The London Mozart Players are moving offices next month to St John the Evangelist in Upper Norwood.

The London Mozart Players’ performing at the Fairfield Halls

With the temporary closure of the Fairfield Halls, the current location of their administration office, “this move will see the LMP become a community-located orchestra”, the Mozart Players say.

“The orchestra will create a new concert series and further develop their community and education programme LMP Voyager,” they say.

St John’s church, on Auckland Road, was described as “the most beautiful parish church of modern days” when it was consecrated in 1887. It has been a frequent venue for concerts, both religious and secular, as well as hosting events in community arts and cinema festivals. The venue has also been used for a BBC broadcast and is becoming increasingly renowned for its acoustic for recordings.

But the Victorian building is also victim of “subsidence on an epic scale” and it is subject of a £750,000 fund-raising appeal, launched last year, to help save the church.

Founded in 1949, the London Mozart Players took residency at the Fairfield Halls in 1989. It is the longest surviving chamber orchestra in the country.

“By planting the orchestra in the very heart of the community it opens up the potential to develop a new audience, a concert series, educational and community projects and a real vision for the orchestra,” said Julia Desbruslais, the LMP’s executive director.

“While regeneration projects take place in the centre of Croydon we will be engaging in efforts that will further develop our ties with communities across the Croydon borough, tapping into new areas and securing our place at the centre of all things cultural when the Fairfield re-opens.”

Fr John Pritchard, the vicar of St John’s, welcomed the arrival of the LMP to SE19, saying, “We are a community crammed with artists and musicians, so it is of immense delight to welcome into St John’s the London Mozart Players. This joint venture, of St John’s providing a home for the LMP, and the LMP becoming a community centred and located orchestra means that for both of us, life will never be quite the same. Community focus, educational projects, concerts, teaching, charity – opportunities to celebrate and enhance every aspect of the life of our community through the influence of music and a social community.”

The office move takes place on July 15, when full details of the LMP’s new office phone lines will be published on its website, www.lmp.org

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