We were delighted to host a concert with the London Mozart Players on Monday 5 July, which offered our students an unparalleled opportunity to perform alongside, and be inspired by, some of the country’s finest musicians. For this performance, the London Mozart Players presented a selection of well-known orchestral items as well as accompanying the school choir in Vivaldi’s Gloria. The programme also included Johann Strauss’ Emperor Waltz played by the London Mozart Players alongside the school orchestra. The London Mozart Players accompanied Thomas Rotheray (Piano soloist in Year 12) in Mozart’s Piano concerto No. 21. Special mentions also go to our singers Charlotte and Gemma Cassano and Celeste Hexter.

The concert also included the premiere of 'The Caledonian Canal' a composition by Louis Upton-Wheeler who left St. Joseph's College in the Summer of 2020 following completion of his A levels. For his A level music examination, Louis composed the piece based on a 'brief' set by the Exam Board. Because A levels were disrupted due to the pandemic, the composition had to remain unperformed by live musicians, finally receiving its first performance at this concert. Louis dedicated the piece to our headmaster Andrew Colpus, and following the performance of the piece by the London Mozart Players, Louis presented a specially prepared, unique copy of the score to Mr Colpus. In his closing speech, the Headmaster expressed his delight in receiving  this gift and explained that he has navigated the entire Caledonian Canal by boat and it is a place of which he has many fond memories. This provided a very special and poignant moment to round off the evening.

We would like to thank the London Mozart Players for an extremely memorable experience.

About the London Mozart Players

The London Mozart Players, the UK’s longest established chamber orchestra, was 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 72 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, James Ehnes, 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, CPO, Signum and Hyperion Records. The London Mozart Players has remained active throughout the pandemic. Not only was this player-led chamber orchestra the first ensemble to offer daily unique online content throughout lockdown with ‘At Home with LMP’ (available to view on YouTube), it was also the first UK orchestra to perform after restrictions were lifted in mid-June 2020, with their LMP Live! concert series with Tasmin Little and Jennifer Pike attracting an audience of over 1 million via Classic FM’s social media channels. In autumn 2020, LMP was in the vanguard of UK orchestras testing the waters with paid-for online orchestral concerts to support their musicians, with their eight-concert Classical Club series