Surrey Mozart Players
Our Next Concert
Tickets
Adults: £21
21 & under: £5
Tickets also available via orchestra members and on the door until sold out
More about the conductor
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, community and youth groups throughout his career. He is very much looking forward to a long and exciting collaboration with Surrey Mozart Players as their new Music Director, working together with this wonderful orchestra on the next stage of their already distinguished musical journey.
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 since 1989, he has conducted the majority of their productions. He also 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, 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 of media. A selection of his work can be seen on his website www.philipellisconductor.com and on instagram @philellisart.
More about the soloist
Janice Watson
Janice Watson is one of the worlds’ major sopranos, renowned for the beauty of her sound. A flautist originally, she began taking singing seriously at the instigation of tenor Phillip Langridge. She studied firstly with Johanna Peters at the Guildhall in London, then later with Renata Scotto. There followed a period at the Ravel Institute in Ciboure, culminating in a Concert performance of Sheherezade with Michel Plasson and the Toulouse Symphony Orchestra. Then at the age of 23 she won the Kathleen Ferrier Award and the Royal Overseas League, which launched her into the upper levels of the singing profession.
Janice has performed in most of the major opera houses of the world including; Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera New York, Chicago, Santa Fe, San Francisco, Vienna, Paris, Lyon, Amsterdam, Berlin, Hamburg, La Scala Milan, Naples, Turin, Sydney, Beijing, Tokyo, and has been a regular guest with both English National Opera and Welsh National Opera.
Conductors she has worked with include; Riccardo Chailly, Ed Gardner, Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir Bernard Haitink, Neeme Jervi, Trevor Pinnock, John Elliot Gardiner, Franz Welser-Möst, Danielle Gatti, Robin Ticciati, David Atherton, David Parry, David Hill, Richard Hickox, Franz Bruggen, Gustavo Dudamel, Antonio Pappano, Andre Previn, Kurt Masur, Mark Elder, Donald Runnicles, Martin Brabbins, Vassily Sinaisky, and Sir Andrew Davis.
Roles include; Countess (Nozze di Figaro), Ellen Orford, Arabella, Daphne, Ariadne, Marschallin, Salome, Musetta, Katja Kabanova, Jenufa, Blanche & Stella (Streetcar named Desire), Alice Ford, Leonore, Elisabetta (Don Carlos), Elsa (Lohengrin), Elisabeth (Tannhaüser), Sieglinde, Isolde, Kundry, Madame Lidoine (Carmelites) Hecuba (King Priam).
Janice has also done many recordings. Her performance of Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes for Chandos with Richard Hickox and LSO won her a Grammy, and she has received 2 further nominations. Other recordings include Elisabeth (Don Carlos) and Jenufa for Chandos, A Poisoned Kiss, Owen Wingrave, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Dvorak Stabat Mater, Beethoven Missa Solemnis & Ah Perfido, Poulenc Gloria and Stabat Mater, Bernard Hermann’s ‘Citizen Cane’-Saalambo’s Aria with the Scottish National Orchestra. A recent recording of Delius Mass of Life and Prelude & Idyll for Naxos was recently CD of the week both on Radio3 and in Gramophone magazine.
Concert work includes the Britten Spring Symphony at The Tanglewood Festival in Boston, Die Walküre in Hong Kong, a concert tour of the Far East with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, many performances of the Britten War Requiem, Vaughan-Williams’ Sea Symphony, Mahler Symphonies, Strauss 4 Last Songs, Walton’s Facade (Janice has performed the Speaking role in duet with Sir Andrew Davis), Rachmaninov’s “The Bells”, Beethoven Masses, Mozart Mass in C and Requiem, and many Oratorios by Handel and Mendelssohn. Janice has sung many times at the Royal Albert Hall Proms and the Edinburgh Festival.
© Music International
https://musicint.co.uk/
More about the music
Vaughan Williams - Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
One of the most evocative and best loved of all pieces of English music – this is Vaughan Williams tribute to his predecessor and hero of British church music. Conceived for a cathedral acoustic with antiphonal effects, this passionate and lyrical masterpiece should sound wonderful filling the generous acoustics of Holy Trinity Church, Guildford
Wagner - Wesendonck Lieder
The great and celebrated soprano Janice Watson joins Surrey Mozart Players to perform this haunting, deeply felt and intimate set of songs. Wagner’s music takes the poetry of the married woman he was so passionately in love with, setting to music the mutual but unconsummated passion that they felt for each other; musical ideas he would use in his great tragic opera Tristan & Isolde.
Respighi - The Birds
Respighi’s delicate and charming tribute to some of the masters of keyboard miniatures of the Baroque period. All the original pieces were inspired by birds, but Respighi – the master of orchestration - redresses them in the multi-layered orchestral sounds of the 20th Century. The Birds continued his obsession with transforming earlier masterpieces, that began with his equally loved and famous Ancient Airs and Dances.
Mahler - 'Blumine' Movement (Flowers)
Written as a short middle movement for the original version of his First Symphony – The Titan. This glorious little miniature is the perfect opposite to the struggle and bombast of the rest of that major work. An unassuming theme for solo trumpet is given the full benefit of Mahler’s genius to produce this perfect little gem for a very modest sized orchestra.
Bizet - Jeux d’enfants
An extra bonus work to complete our Surrey Mozart Players November programme. Five perfect little miniatures, overflowing with charm, delicacy and nostalgia for the innocence of childhood, each takes its inspiration from a classic nursery toy, be it a spinning top or a sad doll; Bizet’s musical imagination is a delight to hear.
©Philip Ellis, October 2024
More about the venue
Venue Location
The concert takes place at Holy Trinity Church in the centre of Guildford.
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, 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.
Refreshments
Drinks will be available before the concert and during the interval.
Our Last Concert
This was our first concert of the 2024-2025 season. A wonderful evening of music featuring piano soloist, Antoine Préat gloriously performing Ravel's brilliant Piano Concerto in G. Vaughan Williams The Wasps Overture and Sibelius Symphony No. 3 completed the programme.
Visitors to Guildford town centre on the afternoon of the concert were treated to an impromptu preview during our open rehearsal (see video).
PROGRAMME
Read the concert programme here.
Scroll through or click on the top right corner to display in full.