Registered Charity No 1100591
Music for Merseyside
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. It 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.
Professionals
It is through working with professional and often eminent conductors and soloists that the LMO strives to achieve the highest quality of performance. Peter Donohoe, Zubin Mehta, Martin Roscoe, Sir Charles Groves, Carl Davis and its President, Sir Simon Rattle, are among the famous names with whom the LMO has worked during its long history.
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, and Timothy Jackson, respectively principal clarinet and horn at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra; and Roger Montgomery, principal horn 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.
The Next Generation
For the LMO
Jonathan Small
Figaro in Rehearsal
Golden Jubilee Concert
Sir Simon Rattle
President
In recent seasons the orchestra has created very successful concerto opportunities for students from Chetham's School of Music (Mari Poll - violin, Callum Smart - violin; Jonathan Radford - saxophone; Joseph Davies - cello) and from the Royal Northern College of Music (William Stafford - clarinet; Alexandra Dariescu - piano; Mikhail Nemtsov - cello; Helen Wilson - flute) 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, oboist with the LMO for over 40 years.
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 event raised £10,000 in support of the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation. In 2011 the orchestra celebrates its Diamond Jubilee, the highlight of which is the premiere performance of a piano concerto commissioned from Emily Howard, a former member of the orchestra, who is rapidly becoming one of the country's foremost young composers.
The opening overture…was full of verve and crackled with enthusiasm for the ensuing long haul. It was as polished a performance as meted out by most professional orchestras.
Mark Heron
Music Director
Anne Davidson Lund
Chairman
Andrew Winter
Leader
