I played first trumpet for the Installation of the President of the Royal College of Surgeons on Thursday 9th December 2021. The Installation took place at the Royal College of Surgeons of England at Lincoln’s Inn Fields in London. Prior to the ceremony, the oboists and bassoonists played sonatas and concerti by Prowo and Corelli. The procession, led by a mace-bearer, was accompanied by Handel’s

I performed in a carol service which was led by students from Emanuel School. The service took place at St Luke's Church on Thurleigh Road, near Clapham South tube station on Tuesday 7th December 2021. I performed in the brass quintet with Sam Kinrade (trumpet), Katrina Lauder (horn), Rory Cartmell (trombone) and Sasha Koushk-Jalali (tuba). Charles Jenz directed the school choir, organist, and brass

A small number of ensembles in the UK have begun to experiment with using natural trumpets [i.e. without finger holes], although it is still relatively uncommon. It was great to take part in a project that offered enough rehearsal time to develop and explore playing without holes in an ensemble setting; playing some of the repertoire that is thought to have inspired Johann Sebastian Bach. The project,

I performed Bach’s B Minor Mass [BWV 232] at St. James’s Piccadilly in London on Saturday 9th October 2021. The performance was directed by Richard Mayo and was led by Lesley Larkum (violin); singers stepped forward from the choir to sing the solo and duet arias. The brass section played, as did the rest of the orchestra (the English Heritage Chamber Orchestra), on modern instruments. I played

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

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),

I performed at an experiential concert at St John’s Waterloo on Saturday 29th February 2020 - the bonus day of the leap year. The conductor, David Pearl, had dreamt up this event which would combine his birthday celebration with a fundraiser for the non-profit organisation Street Wisdom. It would also feature his friend and colleague Miha Pogačnik. The performance began with a rendition of the Overture

A performance to celebrate the 75th birthday of the celebrated trumpeter Crispian Steele-Perkins took place at St. James’s Piccadilly in London on Saturday 22nd February 2020. As well as featuring a number of trumpet solos from Crispian the performance also showcased the English Chamber Choir and the orchestra (the English Players), under the direction of Guy Protheroe.St James’s Church is a fantastic

It is always great to perform at one of the most famous churches in London, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, on the northeast corner of Trafalgar Square.On this occasion, Thursday 13th February 2020, I played Vivaldi’s Gloria [RV 589] on the piccolo trumpet with the Brandenburg Sinfonia under the direction of Andrew Earis (Director of Music at St. Martin-in-the-Fields).In preparation for this performance,

Performing Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique with the Aurora Orchestra was one of the most enjoyable projects I participated in last year. It was great to return to play with the orchestra in February 2020 for music by Beethoven and Mozart. The orchestra rehearsed Beethoven’s Symphony No.1 in C [Op.21] on Wednesday 5th February 2020 at Morley College in London. We regrouped at London’s Heathrow

The Thomas Tallis Society Choir & Orchestra performed a programme of music by Capperauld, Finzi, Purcell, Vivaldi and Williams at St. Alfege Church in Greenwich on Saturday 18th December 2020.The programme began with Purcell's Come Ye Sons of Art (of 1694). I began playing the natural trumpet part, and I was asked to play the second alto part (one octave higher) in the movement 'Sound

Bob Porter conducted Handel's Messiah in a candlelit St. Martin-in-the-Fields on Monday 30th December 2019 at 18:30. The concert was part of the Brandenburg Choral Festival of London and it featured the Brandenburg Sinfonia and Brandenburg Festival Chorus. I played second trumpet, Paul Archibald played first trumpet and Tristan Fry played timpani.Ours was the first of two concerts this evening. The

I performed Handel's Messiah on Sunday 24th November 2019 at St. Barnabas Church in Walthamstow, as part of the St. Barnabas Sunday Concerts series. The Waltham Forest Community Choir performed with an excellent freelance orchestra, made up of several Walthamstow-based professional musicians. Tom Randle conducted the performance. The capacity audience at St. Barnabas Church was encouraged to sing

I performed three works with obligato trumpet parts in a candlelit concert at St. Martin-in-the-Fields on Friday 8th November 2019. I had been asked to perform on the piccolo trumpet, so I played Handel's Let the Bright Seraphim from Samson [HWV 57] and Henry Purcell's Overture from the Indian Queen [Z. 630] on a piccolo trumpet in A by Scherzer, and Bach's 'Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen' [BWV 51]

Alison Balsom: “Welcome, ladies and gentlemen - welcome to England at the end of the seventeenth century. Don’t panic. I’m not here to talk. I have this (she holds the trumpet). And, you know, some people hear in this only one thing - a call to arms, a military fanfare, the triumphant crow of a proud and patriotic soldier. But in the 1680s and 90s, Henry Purcell, a composer who means the whole

After I played in the BBC Proms for the first time in September 2016 I wrote about the inspiring influence of being allowed to stay up late as a child to watch the Last Night of the Proms - broadcast live from the Royal Albert Hall. Later in life, as a postgraduate student at the Royal College of Music, the area around the Royal Albert Hall became very familiar. On occasion, I would have morning rehearsals

Sunday 7th July 2019 saw two differing performances (both by I Fagiolini) of Monteverdi's Orfeo in the Jerwood Hall at LSO St. Luke's in London. Music & Theatre for All and I Fagiolini had teamed together to present a 'relaxed performance' at 3pm, which welcomed an audience of all ages. Special provision had been made for those with special educational needs, particularly autism and the performance

I performed a programme of baroque music (on modern instruments) with the Brandenburg Sinfonia at St. Martin-in-the-Fields on Saturday 1st June 2019. I played third trumpet in the section with (fellow Manx man) Sam Kinrade and Ellie Lovegrove on 1st and 2nd, respectively. The programme began with Handel’s Dettingen Te Deum [HWV 283] and continued after the interval with Bach’s Orchestral Suite

The choir and players of the Collegium Musicum of London performed Bach’s B Minor Mass under the direction of Greg Morris on Saturday 27th of April 2019 at St James’ Piccadilly. I played first natural trumpet in the baroque orchestra led by violinist Persephone Gibbs, with Richard Thomas playing second trumpet, Tamsin Cowell on third trumpet and Robert Kendell on timpani. The soloists were: Philippa

Here lies the man who boldly hath run throughMore villainies than England ever knew;And ne'er to any friend he had was true.Here let him then by all unpitied lie,And let's rejoice his time was come to die. - Colonel Thomas Blood’s EpitaphI performed on the cornetto at the Tower of London for a day of events centred around the year 1671 and Colonel Thomas Blood’s (1618 - 1680) notorious attempt