Hertfordshire Chorus & David Temple
Biographie Hertfordshire Chorus & David Temple
London Mozart Players
Founded by Harry Blech in 1949 as the UK’s first chamber orchestra, the London Mozart Players (LMP) has achieved international renown for its outstanding live performances and CD recordings of the core Classical repertoire. Music Directors have included Gérard Korsten, Andrew Parrott, Matthias Bamert and Jane Glover, who grew and developed the orchestras strong Classical tradition. The LMP enjoys connections with Hilary Davan Wetton as Associate Conductor, and Howard Shelley as Conductor Laureate, and continues to work closely with many of the world’s finest conductors and soloists, including Tasmin Little and Anthony Marwood. In 2015 the LMP appointed cellist Laura van der Heijden as its first Young Artist in Residence.
In addition the LMP also plays an active part in contemporary music, giving many world premières and commissioning new works, in recent years by composers including Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Tarik O’Regan, Sally Beamish, Cecilia McDowall, Lynne Plowman, Fraser Trainer and Jonathan Dove. In March 2011 the LMP appointed Roxanna Panufnik as Associate Composer.
The LMP has been committed to providing a platform for sharing the creative arts with schools and communities for over 25 years. LMP Voyager is an education and community hub which allows music to inspire, educate & enrich communities through an extensive programme of work across the UK. The LMP have a vast programme of work in the community, from visiting day care centres and care homes to providing community concerts for elderly and disabled people. The LMP is associated with Royal Holloway University of London, Wellington College, the Portsmouth Grammar School and the Whitgift Foundation Schools in Croydon. Other ongoing ventures include visiting care homes and concert demonstrations in primary and secondary schools.
Touring is a major part of the orchestra’s schedule, with regular appearances at festivals and concert series throughout the UK and abroad. Overseas, the LMP has visited China, Spain, Belgium, France and Germany. Recording has played a major part in the orchestra’s life for many years. A long relationship with Chandos includes many recordings of works by Haydn and Mozart and an acclaimed Contemporaries of Mozart series numbers over 20 CDs. New Naxos release Flowers of the Field in collaboration with City of London Choir, Roderick Williams and Hilary Davan Wetton reached No.1 in the Classical Album Charts.
The LMP enjoys the patronage of HRH The Earl of Wessex. In June 2014 the LMP began a new and exciting phase in its history, becoming the first chamber orchestra in the UK to be managed both operationally and artistically by the players.
Hertfordshire Chorus
Known for commissioning new music, high-quality and passionate singing, tackling difficult and rarely performed music as well as much-loved and well-known pieces, Hertfordshire Chorus is one of the UK’s finest symphonic choirs. The choir performs regularly in the UK’s major concert halls, appears frequently with the BBC Concert Orchestra and with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, has worked with Daniele Gatti and José Carreras and has made numerous recordings. Its members sing regularly in other concerts, including the BBC Proms. David Temple, one of the leading choral conductors in the country, has been its Musical Director since 2000.
The Chorus has a special fund to commission new music and under David Temple’s direction its drive to encourage young British composers has produced some of the most outstanding and successful new choral music of recent times, including Will Todd’s Mass in Blue, with pieces being performed by choirs around the world. The Chorus is particularly proud of the work it does with children and young people to help encourage the next generation of choral singers and music enthusiasts.
Ode to a Nightingale (by Will Todd) and Codebreaker (James McCarthy) were both commissioned by the Chorus, with generous help from individual sponsors. The works were premiered in London’s Barbican Hall and were acclaimed by audiences and critics alike, drawn into them by the emotional power and beauty of the music and words. Their universal themes of love, science, loneliness and social injustice resonate with audiences as they are strikingly relevant to the times in which we live today. Codebreaker received its US premiere in April 2017.
David Temple
one of the country’s foremost choral directors, founded and continues to conduct Crouch End Festival Chorus. Musical Director of Hertfordshire Chorus since 2000, he has been instrumental in building the choir to a very high standard of performance.
Concert highlights with Hertfordshire Chorus include critically acclaimed performances of Elgar’s The Kingdom and The Apostles in St Albans Cathedral, frequent visits to Sage Gateshead, and the many commissions of the choir, including Codebreaker and Ode to a Nightingale. David is passionate about supporting the development of new music.
David has worked with many eminent conductors including Valery Gergiev, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Semyon Bychkov and Edward Gardner, preparing choirs for major performances. With Crouch End Festival Chorus he has completed a recording of Bach’s St John Passion for Chandos Records.
Not only involved with traditional classical music, David has collaborated closely for many years with Ray Davies, Oasis—and more recently, Noel Gallagher—as well as Goldfrapp, Travis, Bombay Bicycle Club and Basement Jaxx.
Recording work includes Bach’s St John Passion, music for the BBC’s Doctor Who at Air Studios and soundtracks such as Journey to the Center of the Earth, Prince Caspian and The Awakening. David is the regular UK chorusmaster for Ennio Morricone and Andrea Bocelli.
