Please note that you can only share a seating bubble with members of your household or support bubble. If you are coming with a friend who is not part of your household or support bubble, please book your tickets separately as you need to be given two separate bubbles.

Tickets need to be bought online. Due to current COVID safeguarding measures, there are no ticket sales on the door.