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

Solomon’s Knot’s Purcell Pageant programme - which we first aired in the Ryedale Festival just one week ago - was in fact devised to celebrate the golden wedding anniversary of two of Solomon’s Knot’s loyalest supporters. The couple invited Solomon’s Knot to the Cambridge Buddhist Centre on Friday 2nd August 2019 to perform a musical pageant in celebration of their wedding anniversary

Solomon’s Knot gave three performances during a residency at the Ryedale Festival in Yorkshire. The festival has been described by the Guardian newspaper as ‘the jewel in Yorkshire’s cultural crown’ and browsing though their brochure, it was evident that this is an exceptional festival.The first concert of Solomon’s Knot’s residency took place at Ampleforth Abbey and it featured Bach cantatas

I performed Purcell’s ‘Hark! the echoing air’ from the Fairy Queen with Clare Lloyd-Griffiths (soprano) and Solomon’s Knot as part of a special Proms edition of the BBC Radio 3 programme ‘In Tune’. The live broadcast took place just after the 17:00 news on Friday 19th July 2019 (the First Night of the Proms) in front of an audience at Imperial College London on Prince Consort Road. The

‘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,

Following the OAEducation's workshops and performances in Plymouth last week, the group gave two consecutive performances in two different Boroughs of London (Merton and Wandsworth) on Thursday 9th of May 2019.The story included many young performers from Cricket Green School in Merton (next to the picturesque 18th-century Mitcham Sunday and National School, as pictured above) and Greenmead Primary

The last time I drove to Devon I was on my way to get married at Dartington Hall (1st July 2018). This time I was driving towards Plymouth for an OAEducation project; I reviewed the estimated time of arrival and I realised that I had plenty of time in hand. Instead of taking a break at a ubiquitous service station I decided to detour slightly from the A38 and call in at Dartington Hall. I had my Brompton

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

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

I performed for a Confirmation Service at the German Church (Christuskirche) in Knightsbridge (London) at 11am on Sunday 24th of June 2018. The bilingual service was led by Pastor Georg Amann and it featured: Jeremiah Clarke’s Prince of Denmark’s March, an arrangement of Henry Purcell’s Fairest Isle from King Arthur and John Stanley’s Trumpet Voluntary. The music was played by Russell Gilmour

I performed with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAEducation) as part of their residency in King’s Lynn in the week beginning on Monday 18th of June 2018. This educational project has been touring the country for quite some time, but this particular branch of the project took place at the Corn Exchange in King’s Lynn with a performance based around music from Purcell’s Fairy Queen

I performed in an educational concert with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment on Wednesday 6th June 2018 at Conway Hall in London. The project was based around Purcell’s Fairy Queen and it featured music composed by James Redwood. The additional music had been specially composed to allow for musical interaction with the Key Stage 2 students. The students sang and played instruments with the

I was invited to perform in Groningen and Hamburg with the Gabrieli Consort and Players, directed by Paul McCreesh. They performed 'King Arthur or The British Worthy - A Dramatick Opera' by Henry Purcell and John Dryden. The group performed this piece using a new Concert Performing Edition by Christopher Suckling & Paul McCreesh which included some additional music from Purcell’s ‘Dioclesian’

Performing Purcell’s King Arthur at Snape Maltings with Vox Luminis was one of my highlights of 2017, so it was with great pleasure that I got the opportunity to visit Belgium for two days of recording with Vox Luminis. The ensemble was recording King Arthur at AMUZ (Augustinus Muziekcentrum) in the centre of Antwerp.Arriving in Antwerp is certainly an impressive affair; Antwerpen-Centraal railway

I performed with The Wren Players at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea on Tuesday 4th of July 2017. The evening of music began at 18:30 with an outdoor performance in the Royal Hospital’s ‘Figure Court’. It was a beautiful and warm evening. The outdoor performance included a selection from Handel’s Water Music (D Major suite) and his Music for the Royal Fireworks:Water Music - D major suiteAllegroAlla

I was invited to join Vox Luminis for their performance of Purcell’s 'King Arthur' at Snape Maltings on Thursday 22nd of June 2017, as part of the Aldeburgh Festival. The festival is celebrating the 50th anniversary of music at Snape Maltings - one of the earliest examples of an ex-industrial building being repurposed as a performance space.I was delighted to perform with Vox Luminis. I was deputising

I performed at the marriage of Cleo Rose Brock-Abraham and James Andrew Talbot on 22nd October 2016 at St. Peter’s Church in Sibton, Suffolk. Leos Strings [@Leos_Strings] performed music as the wedding guests arrived at the church. As the family entered, they played Bach’s ‘Air on the G String’ and a processional ‘Trumpet Tune’ by Purcell was performed for the entrance of the bridesmaids

‘Spiritato!’ performed a family-orientated programme as part of the ‘Hackney Proms’ at Stoke Newington Town Hall on at 13:15 on Sunday 22nd November 2015. The programme was entitled ‘Gulliver’s Travels: A voyage to Lilliput’.The programme consisted of many short movements that fitted around a script - which was excitingly narrated by Will Russell (dressed as Gulliver). The lively narration

In what has been a busy week, I returned (early in the morning) from Wrocław in Poland to the United Kingdom for a concert on Thursday 19th of November 2015. I returned to the Temple area in London to perform just a few metres away from where I performed ‘Let the Bright Seraphim’ and Vivaldi’s ‘Gloria’ on Monday 16th of November 2015. This time it was with slightly different forces (The

I played with the orchestra 'Spiritato!' in a performance of music by Purcell, Rameau and Charpentier at St. John’s Smith Square on Wednesday 29th of April 2015. The performance was directed by Scott Price.Spiritato! began the programme with Henry Purcell’s ‘Suite from Abdelazer’. This set the scene for the first half of the concert which exclusively included works by Henry Purcell. The Schola