The Beginning 
On 11 February 1949, a concert took place at the Wigmore Hall in London. Harry Blech, already a well-known violinist who was beginning to turn his hand to conducting, was asked by the pianist Dorothea Braus to form an orchestra with which she could play two Mozart piano concertos. Blech called this orchestra the London Mozart Players, having previously run two ad hoc groups called the London Wind Players and the London Symphonic Players. The concert also included two Mozart symphonies, Nos. 28 in C and 29 in A, and was, by all accounts, a great success. Indeed, it was so much of a success that Harry Blech realised that he had found an audience for the music he wanted to perform; that of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and their contemporaries. Thus began an uninterrupted 57 years of music making that we, Harry Blech’s successors, are proud to be continuing. Guiding Principles Looking back at 57 years of the London Mozart Players, perhaps the most remarkable thing that emerges is how consistent the orchestra’s aims and objectives have been.  Having identified a demand for top quality performances of the music of the classical era, Harry Blech set out to fulfil it in two ways: by concentrating on a repertoire based on Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, Beethoven and their contemporaries, plus complimentary works using a similar-sized orchestra; and by taking the finest conductors, soloists and orchestral players out of London to regional concert halls and small scale rural venues. These have remained the LMP’s main guiding principles, helped in no small way by the remarkable fact that in 57 years the orchestra has had just four music directors: Blech himself, who was at the helm for 35 years until his retirement in 1984 (his final concert with the orchestra marked the Fairfield Hall’s 30th Anniversary in 1992); Jane Glover, Music Director from the beginning of 1984 until the beginning of 1992; Matthias Bamert, Glover’s successor until 2000; and the present Music Director Andrew Parrott. Harry Blech's era Each Music Director's era has been characterised by significant developments, and each has put their own stamp on the LMP’s music-making. Harry Blech was a towering figure in the country’s musical life, both in London and, as outlined above, in festivals, concert series, towns and villages throughout the UK. The LMP, by 1951, was already well enough regarded to be invited to appear in the Royal Festival Hall’s first week of concerts, and the orchestra has appeared at the South Bank every year since, switching its operation to the usually more appropriately-sized Queen Elizabeth Hall after its opening.  Under Blech, the orchestra began to tour abroad, making its first overseas visit to Italy by way of Amsterdam in 1956, and also worked with many other great musicians, both conductors and soloists, too numerous to list here. The orchestra made many commercial recordings under Blech and was also regularly broadcast on the Third Programme and its successor, BBC Radio 3. The development of the orchestra led ultimately to the establishment of a full-time administration, after a number of years of part-time and voluntary help. New groups had been formed along similar lines to the London Mozart Players, often through the vision of one conductor or group of musicians, including the English Chamber Orchestra and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and the period instrument movement had become well established, providing an alternative type of performance of the LMP’s core repertoire. When looking for a successor to Blech, the LMP Board and management turned to Jane Glover, first to plan a series of concerts and, soon afterwards, to offer the position of Music Director.  Jane Glover takes over  In her seven years in the role, Jane Glover introduced much new repertoire to the LMP concert programmes, occasionally meeting audience resistance to the more contemporary works but ultimately with great success, particularly for the Music of Two Decades series that explored works from the 1780s and 1980s. She also appointed Howard Shelley and Andrew Parrott as Associate Conductors. With Glover the LMP made a number of well-received television broadcasts and, of course, benefited from the global exposure of Mozart’s bicentennial year in 1991, culminating in a memorable televised performance of Mozart’s Requiem from St Paul’s Cathedral, timed to finish to the exact minute of the 200th anniversary of Mozart’s death. This performance was attended by HRH The Prince Edward, who had become the orchestra’s Patron in 1990 and who has since actively supported the orchestra at concerts in the UK and on tours abroad, as well as assisting with the orchestra’s fundraising activities.
The Croydon Residency The most significant development of Jane Glover’s time with the orchestra was the LMP’s move to Croydon in 1989, to become Resident Orchestra of the London Borough of Croydon and of Fairfield Hall.  This followed a successful series of concerts at Fairfield in 1988, supported by Greater London Arts, which had shown a strong potential following for the orchestra in the Borough, and also demonstrated the excellence of Fairfield’s acoustics for the LMP’s repertoire. Croydon Council and Nestlé, whose UK headquarters are opposite Fairfield, were approached for support, and a unique tripartite alliance was formed, between local authority, private sector sponsor and arts organisation. The LMP in the wider community One of the main aims of this new residency was to take the orchestra and its individual musicians out of the concert hall and into the wider community. Croydon Council has therefore underwritten the costs of the LMP’s annual concert series at Fairfield and also helped with office accommodation for the orchestra’s administration, while Nestlé’s sponsorship has enabled the LMP to develop one of the country’s most extensive orchestra community and education programmes. From relatively modest beginnings in 1989, this programme has grown into a very significant part of the orchestra’s life, and, in Croydon alone, now encompasses more than 100 events each year, with groups of musicians performing in every conceivable type of venue, from residential care homes to special schools, hospices and hospital wards to day centres, and in virtually every school and college in the Borough.  The value of this work cannot be underestimated, particularly when the musicians are playing to people with little or no access to live performance, or giving young children their first experience of classical music played by professional musicians. Nestlé’s support has also grown, enabling the orchestra, along with Kids’ Club Network, to develop a nationwide series of Nestlé Music Days. These started in 1997, and each Day takes the musicians into two primary schools and an after-school club, with a specially-devised programme which caters for the very different needs of children in a school environment and a club. The success of this programme has led to the production by the LMP and Kids’ Clubs Network of Sounds Like Fun, a CD and booklet package, and Music for Everyone for after school clubs and their playworkers, which contains rhythm games, instrumental demonstrations and music ranging from Mozart to film themes.
Matthias Bamert The development of regional associations was one of the mainstays of Matthias Bamert’s time with the London Mozart Players, along with a considerable body of recording with Chandos Records (which continues to this day), and some high-profile international touring. Particularly notable was the LMP’s long-awaited début in the Musikverein in Vienna in April 1996, where the orchestra dared to perform Mozart and Schubert to the Viennese, and did so with great success. Bamert’s major  recording project has been the Contemporaries of Mozart series, symphonies by composers whose works were often as well-known as Mozart’s, but have now lapsed into obscurity. Many CDs have so far been released, including relatively familiar names such as Clementi and Michael Haydn, and little known ones such as the Catalan composer Baguer and Anton Rosetti, an Austrian who adopted a more fashionable Italian name. More Contemporaries of Mozart recordings are currently due for release and in development. Working alongside Matthias Bamert during his time as Music Director with the LMP was the conductor and pianist Howard Shelley, who was Associate Conductor and Principal Guest Conductor with the LMP from 1990-1998. Shelley has performed as both conductor and soloist/director with the orchestra throughout the UK and overseas, and he continues to make several appearances with the orchestra every year. Howard Shelley has also made many critically acclaimed recordings, again with Chandos, of piano concertos by Mozart (six volumes), Mendelssohn and Hummel. Succeeding Shelley as Principal Guest Conductor in 1999 was the legendary flautist Sir James Galway, who first conducted the LMP in three major festivals in 1996. Like Shelley, Galway has combined the dual roles of conductor and soloist to critical acclaim, and has also worked with the orchestra on several recordings. Andrew Parrott The British conductor Andrew Parrott was appointed as Music Director of the LMP from September 2000, succeeding Matthias Bamert. A specialist in the LMP's core repertoire, and also a renowned choral and opera conductor, Andrew Parrott has broadened the scope of the orchestra’s work, introducing some early Romantic symphonies as well as more vocal and choral music. Additionally, his collaboration with the LMP’s Theatrical Advisor Simon Callow has led to the creation of many exciting projects, including the first UK performances of the play Everyman with Sibelius’s complete incidental music, and the commissioning of composer Jonathan Dove and author Anthony Horowitz for The Crocodiamond, a new piece for narrator and orchestra for a family audience. He was the artistic director of the Mozart Anniversary weekend in January 2006.
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