The London Mozart Players are celebrating their 70th anniversary (photo: Kevin Day/LMP).

London Mozart Players tune up for first concert at Opus

The London Mozart Players, the UK’s longest-established chamber orchestra, are the new Artists in Residence at Opus Theatre, where they plan to deliver an exciting programme of classical music concerts and outreach work throughout the 2019/20 season. The orchestra’s Cat Fuller explains.

Building on the orchestra’s pioneering work in Upper Norwood in south London, where it is firmly embedded in the local community, the London Mozart Players look forward to building a similar relationship with the people of Hastings, developing new audiences for classical music, inspiring young people and delivering a series of world-class concerts with high-profile artistes.

Lauren Zhang.

The season will include school concerts, side-by-side performances with the young musicians of Hastings, musical visits to nursery schools, children’s events in libraries and concerts at the Opus Theatre, culminating in a community performance of the long-awaited multi-faith oratorio written by local composer and Opus director Polo Piatti.

The launch concert on Saturday 30 November is a showcase for young talent as dazzling pianist and BBC Young Musician winner (2018) Lauren Zhang and gifted local flautist Daisy Noton join the LMP to demonstrate their virtuosic abilities in two challenging Mozart works – his Piano Concerto No. 9 and his Flute Concerto No. 1. The concert opens with Grieg’s popular and supremely crafted Holberg Suite, and closes with Haydn’s moving ‘Sturm und Drang’ style Symphony No. 44 ‘Trauer’.

70th birthday celebrations

The first concert in the LMP’s one-year residency marks a celebratory moment in the orchestra’s 70th birthday year which has seen concerts held at the Southbank’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, a birthday concert halfway up the iconic Shard at the Shangri-La Hotel At The Shard and the gala re-opening concert at Croydon’s Fairfield Halls where the LMP has been resident for 30 years.

Daisy Noton.

Julia Desbruslais, the LMP’s executive director, commented: “We love taking classical music around the UK, and our ‘LMP by the Sea’ residency will give us the opportunity to inspire young musicians through our outreach work in and around Hastings, and perform to music lovers of all generations at the Opus Theatre. This is an exciting venture for the orchestra and we are very much looking forward to sharing our passion for music with our new friends on the south coast.”

Polo Piatti said: “We are extremely proud to welcome the acclaimed London Mozart Players as the new Artists in Residence at the Opus Theatre. The LMP’s residency is a dream come true, promising to become not only a great performance partnership for this iconic venue, but also a wonderful opportunity for local artistes and young musicians to perform alongside these world-class musicians.”

The residency is supported by the Arts Council Great Britain, the Magdalen and Lasher Educational Foundation, Foyle Foundation, the Isabel Blackman Foundation and the Hastings Arts and Culture Scheme.

London Mozart Players By the Sea, with Lauren Zhang and Daisy Noton Saturday 30 November, 7pm. Opus Theatre, 24-25 Cambridge Road, Hastings TN34 1DJ. Tickets – £13, concessions £11, 16-25 year-olds £8 and under 16s £5 – are available online.

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