Surrey Mozart Players

Adults: £21
21 & under: £5

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Philip Ellis
www.philipellisconductor.com

This concert will be conducted by Philip Ellis who was appointed as Music Director of the Surrey Mozart Players in March 2023.  

Since winning first prize in the Leeds Conductors’ Competition in 1991, Philip Ellis has worked extensively throughout the UK conducting many concerts with the Philharmonia, London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Hallé, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Concert Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, London Mozart Players, English Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra of Opera North, City of London Sinfonia, Northern Sinfonia and over 400 concerts with English Sinfonia.  He is a passionate supporter of Music Education and has worked extensively with amateur orchestras, youth and community groups throughout his career. 

He made his international debut conducting the Singapore Symphony Orchestra in 1987, leading to engagements with Hong Kong Philharmonic, Netherlands Radio Symphony, Belgian National Orchestra, Flanders Symphony, St Petersburg Philharmonic, St Petersburg Symphony, National Orchestra of Mexico, Western Australian Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Melbourne Symphony, Würtembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen, Neue Philharmonie Westfallen and many broadcast concerts with the BRTN Philharmonic (Brussels) for radio and television.

Philip Ellis works extensively as a conductor for dance.  As conductor for Birmingham Royal Ballet 1989-2025, he conducted the majority of their productions.  He regularly guest conducts for international ballet companies: The Royal Ballet at Covent Garden, La Scala Ballet in Milan, Paris Opera Ballet at the Opera Garnier, The Australian Ballet, Finnish National Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Mikhailovsky Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Hong Kong Ballet, Tokyo Ballet, Rome Opera Ballet, Korean National Ballet and Gothenburg Ballet.

On CD, he has recorded Prokofiev Peter and the Wolf and Saint-Saëns Carnival of the Animals with the Philharmonia. Copland Rodeo, Appalachian Spring, Billy the Kid, El Salon Mexico and a series of Concert Classics discs with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Contemporary Clarinet Concertos for Nimbus with Emma Johnson and Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations with Dimitri Ferschtman, recorded live in concert from the Concertgebouw Hall in Amsterdam.   

In his free time he is a keen artist, particularly interested in portraiture, working in a wide range media. A selection of his work can be seen on his website www.philipellisconductor.com and on instagram @philellisart. 

Antonina Suhanova - Piano

https://antoninasuhanova.com/

Pianist Antonina Suhanova has performed on international stages since 2000. After studies with Ludmila Kiselenko, Gunta Boža and Professor Juris Kalnciems in her native Latvia, she was admitted to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (GSMD, London) where from 2012 to 2018 she acquired First Class Bachelor of Music and Master of Performance degrees, both with distinction, under the tutelage of the distinguished British pianist Ronan O’Hora. During her studies, Antonina participated in numerous masterclasses of such world-renowned pianists as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Idil Biret, Pavel Gililov, Jaques Rouvier, Steven Osborne, Matti Raekallio, Richard Goode, Robert Levin and Yefim Bronfman.

Antonina Suhanova has performed at the Steinway Hall in New York, the Wiener Saal in Salzburg, Jerwood Hall, LSO St Luke’s, St Martin-in-the-Fields, St James’s Piccadilly, Milton Court Concert Hall and Barbican Hall in London, the Riga Great Guild Hall, the Moscow International House of Music, and the Erin Arts Centre. She has appeared as a soloist with the “Moscow Virtuosi” Chamber Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra, “Sinfonia Concertante” Chamber Orchestra, Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, Liepaja Symphony Orchestra, and other collectives, collaborating with such distinguished conductors as Andris Nelsons and Vladimir Spivakov. Antonina has performed at renowned festivals in the United Kingdom, USA, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Latvia, Switzerland, Austria and Russia. She made her debut performance at the Barbican Hall with the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Adrian Leaper as a finalist of the Guildhall Gold Medal Prize in 2016. In 2018, her solo debut at the Wigmore Hall was broadcasted live on BBC Radio 3. In 2020 as the Musicians’ Company prize winner Antonina made her solo debut at the Southbank Centre Purcell Room. Performances of Antonina Suhanova have also been broadcasted by Latvian Radio 3 “Klasika”, Russian TV Channel One and Switzerland radio Espace 2.

Antonina is a recipient of the Hattori Foundation Senior Award, the Kenneth Loveland Gift, Help Musicians UK awards, the Drake Calleja Trust award, Making Music UK, the Musicians’ Company award, the William Brown prize in the Scottish International Piano Competition (2017) and a nominee for the International German Piano Award 2018. After completing the Artist Diploma course at the GSMD with distinction, Antonina was appointed junior fellow of the school. In 2019, she became a winner of the Help Musicians UK Transmission Fund award, the Making Music UK Philip and Dorothy Green Young Artists award, and the Musicians’ Company award.

Previous Performance with the Surrey Mozart Players

25th March 2023 - Shostakovich Piano Concerto No. 2 at the Menuhin Hall.

Biography © Antonina Suhanova (antoninasuhanova.com)
Photo ©  Sintija Sandore

• Humperdinck - Hansel & Gretel Prelude

• Brahms - Piano Concerto No. 2
  (Soloist - Antonina Suhanova)

• Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 1

SMP are delighted to welcome back pianist Antonina Suhanova as soloist in Brahms: Piano Concerto No.2.  One of the greatest challenges of the piano repertoire: massive in stature, but intoxicating in its blend of ardour, sensitivity and emotional depth.

Tchaikovsky’s first symphony is one of his most beguilingly beautiful and atmospheric works, written with such passion and lyrical joy and sub-titled a Winter’s Journey. It is a glorious example of his talent for celebrating nature and his surroundings.  The concert opens with another treat on a smaller scale Humperdinck’s delicate and magnificent Prelude to Hansel and Gretel, in which he emulates his master Wagner’s feats of counterpoint in the Mastersingers Overture, but with a magically light touch.

 © Philip Ellis

Venue Location

The concert takes place at Holy Trinity Church in the centre of Guildford.

Website: www.htsmguildford.

Holy Trinity Church
High Street
Guildford
GR1 3RR

By Road

Guildford is reached via the A3 (London or Portsmouth directions).  

By Train

The church is approximately 10 minutes walk from Guildford Mainline Station which is served by regular trains to/from London Waterloo and Victoria, Portsmouth, Reading, Gatwick Airport, Haslemere and Ascot.

Parking

The nearest car park is:

Castle Car Park
Sydenham Road
GU1 3RW 

Accessibility

A ramp is available at one of the entrances to the church.  Please contact us on surreymozartplayers@gmail.com if you have any specific requirements.

Refreshments

Drinks will be available before the concert and during the interval.

• The concert starts at 7.30pm. 

• There will be an interval of around 20 minutes.  

• The concert is expected to finish around 9.30pm.