London Mozart Players

The London Mozart Players, the UK’s longest established chamber orchestra, is thrilled to be celebrating its

70th birthday in 2019. Founded in 1949 by Harry Blech to delight audiences with the works of Mozart and

Haydn, the orchestra is known for its unmistakable British roots. Over the last seventy years, the LMP has

developed an outstanding reputation for adventurous, ambitious programming from Baroque through to

genre-crossing contemporary music, and continues to build on its long history of association with many of the

world’s finest artists including Sir James Galway, Dame Felicity Lott, Jane Glover, Howard Shelley, Nicola

Benedetti, John Suchet and Simon Callow. The orchestra enjoys an international reputation, touring

extensively throughout Europe and the Far East, most recently Dubai and Hong Kong, and records frequently

for Naxos, Chandos and Hyperion Records.

The London Mozart Players regularly performs on London’s premier concert platforms, including the Royal

Festival Hall, St John’s Smith Square and Cadogan Hall as well as cathedrals and other concert venues across

the UK. LMP is the resident orchestra at Croydon’s Fairfield Halls and will celebrate this venue’s reopening

after refurbishment in September 2019 with a gala concert which will also celebrate the orchestra’s 70th

birthday. The orchestra’s anniversary year sees a wide range of concerts in the capital’s top concert venues

including performances at King’s Place, Conway Hall and a return to Southbank’s Queen Elizabeth Hall.

As resident orchestra of Croydon for nearly 30 years, the ensemble has shown an invigorated and growing

commitment to the borough’s cultural life. In 2016, LMP relocated its office from Fairfield Halls to St John the

Evangelist, Upper Norwood, undertaking a rich programme of initiatives within the local community. The

orchestra has brought classical music stars Nicola Benedetti, Michael Collins, Sheku Kanneh-Mason and

Thomas Trotter to Upper Norwood in world-class performances, and has implemented a tailored calendar of

events including specialist family concerts and inclusive collaborations with local community groups and

schools.

As one of the original pioneers of orchestral outreach work, LMP has enjoyed a host of relationships with

schools and music hubs across the UK (and recently in Dubai and Hong Kong), working with many teachers and

heads of music to inspire the next generation of musicians and music lovers. As well as working with schools,

LMP continues its 70-year tradition of promoting young up-and-coming musicians. Nicola Benedetti,

Jacqueline du Pré and Jan Pascal Tortelier are just three of many young musical virtuosi championed early in

their careers by the orchestra.

The orchestra’s award-winning 2017 series #LMPOnTheMove saw the ensemble pushing the perceived

boundaries of classical music performance in Croydon, welcoming new audiences and partnerships. Including a

live film score played on top of a shopping mall car park and a house music set at Boxpark with young

DJ/producer Shift K3Y, #LMPOnTheMove was commended for its innovative outlook and success in reaching

the diverse communities of the borough. #LMPOnTheMove 2018 proved to be an equally popular mix of fun

and unexpected events, and the 2019 series looks like being the most exciting yet!

The LMP enjoys a special relationship with its audience and has thriving Friends and Sponsors programmes.

The orchestra always tries to break down the ‘fourth’ wall between musicians and audience, and this is

achieved in part as the orchestra is self-directed. Many concerts, such as it’s acclaimed ‘Piano Explored’ series,

involves a ‘deconstruction’ of the works performed, allowing greater understanding and engagement with the

music and with the musicians themselves.

LMP is the only professional orchestra in the UK to be managed both operationally and artistically by the

players. The orchestra has enjoyed the patronage of HRH The Earl of Wessex since 1988.