Surrey Mozart Players

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. 

April Fredrick

https://www.aprilfredrick.com/

Hailed as ‘astonishing and luminous’ (Bachtracks), soprano April Fredrick loves words and stories and the way that they fire composers’ imaginations and the audience’s imagination in turn, connecting us with those who have come before.  She is a frequent soloist with orchestras across the UK and a champion of new work on both the concert and opera stage.

She is an Associate Artist with the English Symphony Orchestra and frequent soloist with the Nottingham Harmonic Choir, treasuring with both the deeper connection and level of music-making that frequent collaboration allows. Recent work includes the soprano solos in forthcoming recordings of Grace Williams’ Missa Cambrensis with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under Adrian Partington and Donald Fraser’s Ancient Chinese Lyrics with the English Chamber Orchestra, Steve Elcock’s The Wreck at the 2024 Elgar Festival and Mahler Symphony no. 4 and Strauss’ Vier Letzte Lieder at the Colorado MahlerFest under Kenneth Woods as well as under Philip Ellis with the West Forest Sinfonia.  She also devised The Life That Suits Me Well, a show about the marriage of Richard and Pauline Strauss, in which many of this concert's songs featured.

Upcoming work includes Howells' Hymnus Paridisi and Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Nottingham Harmonic Choir, Haydn's Nelson Mass with the Wimbledon Choral Society at Cadogan Hall, an interleaved Lenten programme of J.S. Bach, C.P.E Bach, and Handel's Messiah and Brockes Passion and a dramatised version of Bach's St John Passion with Dei Gratia Baroque Ensemble (of which she is a founding member), a recital of English song at the Elgar Festival with composer-pianist Eric McElroy, Mahler’s monumental Symphony no. 8 with the Bach Choir and the Philharmonia Orchestra under David Hill at St Paul’s Cathedral, and Britten’s Les Illuminations and Rachmaninov’s Vocalise with the Academy of St Thomas.

To follow

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

Holy Trinity Church
High Street
Guildford
GU1 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, Haselmere and Ascot.

Parking

The nearest car park is:

Castle Car Park, Sydenham Road, GU1 3RW (for Holy Trinity & Trinity Centre)

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.  There is a disabled toilet in the church. 

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.