An extensive Vox Luminis project of festive music by Johann Sebastian Bach and other Baroque composers began with rehearsals in Malonne, near Namur in Belgium on Saturday 6 December 2025. The first concert took place on Tuesday 9 December at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. The programme featured Telemann’s Uns ist ein Kind geboren (TWV 1:1451), J. S. Bach’s Christen äztet diesen Tag (BWV 63) and

An extensive Vox Luminis project of festive music by Johann Sebastian Bach and other Baroque composers began with rehearsals in Malonne, near Namur in Belgium on Saturday 6 December 2025. The first concert took place on Tuesday 9 December at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. The programme featured Telemann’s Uns ist ein Kind geboren (TWV 1:1451), J. S. Bach’s Christen äztet diesen Tag (BWV 63) and

Handel’s Solomon (HWV 67) was the chosen oratorio at this year’s Göttingen International Handel Festival, which centred around the theme of laurels (Lorbeeren). George Petrou directed the Festspiel Orchester Göttingen (FOG) for two performances of this oratorio; the first took place at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie on 15 May 2025 and the second at Göttingen’s recently refurbished Stadthalle,

I went to Gatwick Airport on 17 December 2024, straight after performing at St. Martin-in-the-Fields with the English Baroque Soloists, in preparation to travel to Gran Canaria early the following morning. Once I arrived in Gran Canaria on Wednesday 18 December 2024 (and following a quick dip in the hotel’s rooftop swimming pool, where the water temperature was a bracing 13°C and the weather

Following my return flight to the UK from Frankfurt (having performed at the Alte Oper yesterday), I travelled directly to Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford to play first trumpet in Handel’s Messiah. This performance, on Monday 9 December 2024, was directed by Peter Holder and featured Christ Church Cathedral Choir, Frideswide Voices, The Wolsey Ensemble, and the soloists Harriet Burns (soprano),

La Scala, Milan | Alte Oper, Frankfurt | Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg | St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London I played first trumpet, and a solo trumpet aria, in Johann Sebastian Bach’s Unser Mund sei voll Lachens [BWV 110] at La Scala in Milan on Monday 2 December 2024. The performance, given by the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists under the direction of Christophe Rousset,

I was invited to give a masterclass about just intonation, the harmonic series, early music, and my book, ‘Just’ Natural Trumpet, at the Junior Guildhall on Saturday 30 November 2024. I began the class with a short discussion about overtones and the harmonic series. This was a brief and practical introduction to the acoustics of wind and brass instruments. After a few demonstrations on

I was invited by Murray Greig, Head of Brass at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, to lead trumpet class and introduce my book, ‘Just’ Natural Trumpet, to the college’s trumpet players on Monday 18 November 2024. This was a wonderful ‘full circle’ moment for me, as I first began playing the natural trumpet 18 years ago after attending a similar masterclass at the

I gave a lecture presentation about my book, ‘Just’ Natural Trumpet on Saturday 5 October 2024 at St Andrew’s church in Thornhill Square in London. The lecture was part of a natural trumpet weekend course organised by Bill Tuck. I have known Bill for many years, having first met him in 2008, even before I moved to London. Indeed one of my earliest blogs on this website was entitled ‘Tomes

I will never forget the joyous cheer from the full-to-capacity Royal Albert Hall audience after the Aurora Orchestra finished Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor (in its 200th anniversary year) at the 2024 BBC Proms: we performed the entire work from memory under the baton of Nicholas Collon alongside 110 members of the National Youth Choir, 18 BBC Singers, and the soloists Masabane

It was a great pleasure to meet up with some of the patrons, supporters, and friends of ‘Just’ Natural Trumpet at the Harp in London on Saturday 10 August 2024. ‘Just’ Natural Trumpet had been officially launched online on Friday 2 August 2024, following the release of this YouTube video. We took a photograph of the attendees of the book launch gathering, which included two of

The official launch of my book, ‘Just’ Natural Trumpet, took place on Friday 2 August 2024. This online event began with the YouTube premiere of a short video about the book, and it continued with a Zoom meeting for friends and colleagues, as well as patrons and supporters of the project. This much-anticipated book has attracted national and international interest, and copies of the book have