I was called in as a last-minute replacement first trumpet player (during the so-called pingdemic) for the Gabrieli Consort’s performance of Purcell’s King Arthur at the Three Choirs Festival. The performance took place in Worcester Cathedral on Monday 26th May 2021. I had performed this version of King Arthur at short notice once before with the Gabrieli Consort in Groningen and in Hamburg in

During the first lockdown in 2020, I had the idea of organising a natural trumpet course to take place as soon as the restrictions would allow. By September 2020, the inaugural course had taken place. It had been a great success, and demand for a future course was evident - so I decided to organise another course in 2021 (as soon as restrictions were suitably relaxed) with a new programme of music.Again

I performed Bach's B Minor Mass [BWV 232] with the Gabrieli Consort in the Great Hall at the historic St Bartholomew's Hospital in London on Thursday 8th July 2021. The hospital was founded by Rahere, a courtier of Henry I, in 1123. An astonishing 900 years later, the hospital is still caring for patients on the same site. This YouTube video explains the fascinating history of the hospital: 

Having isolated in France before rehearsing and performing Mozart’s Idomeneo in Würzburg, I returned to Paris with Les Talens Lyriques, instead of going home as I usually would. These are still not usual times and it was not pragmatic for me to return to London (to quarantine in England and then to have to quarantine again upon return to France). So, as it happened, I had ten isolation-free

It all began with doubt as I boarded the train towards London St. Pancras. In light of the coronavirus situation French entry requirements had changed just 10 hours before I travelled, which left some doubt as to whether I would be permitted to get even as far as the Eurostar lounge. Luckily, entry was permitted. I travelled to Puteaux, to the west of Paris where I would be in quarantine. Other Parisians

While flying over the Alps somewhere in the vicinity of Venice, it occurred to me that it has been around eight months since I last left England. Even despite the extra epidemiological challenges at the moment it was a huge morale boost to travel to Zagreb in Croatia to perform Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No.2 with the Croatian Baroque Ensemble (Hrvatski Barokni Ansambl) for a performance, with a

After last month’s abridged video recording (for television broadcast), The English Concert made an unabridged audio recording of Handel’s ‘La Resurrezione’ [HWV 47] at the Sage Gateshead. The orchestra and vocal soloists were conducted by Harry Bicket. In light of the improving pandemic situation, musicians were able to travel to the UK to play in the project (having followed the restrictions

Prof. Dr. Edward Hankins Tarr (b.15/06/1936 Norwich, Connecticut, USA - d.24/03/2020 Rheinfelden, Germany) was a pioneering performer and one of the most esteemed modern scholars of the natural trumpet. His research, editions, articles, dictionary entries, and books are indispensable to any student of the trumpet or natural trumpet. His translations of Bendinelli, Fantini and Altenburg’s treatises,

I played first trumpet with The English Concert for a video recording of Handel’s oratorio La resurrezione [HWV 47]. The recording took place at St. John’s Smith Square in London on Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st of March 2021.Harry Bicket directed this very fine ensemble of instrumentalists and an esteemed cast of singers: Danielle De Niese (Soprano), Lucy Crowe (Soprano), Lawrence Zazzo (Countertenor),

After yesterday’s recording of Bach’s Easter Oratorio [BWV 249] and Der Himmel Lacht! Die Erde jubilieret [BWV 31], and last week’s recording of the B Minor Mass [BWV 232], I was invited back to Oxford to perform Christ lag in Todes Banden [BWV 4]. I play the Cornetto for a video recording at the chapel of New College, Oxford as part of Oxford Bach Soloists’ Easter festival. I played the Cornetto

Following last week’s B Minor Mass [BWV 232] video recording, I returned to Oxford to play first trumpet for another video recording with the Oxford Bach Soloists; this time we recorded Bach’s Easter Oratorio [BWV 249] and Der Himmel Lacht! Die Erde jubilieret [BWV 31], two of Bach’s exemplary works with trumpets. The recording took place on Friday 12th March 2021 at Christ Church Cathedral -

It has been three months since my last performance, which took place in York in December 2020. I am fortunate enough to have performed even this 'recently'; despite all adversity, just enough performing work has come my way to keep me physically and mentally agile as a trumpet player. I am also fortunate to be healthy, and physically unscathed by the coronavirus. Recent months seem to have passed by

On the 11th March 2020 I performed Israel in Egypt, in York Minster. I remember winding down in the nearby Guy Fawkes Inn with the trumpet, trombone and timpani players, and somebody commented that ‘it might be our last gig for a while’. I had not realised the implications and the severity of the unfolding pandemic. Even though handshakes and hugs had been off the agenda for a week or two, by that

Last year I had the honour of playing the Last Post at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London. One year on, I spent the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month listening to the silence on the radio on route to Birmingham Airport. The airport maintained a similar silence on account of travel restrictions; just a few passengers presented for the Frankfurt flight. As I waited to board I thought about

I played in the trumpet section for the Gabrieli Consort & Players’ video recording of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio [BWV 248] at St. John’s Smith Square on 8th and 9th of November 2020. The subsequent videos will be released on the liturgically correct occasions between Christmas and Epiphany as part of a series of six ultra high definition video releases to a ticketed online audience, part

I especially missed Germany during lockdown, not just because of the cancelled festivals I had been looking forward to in Göttingen (Handel), Halle (Handel) and Bonn (Beethoven), but because I just love spending time in Germany. It was with great pleasure that Solomon's Knot could visit Hamburg for a concert at the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg on Monday 26th October 2020, returning to a programme established

2021 will mark the tricentenary of J. S. Bach's iconic Brandenburg Concertos. Ahead of Berlin Classics' release of my debut recording as one of the four soloists in the second concerto (recorded in 2019 with Il Gusto Barocco at Ansbach Bachwoche) I was asked for my thoughts about this fantastic concerto. These thoughts may feature in or influence the liner notes for the upcoming CD. I have now performed

During lockdown I had the idea of organising a natural trumpet course, when restrictions would allow, to ‘blow out the cobwebs’ after these many months of isolation. Finally, in September, I was able to invite a hand-picked selection of amateur, semi-professional and professional natural trumpet players to two venues in Bedfordshire where we would play natural trumpets (without finger holes) as

It is difficult to put into words how it feels to once again, after this long interval, perform live music with an orchestra. I’ve missed the explorative sounds, the thrill of a challenge, the deeply immersive concentration in performance, the organic progression of a project, the collective pursuit of excellence, the feeling of belonging, the extraordinary characters, the excitement, the unexpected

Three Manx trumpet players performed in two consecutive BBC Proms concerts (in socially-distanced orchestras with no audience present) at the Royal Albert Hall in September 2020. Despite the shortening of this year’s Proms season, Manx trumpeters were key players at the world’s biggest classical music festival. Jason Evans took centre stage to perform the strongly-featured trumpet part in