When I was researching music to include in the book I am writing and refining at the moment (about the natural trumpet), I kept finding myself on Uppsala University’s website browsing the the database of digitised manuscript images from the Düben collection. The Düben collection is an extensive collection of musical manuscripts from throughout Europe. It was compiled in Stockholm by members of

Immediately after performing George Frideric Handel’s Ariodante at the Göttingen Händel Festival, I segued into another Handel (pasticcio) opera project, Il Muzio Scevola, with Il Gusto Barocco in Stuttgart. This opera featured a Prologue which had been specially written for the occasion by Th. W. Leininger in 2021 to a text from 1723 (Hamburg). The first act was by Filippo Amadei, with a second

It was brilliant to return to Göttingen for the International Handel Festival in September 2021. The festival usually takes place in May each year, but it has been displaced by the coronavirus pandemic. The last time the festival took place was in May 2019, when we performed Handel’s Saul [HWV 53] in Hannoversche Münden. Getting to the first rehearsal was challenging; the Lufthansa flight

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: 

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

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

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

'Zen in the Art of Archery': ‘Occasionally several […] right shots came off in close succession and hit the target, besides of course the many more that failed. But if ever the least flicker of satisfaction showed in my face the Master turned on me with unwonted fierceness. "What are you thinking of?" he would cry. "You know already that you should not grieve over bad shots; learn now not to

As I played the final phrase of my tenth performance of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No.2 in F major [BWV 1047] (which took place last Saturday at Castle Ashby) I felt as I often do after playing that piece - that it would be great to play it again very soon. Playing Brandenburg 2 is a definite adrenaline rush and there’s something in the thrill of its survival that makes you

July 2019 saw a personal milestone with a 10th performance of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major [BWV 1047] on the natural trumpet. I first performed this notorious work on the 24th June 2011 while studying historical performance at the Royal College of Music and I have subsequently performed it at Bedford School, at St. Anne’s in Kew Green in Richmond, at the Valletta Baroque Festival

‘Snape Maltings, Snape Maltings, Thank Benjamin Britten for Snape Maltings’ was the specially-written encore of Vox Luminis’ King Arthur performance at Snape Maltings in 2017. That memorable performance, exactly two years ago, was my first appearance with the group and there have been many exceptional projects in the interim, including performances at Versailles, the Utrecht Early Music Festival,

I performed Bach’s B Minor Mass [BWV 232] with the Brandenburg Baroque Soloists and the Old Royal Naval College Trinity Laban Chapel Choir on Wednesday 17th April 2019. The performance was directed by Ralph Allwood MBE (who I had remembered from a previous Brandenburg Baroque Soloists performance at Wellington College in August 2017).The Old Royal Naval College Chapel is a magnificent building -

I performed first trumpet in Handel’s Messiah with Oxford Baroque on Saturday 6th April 2019. The performance took place in the Dobson Art Centre in King Edward VI School in Southampton. Oxford Baroque provided a period instrument orchestra to accompany the Southampton Choral Society. The performance was directed by their conductor Benjamin Costello. During the rehearsal, Benjamin kindly remarked

Snape Maltings was the venue for Aldeburgh Music Club’s performance of a programme entitled ‘The Amazing Mr. Handel’ on Saturday 16th March 2019. The performance featured the Coronation Anthems [HWV 258], Water Music Suite in G [HWV 350], Concerto Grosso Op.6 No.9 [HWV 327], Chandos Anthem No.7 'My song shall be alway' [HWV 252] and the Chandos Anthem No.4 'O worship the Lord in the beauty of

The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAEducation) gave two performances on Wednesday 30th of January 2019 in two schools in County Durham.The project followed on from a similar one that took place in London in November 2018. Like the November project, it catered for young musicians including those with Special Educational Needs (SEN). Again, Purcell's Fairy Queen was the focus of these educational

Northampton Cathedral was the venue for my only complete Messiah performance this December. I played with the choir and orchestra of Fiori Musicali with their Director Penelope Rapson. Some years ago Handel’s Messiah seemed to be, almost exclusively, the only piece that I was asked to perform at this time of year. At the moment it seems to be slightly less common for me to have a solely Messiah-filled

Spain is a country I have visited only twice before. The more recent trip was to Úbeda with the Academy of Ancient Music in 2013. I performed as a soloist playing Handel’s Diana cacciatrice [HWV 79] with the soprano soloist Lucy Crowe. Before that I visited Spain for the first time with Le Concert Lorrain. We finished an extensive European tour in Burgos on the 21st of December 2010 with a performance

Music by three successive Leipzig Thomaskantors (incidentally, all with the first name Johann) was the focus of Solomon’s Knot’s performances in Advent 2018. Rehearsals for the programme entitled ‘Christmas in Leipzig’ began on 26th November 2018 at Holy Trinity Church on Prince Consort Road in London. The first public performance took place at St. Mary’s Church in the Lace Market, Nottingham

When I first visited the Palace of Versailles on a school history trip in March 2005 I would never have imagined that I would, one day, have the opportunity to play there as a professional trumpet player.Since then I have performed and recorded in the Opéra Royal de Versailles with Les Talens Lyriques (often playing operas that were originally performed there, such as Lully’s Alceste and Salieri’s