On Friday 8 December at 7.30pm, London Mozart Players (LMP) and BH Live will be co-presenting a brand-new festive spectacular, celebrating local talent, musicians and voices at Croydon’s Fairfield Halls.
London-based conductor Tori Longdon will lead LMP’s brass ensemble and a massed choir of local singers including Croydon Voices, Croydon Bach, Croydon Philharmonic and Old Palace of John Whitgift School Choirs. Together they will raise the roof with a selection of Christmas No.1s. and traditional sing-along carols including O Come All Ye Faithful and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.
Joining the ensemble, will be 23-year-old organist Matt Walters, AKA ‘Reductio’, who will play a solo Christmas medley and an organ voluntary.
Tickets for A Very Croydon Christmas can be purchased through Fairfield Halls’ website fairfield.co.uk. Prices start from £15.25 per ticket plus transaction fees.
Steve Turner, Associate Director of Venues for BH Live, which manages Fairfield Halls, said;
“We are delighted to work with our resident orchestra LMP on another exciting project, this time to create a festive showstopper packed with seasonal cheer at the iconic Fairfield Halls during Croydon’s term as London Borough of Culture.”
Ahead of this event, LMP is also presenting a free-to-attend festive showcase in the Fairfield Halls’ Arnhem foyer from 4pm-7.30pm.
Visitors can expect to see music and dance performances from local groups including Beeja Dance, Harris Academy South Norwood Choir, Desiz in London and S.I.N.G a capella choir along with free family craft activities and face painting. As part of a two-day festival of free inclusive festive events across Croydon town centre, the pre-concert showcase is funded and supported by This is Croydon: The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan’s, London Borough of Culture.
Flynn Le Brocq, LMP Chief Executive, commented:
“We’re thrilled to be collaborating with BH Live and local cultural partners for our Christmas spectacular. We were extremely proud to have opened This is Croydon in April 2023 with Oratorio of Hope and we are excited to have the opportunity to bring the Croydon community together once again.”
Fairfield Halls has a long history of staging concerts by some of the world’s most notable classical artists and symphony orchestras, in its world-class concert hall. The 2023/24 International Orchestral Concert Series has seen some of the most eminent and sought-after global ensembles come to Croydon, including the Armenian State Symphony, The Swedish Philharmonia and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Concerto Budapest, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine and Symphony Orchestra of India. Future concerts in the series include the China Shenzen Symphony Orchestra (22 March 24), and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra (16 May 24).
Tickets for all the LMP and International Orchestra events are on sale now via https://www.fairfield.co.uk/whats-on/category/classical
NOTES TO EDITORS:
London Mozart Players
Don’t let our name mislead you – we don’t just play in London, and we certainly don’t just play Mozart! As well as our residencies at Fairfield Halls in Croydon, St John the Evangelist in Upper Norwood, and Opus Theatre in Hastings, we’re well known internationally for working with many of the world’s greatest conductors and soloists. We’re proud to have developed a reputation for making and playing adventurous, ambitious and accessible music, and for being at the forefront of embedding arts and culture into the life of local communities across the UK and beyond.
After celebrating our 70th birthday in 2019, we soon found ourselves navigating orchestra life during the pandemic in 2020. During that time, we remained active and busy, creating an award-winning digital concert series which reached millions of people – reaffirming our commitment to our audiences even in times of challenge, finding new ways to exercise our creativity.
Now, we’re excited to be working back in person, creating lots of new concerts and programmes to surprise and delight our audiences. We launched Croydon’s Borough of Culture in 2023 and will be continuing to host our own concerts and events throughout the next year.
About Croydon Fairfield Halls
With a long and distinguished history, Fairfield Halls sits in the heart of Croydon.
Spaces inside the venue include its 809-seat Ashcroft Theatre, the world-class 1,802-seat Concert Hall, and The Recreational a 750-capacity standing live music venue. Additional studio space is available in the adjoining John Whitgift Community Cube which is also home to a vibrant café open daily serving food and drink.
As well as the main auditoriums, there are additional spaces and rooms that regularly accommodate local business events, conferences, exhibitions, meetings, consumer-led events, and attractions such as family gatherings and celebrations.
The venue is also home to a well-attended Yamaha Music School providing a comprehensive learning programme including keyboard, singing and drums to hundreds of local people aged two years and upwards.
Companies in residence at Fairfield Halls include Talawa, SAVVY Theatre Company, and London Mozart Players.
Following a major refurbishment in 2019, the venue’s opening seasons included an eclectic mix of theatre, music, comedy, performance, dance and family entertainment including an annual festive pantomime.
Fairfield Halls is operated by registered charity BH Live in partnership with Croydon Council.
Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother opened the Fairfield Halls on Friday 2 November 1962. The inaugural concert in the Concert Hall was performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent, with renowned soloist Yehudi Menuhin also performing.
The Ashcroft Theatre was opened on 5 November by Croydon-born Dame Peggy Ashcroft, with the opening ceremony including a monologue by Sir John Betjeman called ‘Local Girl Made Good’. The first play performed was Royal Gambit, starring Dulcie Gray.
The Arnhem Foyer is named after Croydon’s twin-town of Arnhem in the Netherlands.
For more visit fairfield.co.uk
About BH Live
Fairfield Halls is managed by BH Live in partnership with Croydon Council.
BH Live is a charitable trust and leading operator of event and leisure venues.
For more visit bhlive.org.uk.
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