Simon Blendis appointed joint leader of London Mozart Players

Simon Blendis has been named the new joint leader of the London Mozart Players. The British violinist will take up the role this month, sharing the concertmaster’s chair with Marieke Blankestijn, who has led the long-running chamber orchestra since 2011.

A regular guest concertmaster with such ensembles as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra and the London Sinfonietta, Blendis has been a member of the Schubert Ensemble since 1995, with whom he has made more than 20 recordings, and has served as first concertmaster with the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa in Japan since 1999.

Founded by Harry Blech as the UK’s first chamber orchestra in 1949, the London Mozart Players has a strong tradition of Classical performance, and has also given world premieres of works by such composers as Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Tarik O’Regan, Sally Beamish, Lynne Plowman, Fraser Trainer and associate composer Roxanna Panufnik.

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