'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

I performed with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAEducation) at the Amadeus Centre near Warwick Avenue in London on Wednesday 28th of November 2018. The project featured participants from Gospel Oak, Rhyl and Swiss Cottage primary schools in Camden and it catered for (and I must say, enthralled) these young musicians including those with Special Educational Needs (SEN).This was a revisited

Overview | Brunei | Thailand | Laos | Cambodia | Philippines | Malaysia | VietnamApproaching Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport from the south-east gave stunning views over the meandering course of the Mekong Delta. As we descended, Ho Chi Minh City’s vast sprawl was apparent; 13.5 million inhabitants live in the metropolitan area and 8.4 million live in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) itself.

Overview | Brunei | Thailand | Laos | Cambodia | Philippines | Malaysia | VietnamFrom Manila we flew over the South China Sea again and arrived back at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia at 17:05 on Thursday 8th November 2018. Getting through immigration had been relatively tricky here. We all had the correct documentation but the sudden deluge of our group rather overwhelmed the sole staff

Overview | Brunei | Thailand | Laos | Cambodia | Philippines | Malaysia | VietnamAs soon as our plane landed at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila on 4th November 2018, an army of workers were waiting at the gate ready to unload our aircraft. I imagine they had at least double or triple the number of ground staff that would meet a plane landing the United Kingdom. We left to meet two coaches

Overview | Brunei | Thailand | Laos | Cambodia | Philippines | Malaysia | VietnamMarking the half-way point of the tour, we arrived in the capital city of Cambodia at Phnom Penh International Airport. Two coaches, decked out with lace curtains like a Pullman carriage, transported us toward the busy city centre and our hotel. It was interesting to observe the shops and stalls at the roadside. There

Overview | Brunei | Thailand | Laos | Cambodia | Philippines | Malaysia | VietnamWe arrived in Vientiane at Wattay International Airport on the evening of Friday 26th October 2018. The Lao Plaza hotel was only 6km away and we checked in very efficiently upon arrival. After dropping off our luggage we left the hotel and went to find something to eat. The hotel was near Nam Phou, a square with a central

Overview | Brunei | Thailand | Laos | Cambodia | Philippines | Malaysia | VietnamWe arrived at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (‘Land of Gold’) airport to the East of Bangkok and met the coaches that would take us to the Swissôtel Le Concorde in Bangkok’s Huai Khwang district. The scenes from the coach window were very different to Brunei’s. Even though it was 22:00 the volume of traffic was immense.

Overview | Brunei | Thailand | Laos | Cambodia | Philippines | Malaysia | VietnamAs we entered the arrival hall at Brunei International Airport we received an exceptionally warm welcome. There was a 10-metre wide banner upon which ‘Welcome Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’ had been printed, and a whole team of people had come to greet us: taking photographs of the occasion, helping us with