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In the mid-1780s, Mozart’s Piano Concertos were the talk of the town. For two glorious years, concerts advertising his brand-new piano works would sell out, with the great and good of Vienna flocking to the doors. But by the third year, audience numbers dwindled as popular opinion hesitated over Mozart’s ever more daring works. Our 2024 series covers Mozart’s final five Piano Concertos, composed during the increasingly tumultuous period of his life. Many of these works are now regarded as his greatest masterpieces.

Anyone studying or working at a school or university can get our ‘Education’ tickets for £10. Please bring suitable ID with you on the day to show at the door. All tickets can be bought on the door, as well as over the phone and online.

Imogen Cooper piano
Martin James Bartlett piano
Anna Prohaska soprano
Jonathan Bloxham conductor

Imagine this. The year is 1783 and you’re a fashionable Viennese aristocrat, so of course you’ve heard of Mozart, the 27-year-old genius lighting up music halls across the continent. He might even be your piano teacher. Someone tells you that he’s got something new planned, so you show up to the palace theatre in your newest ‘fit. As the concert starts, you note that the Emperor is in attendance – a good sign. If you could, you’d livetweet the whole thing.

Two hundred years later, you can! It’s LMP’s 75^th birthday this year, so we’re recreating this iconic 1783 concert. It features many of Mozart’s greatest hits including the “Haffner” Symphony and Piano Concertos No.13 and No.5. Joined by soprano Anna Prohaska and pianists Imogen Cooper and Martin James Bartlett, we’ll transport you back to Vienna, 1783, for one night and one night only.

100 Faces of Croydon

Tied to this concert is 100 Faces of Croydon – a community-led photography and music project from London Mozart Players (LMP) which showcases the local people that make our borough special.

Over the last few weeks, 30 local photographers have taken portraits of 100 people in various locations around Croydon. Two photos of each ‘face’ have been taken; one black and white headshot and one coloured photo taken in an environment which symbolises what Croydon means to them.

The headshots will be revealed during this concert and then released in an online gallery. During this reveal, the 100 ‘faces’ will participate in a special musical performance.

100 Faces of Croydon is funded and supported by This is Croydon: The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan’s, London Borough of Culture.

Arnold The Fair Field
Coleridge-Taylor Four Novelletten for Strings
Haydn Trumpet Concerto in E Flat
Mozart Symphony No.40
Matilda Lloyd trumpet
Jonathan Bloxham conductor
Simon Blendis leader

In medieval times, Croydon was famous for its funfair. People would come from far and wide to browse the stalls and enjoy the entertainment, and the area came to be known as the Fair Field. When Fairfield Halls opened on this site in 1962, this formalised its centuries-old status as the entertainment centre of south London. In 1988, LMP became the Resident Orchestra at Fairfield Halls and Croydon. Our arrival built on the area’s strong tradition of classical music, found also in the form of composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor who lived here over a hundred years ago.

We’re tracing through the development of this historic site, from its early days as a bustling medieval fair to an acoustically outstanding concert hall that has attracted musicians from all over the world. We’re combining it with our history as an orchestra set up to play Mozart and Haydn, before later choosing to make Croydon our home. It’ll also be linked by narration that will connect the four pieces and celebrate the music-making on the site today.

Please note there will be a pre-concert talk from 6.30pm to 7pm on the sun terrace of Fairfield Halls. This talk is free and welcome to all concert attendees.

Faure Cantique de Jean Racine
Mozart Horn Concerto No. 4
Mozart Horn Concerto No. 23
Reineke Flute Concerto
Faure Requiem
London Mozart Players
GDST (Girls’ Day School Trust)
Joanna Tomlinson conductor
Ruth Rogers leader
Peter Jaekel organ

Richard Peat, Timothy Knapman The Sky Engine

London Mozart Players
Ruth Rogers leader
Michael Bawtree conductor
Canterbury Cathedral Choir
David Newsholme
Rebecca Afonwy-Jones mezzo-soprano
Julian Close bass
Kudzanayi Chiwawa narrator

Grieg Holberg Suite
Montgomery Starburst
Britten Simple Symphony
Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending
Tchaikovsky Serenade

Ruth Rogers director

Bliss Pastoral: Lie Strewn the White Flocks
Haydn Mass No. 11 in D minor, ‘Nelson Mass’
London Mozart Players
City of London Choir
Rachel Nicholls soprano
Marta Fontanals-Simmons mezzo-soprano
Mark Wilde tenor
James Cleverton baritone
Hilary Davan Wetton conductor

Handel Dixit Dominus
Bach Komm Jesu Komm
Purcell O Sing Unto the Lord
Monteverdi Beatus Vir
Peruchona Cessate Tympana
London Mozart Players
Southwark Chamber Choir
Jordan Theis conductor
Ruth Rogers leader