about the Liverpool Mozart Orchestra
The LMO has been giving concerts on Merseyside since its foundation in 1951. It fills an important musical niche, while providing a platform for emergent and established professional soloists and conductors. Peter Donohoe, Zubin Mehta, Martin Roscoe, Sir Charles Groves, Carl Davis and more recently its President, Sir Simon Rattle, are among the famous names with whom the LMO has worked during its long history.
The Orchestra performs a wide range of music from the baroque, classical and contemporary repertoire, so making a significant contribution to the rich cultural life of the Northwest. It is through working with professional and often eminent conductors and soloists that the LMO strives to achieve the highest quality of performance.
Among the soloists who have performed in recent years with the LMO are soprano Franzita Whelan, winner of the 1995 National Mozart Competition; pianist Tim Horton; Gina McCormack, leader of the Sorrel String Quartet; Timothy Ho, formerly co-leader of the Hallé Orchestra; Jonathan Higgins, principal pianist to the Birmingham Royal Ballet; Nicholas Cox, principal clarinet at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra; Timothy Jackson and Roger Montgomery, co-principal horns with the Royal Opera; violinist So-Ock Kim, Jonathan Small, principal oboe at the RLPO, guitarist Mark Ashford, cellist Clare Rowe, saxophonist Chris Swann and French horn player Naomi Atherton. Over the last two seasons the orchestra created most successful concerto opportunities for students from Chetham's School of Music (Mari Poll - violin), the Royal Northern College of Music (William Stafford - clarinet; Alexandra Dariescu - piano) and the Royal Academy of Music (Jiafeng Chen - violin). Soloists formerly from within the orchestra's ranks have included Sandy Bartai (cello), Cait Walker (oboe), Joanne Quigley (violin) and Alex Kane (bassoon) along with David Norris, currently the LMO's principal oboe.
In June 2001 the LMO celebrated its Golden Jubilee with a gala charity concert at which it was conducted by its then MD, Charles Peebles and its President, Sir Simon Rattle. The orchestra was joined by Martin Roscoe for Beethoven's Emperor Concerto and by Philippa Hyde, Sarah Connolly, Daniel Norman, Henry Herford and the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus for a performance of Haydn's Harmoniemesse. The event raised £10,000 in support of the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation.