The Earl and Countess of Wessex are to be the guests of honour at the final classical music concert to be held at the Fairfield Halls before its temporary closure for refurbishment.
The Wessexes are to be the guests of honour at the Fairfield Halls on its final classical concert before the refit
The Halls were opened in 1962 with a performance attended by Prince Edward’s grandmother, the Queen Mother.
Queen & Country, on June 30, featuring the London Mozart Players, will celebrate the Queen’s 90th birthday, as well as honouring the centenary of the Somme.
Led by conductor Dominic Peckham, (a mentor on Gareth Malone’s The Naked Choir on BBC2, and assistant director of the National Youth Choir), this concert will pull together many different art forms and cross sections of the Croydon community, including schools, choirs, artists, young composers, local brass bands and dance groups.
The London Mozart Players received a significant subsidy from Croydon Council for many years when it was based at the Halls. The Halls are to undergo a £30-million refurbishment, and are due to re-open in 2018.
“The London Mozart Players have put together a creative piece that will showcase what Croydon’s talented young people have to offer,” said Paula Murray, the council’s new culture director. “Celebrating Croydon’s cultural and artistic diversity in events like this is an important part of the future development of the borough.”
The evening’s programme includes performances from the Countess of Wessex String Orchestra, Bocheng Wang (the winner of the 2015 Croydon Concerto competition), the Citadel Band of the Salvation Army, and a chorus of voices made up of Croydon school children and community choirs.
As well as performances of music by Haydn, Handel and Mozart, the concert will conclude with a specially commissioned piece by the British composer Roxanna Panufnik Fanfare for Fairfield.
Other elements of this multi-faceted project include: a royal portrait competition for local schools which will be exhibited in the foyer of the Halls, a pre-concert performance from Croydon music and arts students, and a fanfare writing competition for young composers from local secondary schools. Performed by the London Mozart Players, the winning fanfare will feature as the opening piece to the concert.
Tickets are £25, £23, £20, £16, £10. For more information on the programme and to book tickets, visit the Fairfield Halls website or call the box office on 020 8688 9291.
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