Bringing Bruch Back – an evening of virtuoso violin

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London Mozart Players
Jonathan Bloxham conductor
Shoshanah Sievers violin

Mozart Overture to The Magic Flute
Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26
Mendelssohn Symphony No.3 in A minor, Op. 56, ‘Scottish’

Solo violinist Shoshanah Sievers, supported by Grayshott Concerts since 2007 and currently studying at the Royal College of Music, returns to Grayshott for an evening of beautiful music including Bruch’s Violin Concerto, Mozart’s Magic Flute and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No 3.

Shoshanah has previously delighted Grayshott audiences with performances including Enchantment, a new work written especially for her by Karl Jenkins which premiered here in October 2020. Returning here accompanied by the London Mozart Players, conducted by Jonathan Bloxham, join us for another mesmerising performance from this young talent.

Isata Kanneh-Mason debuts with Schumann

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London Mozart Players
Isata Kanneh-Mason piano
Delyana Lazarova

Rossini Overture to L’Italiana in Algeri
Clara Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.7
Beethoven Symphony No.8 in F major, Op.93

The amazing Isata Kanneh-Mason makes her Grayshott debut supported by the London Mozart Players, conducted by fellow first-timer Delyana Lazarova. Isata will be performing Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto as included on her debut album Romance along with Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8.

Isata is the recipient of the 2021 Leonard Bernstein Award and a 2020 Opus Klassik award for best young artist. Alongside equally talented members of her family, the Kanneh-Masons, she is also the Global Award 2021 best classical artist.

Hallelujah, it’s the Messiah!

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London Mozart Players
Pegasus Chamber Choir
Adrian Butterfield conductor

Charlotte Bowden soprano
Alexander Chance countortenor
Matthew Keighley tenor
Jerome Knox bass

Handel Messiah

Join us for the ultimate in theatrical classical music with a full performance of Handel’s Messiah! from London Mozart Players and Pegasus, one of London’s top choirs, conducted by Adrian Butterfield. Since its premiere some 280 years ago, Messiah! has become the single most-performed piece of classical music worldwide.

Handel’s oratorio is based on the Old and New Testaments and delivered here in a most fitting venue at St Luke’s Grayshott. Now often associated with Christmas, it was in fact originally written for Easter, as while the first section focuses on the birth of Christ, it subsequently moves on to cover his death, and resurrection with the wonderful Hallelujah chorus.

A Musical Weekend with Howard Shelley and the London Mozart Players

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London Mozart Players Chamber Group
Howard Shelley piano

Programme Friday 4 February

Mozart Piano Quartet No.1 in G minor K.478
Beethoven String Trio Op.9 No.2
Hummel Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op.87

Programme Saturday 5 February

Mozart Piano Quartet No.2 in E flat major K.493
Britten Phantasy Quartet Op.2
Hummel Septet No.1 in D minor Op.74

Join the LMP at the Grand Hotel, Eastbourne, for a magical weekend of glorious chamber music that marks twenty years’ of LMP performance at this five-star venue.

Virtuoso pianist Howard Shelley joins the LMP for this two-day immersion in the treasures of the chamber repertoire. Mozart is on the menu, with two technically demanding piano quartets, both packed with fire and imagination. There are also two works by noted pianist and composer Hummel who, in his day, was held to be the equal of Beethoven. Hummel is less well known today, but Howard is a great champion of his thrilling and lyrical works. Hummel’s Piano Quintet is a showcase for virtuosic figuration, anticipating Schubert’s later Trout Quintet, while the Piano Septet is full of pianistic acrobatics, beautifully balancing the piano with the other instruments.

The spotlight moves from piano to strings in Beethoven’s notoriously challenging String Trio, while for Britten’s consummately crafted Phantasy Quartet, the oboe joins the trio to present an intricate and ingenious work – the composer’s first international success.

A much-anticipated element of the weekend is the traditional illustrated talk which tackles a fascinating musical topic.

Many return year on year for LMP’s chamber weekends at The Grand. With world class music, exceptional dining and first-class accommodation on offer, along with excellent company in beautiful surroundings, who can blame them?

Enjoy this wonderful musical getaway along with the Grand Hotel’s first-class accommodation, exceptional dining and great company.

Booking is now open to all by ringing the Grand Hotel direct on 01323 412345.

Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn

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London Mozart Players
Crouch End Festival Chorus
David Temple conductor
Julia Doyle soprano
Rebecca Alfonwy-Jones alto
Ronald Samm tenor
Ashley Riches bass-baritone

Felix Mendelssohn Vom Himmel hoch
Fanny Hensel Lockung
Felix Mendelssohn Psalm 42
Fanny Hensel Hiob Cantata
Felix Mendelssohn Die erste Walpurgisnacht

From the drama of raging mountainside battles to exquisite choral textures, the music of Felix Mendelssohn and his sister Fanny Hensel contains a wealth of unforgettable experiences. In this concert Crouch End Festival Chorus and the London Mozartr Players present a selection of works from both siblings, giving Fanny the prominence she deserves alongside her better-known brother.

Works by Felix include his Die erste Walpurgisnacht, a dramatic cantata set on a dark mountain where the Druids and Christians are in conflict. Stylistically the music looks back to Haydn and forwards to Wagner and Mahler. Vom Himmel hoch is a beautiful work very much in the style of Felix’s great inspiration, J.S. Bach.

Fanny’s works include Lockung an exquisite a cappella part song, and the more substantial Hiob (Job) Cantata for chorus, soloists and orchestra.

A Fresh Take on Shostakovich: LMP with Sheku Kanneh-Mason

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London Mozart Players
Ruth Rogers leader
Jonathan Bloxham conductor
Sheku Kanneh–Mason cello
James Mayhew artist

Glinka Overture Ruslan and Lyudmila
Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 2 in G major, Op. 126
Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition

The London Mozart Players return to Fairfield Halls in February 2022 with star soloist Sheku Kanneh–Mason presenting a ‘Fresh Take’ on Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 2.

LMP’s ‘Fresh Takes’ is a brand–new concert series which includes an engaging introduction by the performers at the start of the concert. The composer’s influences will be revealed, musical excerpts will be performed by the orchestra, while manuscripts, portraits and more will be projected on an overhead screen in a unique presentation which will enhance the appreciation and emotional impact of the work’s performance.

In the first concert, superstar cellist Sheku Kanneh–Mason performs Shostakovich’s second cello concerto. Interweaving brooding melodies with animated themes, and featuring a virtuosic cadenza, it’s a dramatic work that makes demands on soloist, conductor and orchestra. Sheku will share his own insights into the challenges of this work on stage with conductor Jonathan Bloxham ahead of a full performance. Don’t miss this opportunity to find out more about, and then hear, a rarely performed work, played by one of the UK’s finest musicians.

Mussorgsky’s iconic suite of ten short movements Pictures at an Exhibition is an evergreen favourite. Acclaimed artist James Mayhew will be on hand to paint along to the music, with his artwork inspired by Mussorgsky’s dramatic melodies projected on the overhead screens in Fairfield’s iconic concert hall.

This all–Russian programme will open with Glinka’s exuberant overture to his opera Ruslan and Lyudmila.

 

Special Valentines offer: 2 top price tickets plus 2 drinks: £70 – details here.

Mozart & More | Leia Zhu & LMP

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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  

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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

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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

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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

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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

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‘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

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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

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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.