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We offer daily services and a cultural programme of talks, events and concerts. We seek to be a welcoming space for people to reflect, create and debate
Saturday 23 May
A walk over spectacular Surrey heathland from Haslemere to Witley station – about 9 miles – with lunch surrounded by a paddock of horses.
Monday’s 1 June – 27 July, 6.30-7.30pm on Zoom
A new online weekly Bible series co-hosted by The Revd Lucy Winkett and The Revd Dr Ayla Lepine will explore stories of pilgrimage throughout Scripture.
St James’s hosts inclusive services and a cultural programme. We seek to be a welcoming space for people to reflect, create and debate.
St James’s is a place to explore, reflect, pray, and support all who are in need. We are a Church of England parish in the Anglican Communion.
We host a year-round creative programme encompassing music, visual art and spoken word.
We offer hospitality to people going through homelessness and speak out on issues of injustice, especially concerning refugees, asylum, racial justice, and LGBTQ+ issues.
St James’s strives to advocate for earth justice and to develop deeper connections with nature.
We aim to be a place where you can belong. We have a unique history, and the beauty of our building is widely known. Our community commits to faith in action: social and environmental justice; creativity. and the arts
We strive to be a Eucharist-centred, diverse and inclusive Christian community promoting life in abundance, wellbeing and dignity for all.
St James’s Piccadilly has been at the heart of its community since 1684. We invite you to play your part in securing this historic place for generations to come.
It costs £5,000 each day to keep the doors of St James’s open to all who already need us.
A reimagined St James’s realised. A redesigned garden, courtyard and new building capacity—all fully accessible— will provide beautiful spaces for all as well as improving our environmental performance.
Whether shooting a blockbuster TV series or creating a unique corporate event, every hire at St James’s helps our works within the community.
St James's Church 197 Piccadilly London W1J 9LL
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Wednesday 24 June 1.10pm
A rare chance to hear a programme for fortepiano at St James’s Church, Piccadilly.
Online streaming
This concert will be streamed live on our YouTube channel at 1:10pm.
Support our Creative Programme
Whether £5 or any amount you’re able to give. Donations can be made in cash in the basket on your way out, or by tap donation at the machines at our exits. Your generosity helps support our cultural events and charitable services. Thank you.
Free admission | Donations welcome
Programme
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809) Piano Sonata in D major, Hob. XVI:37 I. Allegro con brio II. Largo e sostenuto III. Finale: Presto ma non troppo
Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778 – 1837) Piano Sonata No. 5 in F-sharp minor, Op. 81 I. Allegro II. Largo con molto espressione III. Vivace
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791) Fantasia No. 4 in C minor, K. 475
Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828) / Franz Liszt (1811 – 1886) Der Erlkönig, S. 558/4
Artist Bio
Pianist, fortepianist and harpsichordist, and one of the leading Chinese specialists in early keyboard performance. He studied modern piano at the Haute École de Musique de Genève, where he graduated with the highest distinction, and holds a Master of Piano Performance as well as a specialised Master’s degree in Historical Keyboard Practice.
Fascinated by the expressive and aesthetic possibilities of historical instruments, Mengzi was particularly trained in technique and musical aesthetics as a fortepianist and harpsichordist with Michel Kiener in Geneva and Pierre Goy in Lausanne. He is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma at the Royal College of Music in London under the guidance of Geoffrey Govier. He has also followed courses in Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music with Ashley Solomon, Terence Charlston, Francis Biggi and Jean-Yves Haymoz.
Renowned for his expressive and virtuosic performances, characterised by fluid phrasing and a refined touch, Mengzi Zhang appears regularly as a soloist and chamber musician across Europe and China. Over the past five years, he has given more than 200 performances of various kinds. Notable projects include Beloved Beethoven at the Shanghai Concert Hall, in which he performed Beethoven’s nine symphonies in Hummel’s fortepiano arrangements over four days and five concerts. He is also regularly invited to perform piano concertos with symphony orchestras, including the Lianshan Symphony Orchestra.
Committed to historically informed performance, he seeks to perform the music of each era on an instrument that corresponds to it. Alongside his performing career, he maintains a strong pedagogical activity. He previously taught early keyboard instruments at the Xi’an Conservatory of Music and continues to share his expertise in historical instruments and performance practice through masterclasses and lectures at universities and music institutions.
A new disc “To the Gracious Franz” of Haydn’s sonatas and fantasias which recorded on his original forte-piano Kulmbach was released in 2024. An album of Mozart’s sonatas for piano and violin with Baroque violinist Cui Hongxia is also being published.
Mengzi ZHANG is the founder of the Early Music Saison Amarcordes in China, which since 2017 has seen instrumentalists, musicians, musicologists and museum curators gathering to hold concerts and exchange knowledge of early instruments. He also frequently collaborates with Shanghai Camarata and Sound of Baroque Concerts China.
Presented in association with Royal College of Music
