Blaze Ensemble was established in 1997 and aims to give high quality concerts featuring a diverse range of works: from the baroque to the contemporary, from trios to large ensemble works, from popular mainstream repertoire through to the less familiar. Our inaugural concert included the Dohnanyi Sextet and the Kegelstatt Trio at St. James's, Piccadilly. The name 'Blaze Ensemble' derives from the group's association with the music production company, Blaze Music; the very first concert was set up to mark the creation of Blaze Music. The majority of Blaze Ensemble performances take place as part of established lunchtime chamber music series in venues around central London. Blaze Ensemble also undertakes performances around the UK and overseas including concerts in Florence, Italy and Switzerland. This season we return to St. George's, Hanover Square, St. Olave's, Hart Street, St. James's, Piccadilly and will be making a return visit to St. Martin-in-the-Fields.
Conductor and pianist Chris Hopkins is enjoying a busy season working on a wide range of projects, with symphony concerts and opera alongside concertos, solo and chamber recitals. He has given concerts recently throughout Europe and Asia, extensively in London, including Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall, St Martin’s-in-the-Fields, Royal Festival Hall, opera with ENO, WNO and NI Opera and live appearances on BBC 1, Radio 3 and Radio 4.
Chris continues into a sixth season as Musical Director of Orchestra of the City with whom he has conducted a vast array of works from standard symphonic repertoire to world premiere commissions alongside more recent work with Wide Open Opera (The Last Hotel), Garsington (Die Entführung) and Holland Park Opera (Adriana Lecouvreur). He continues to be in demand with a wide range of ensembles including at Presteigne Festival, Royal Ballet Sinfonia, Blaze Ensemble and has worked with musicians including Guy Johnston, Mary Bevan, Ivana Gavric, Josef Spacek, Daniel Hope, Thomas Gould and Charlie Siem. He has had the pleasure of premiering works by composers including Colin Matthews, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, David Matthews, Thomas Hyde, Detlev Glanert, Gilad Hochman and the Pet Shop Boys.
Chris is currently a member of the music staff at English National Opera and has worked on staff at Welsh National Opera (2011) and NI Opera (2013-4) with Edward Gardner, Pierre-Andre Valade, Ryan Wigglesworth, David Parry, Martyn Brabbins, Alexander Polianichko and Lothar Koenigs on a wide range of productions as well as with Opera North, Opera South, Clonter Opera, Co-Opera Company. In the last few years as assistant he has had the pleasure of working with Sir Charles Mackerras, Mark Wigglesworth, Trevor Pinnock, William Lacey, Jane Glover and Dominic Wheeler.
As a pianist, Chris has played for audiences around the world, performing solo and chamber music in New York, Japan, Europe, Singapore and London (including Queen Elizabeth Hall, Wigmore Hall, St. James’s Piccadilly, St Martin in the Fields, Barbican and Royal Festival Hall) as well working with orchestras in a range of concertos, from Bach to Mozart, Rachmaninoff, Beethoven (complete) Shostakovich and Gershwin, chamber groups and so on.
Chris was honoured in 2013 to be made an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.
He is looking forward to starting this season by assisting Mark Wigglesworth in ENO's Magic Flute
Free concert (retiring collection)