Our Patrons, Associated Artists, and Partners
Howard Shelley became Patron of Grayshott Concerts in 2025, succeeding Sir Karl Jenkins. An acclaimed pianist, conductor, and recording artist since his 1971 London debut, Howard has performed globally and released over 180 albums featuring works by more than eighty composers, earning exceptional praise for recordings of Mozart and contemporaries.
Howard has led all the major London orchestras and is Conductor Laureate of the London Mozart Players. He has also served as Principal Conductor of Sweden’s Uppsala Chamber Orchestra and collaborated closely with other notable ensembles, including the English Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, Camerata Salzburg, and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, recording extensively for Hyperion.
As well as being an outstanding musician Howard has always been a good friend of Grayshott Concerts as our Associate Artist and we look forward to him coming both to attend concerts and to perform here in the future (this will, I am sure, be a pleasant surprise who attended his "retirement" concert in 2024!).
Jonathan Bloxham, Conductor in Residence and Artistic Advisor of the London Mozart Players, has become Associate Artist of Grayshott Concerts following Howard Shelley’s appointment as Patron. Jonathan brings a wealth of experience and inspiration and has conducted many of the recent outstanding performances we have seen at Grayshott Concerts.
We are so looking forward to working with him to develop further the Grayshott Concerts product.
Sir Karl Jenkins, karljenkins.com, was our Patron for 17 years, he stepped down from the role at the end of 2024. His contributions were instrumental to the growth of Grayshott Concerts, and we've had the honour of staging all of his major works, including our own commission and world premiere of The Healer - A Cantata for St Luke (2014), plus the world-premiere of his latest work Miserere - Songs of Mercy and Redemption (2019), uniquely featuring all the stars on the acclaimed CD.
Our orchestra-in-residence, the London Mozart Players londonmozartplayers.com, and our choir-in-residence, Excelsis excelsis-choir.co.uk, have also been essential partners in many of our performances. Together, we bring a diverse repertoire to life, ranging from beloved classical works to modern compositions.
Patron :
Howard Shelley OBE
Howard was among the first of many world-class artists to perform at Grayshott, and came to us following our early concerts with London Mozart Players.
An internationally renowned concert pianist, Howard Shelley hyperion-records.co.uk is a 'giant among giants' on the world classical music stage today both as a live performer and recording star. He has over 170 acclaimed CDs to his name, and a world reputation both as concert pianist and conductor.
Associate Artist :
Jonathan Bloxham
Jonathan Bloxham, Conductor in Residence and Artistic Advisor of the London Mozart Players since 2022, will continue working with the orchestra this season, leading concerts at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Fairfield Halls, and on a Swiss tour. In 2024, they celebrated the orchestra’s 75th anniversary by recreating Mozart’s 1783 Vienna concert and undertook community projects to mark Croydon’s Borough of Culture year.
He became Music Director of Luzerner Theater in 2023, after debuting at the venue in 2022 with Bluebeard’s Castle. In the previous season, he conducted new productions of La Bohème, I Capuleti e I Montecchi, and Dido and Aeneas. He made his Glyndebourne Festival debut in 2021 conducting Luisa Miller with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and also conducted Glyndebourne Touring Opera’s Don Pasquale that year, having previously performed Rigoletto with the orchestra in 2019.
After first debuting with the orchestra in 2020 this season Joanthan has been appointed as Chief Conductor of the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie following in the footsteps of Andris Nelsons and Jonathon Heyward, and conducting concerts on two German tours as well as in their subscription season in Herford. In 2021 he recorded a CD of Strauss and Franck with the orchestra, described as “irresistible” by Musicweb International.
Orchestra in Residence :
London Mozart Players
There is no doubt that a significant part of the success of Grayshott Concerts is due to the close technical and performing relationship which has developed through our work with the London Mozart Players londonmozartplayers.com. The Trustees were delighted that in 2012 LMP agreed to be our Orchestra in Residence. LMP are recognised as probably the best Chamber Orchestra in the UK - and perhaps the world - so our association with them is especially prized and respected by us.
Choir in Residence :
Excelsis Chamber Choir
The Excelsis Chamber Choir excelsis-choir.co.uk was co-founded by Grayshott Concerts and Robert Lewis in 2007, just a few months before their inaugural performance of Vivaldi's Gloria at St Luke's Church in March 2008. The choir, now an independent ensemble, is a group of about 30 singers, many with a background of musical training, under the baton of Robert Lewis, their Music Director.
Our retired Patron :
Sir Karl Jenkins CBE
Grayshott Concerts was greatly honoured that Sir Karl Jenkins CBE agreed to become our Patron in 2009. Sir Karl Jenkins is acknowledged as the "world's most performed living composer". His compositions, including "The Armed Man - A Mass for Peace", have been performed live over 2500 times in more than 30 countries
In 2012, Grayshott Concerts commissioned Sir Karl to write a major new 40-minute choral work entitled "The Healer - A Cantata for St Luke". The world premiere of The Healer took place in St Luke's Church Grayshott on Thursday 16th October 2014 in celebration of Grayshott Concerts' tenth anniversary. We thank Sir Karl for all he has done for Grayshott Concerts and wish him well for the future karljenkins.com