Jonathan Bloxham, our Principal Conductor, dons his party hat as he reflects on the planning process of a 75th party.
It’s an exciting responsibility to programme such an important occasion as LMP’s 75th birthday. After mulling it over I thought: who better to turn to than the man who gives the orchestra their name? Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart!
On the 23rd of March 1783, Mozart put together an incredibly varied and creative evening of music, the highlight of which was the premiere of his Haffner Symphony. Mozart took movements from his symphony and mixed them up with a selection of his other works. I like to think of this as one of the first ‘playlist’ style concerts and we are recreating this historic event for our celebration.
I like to think of this as one of the first ‘playlist’ style concerts and we are recreating this historic event for our celebration.
Part of Mozart’s concert included an improvisatory element, where he played new variations on themes by other composers. With this in mind, I wanted to incorporate something unique into LMP’s 75th celebration, and this is how 100 Faces of Croydon came about.
100 Faces of Croydon is a project that I dreamt up with my photographer friend Kaupo Kikkas. A synthesis of photography and music, the aim is to create a dynamic snapshot of a community by taking portraits of 100 local people who then also take part in a special musical performance at the venue where the photos are displayed.
Kaupo and I mounted a similar project in Gateshead, and Kaupo another in Estonia. 100 Faces is at its core a community project and so for our event LMP decided, with the help of Lenses of Croydon, to recruit 30 local amateur photographers to attend a masterclass with Kaupo and then to take the portraits themselves of 100 local “faces” who had applied to participate. The LMP team worked tirelessly to arrange these 100 photoshoots with the ‘faces’, each portrait (one colour, one black and white) taken in a location which represents what Croydon means to them.
The next challenge was to find a way to involve all 100 people in the concert. I hit upon Ligeti’s Poème Symphonique for 100 Metronomes – the perfect piece for the participants on this project (many of whom had no prior musical experience). It will undoubtedly be a very special rendition of this piece at our Birthday concert.
When all 100 portraits are displayed together, it puts everyone on a level playing field. 100 Faces of Croydon is about showing humanity at its best and giving a platform to all the marvellous people who make our borough so unique. For LMP, it’s also been a special way to introduce a whole new audience to our work and it’s exciting to see where our new cross-genre work can take us!
Meet all 100 of our faces
We made a bespoke 100 Faces of Croydon website, full of the people who gave the project its name.
It may seem strange that an orchestra has taken on a project like this. For most orchestras that’s probably true, but for LMP it’s an important way for us to celebrate being Croydon’s resident orchestra and truly involve the community we serve in our work.
One of the greatest pleasures in my last two years as Conductor in Residence and Artistic Advisor of the LMP has been getting to know this amazing ensemble – how they work, how they play, their traditions, and to be welcomed so warmly into the LMP family. LMP’s 75th birthday celebration marks an important milestone in our journey together, and I am honoured and excited to be taking an active part in helping shape the next 75 years.
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100 Faces of Croydon
Created by Croydon
