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

There is no doubt that the Festspiel Orchester Göttingen (FOG), the resident orchestra at the Göttingen International Händel Festival, is very special to all of us who play in it. The overriding ethos within the orchestra is often nothing short of euphoric and the Göttingen International Händel Festival is musically, socially and culturally one of the highlights of my working year. I feel

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 -

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

The church of St. Mary the Virgin in the tranquil village of Bishopsborne in Kent was the venue for a recording of music by Gottfried Finger (c.1655-1730). The recording was organised by Professor Robert Rawson - Professor of Musicology and Historically Informed Performance at Canterbury Christ Church University.The recording of music by ‘The Ingenious Mr Finger’ began on Friday 6th July 2018 with

It was wonderful to return to the Göttingen International Handel Festival in 2018. Performing in this festival is one of the musical highlights of my year. The director and players of the FestspielOrchester Göttingen (FOG) are infectiously-energetic musicians; performing in their element. Thriving on each others’ energy, these remarkable and characterful musicians creatively achieve incredible

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

Living a life as a touring musician, it is certainly a frequent occurrence to wake up and wonder exactly where you are. Sometimes it takes just a few moments to realise, as you recall your movements of the previous day. On other occasions a blandly corporate hotel room (while offering predictability and consistency) gives little indication of whether you are in London, Paris, Vancouver or Sydney. Even

Following on from a residency at the Opera National du Lorrain in Nancy (2014), and a tour to Versailles and Vienna (2016), I joined Les Talens Lyriques for a third time; performing and recording Jean-Baptiste Lully's 'Alceste, ou Le triomphe d’Alcide' (1674) under the direction of Christophe Rousset.Lully's opera 'Alceste, ou Le triomphe d’Alcide' is a 'tragedy in music', with a

I travelled to the wonderful University City of Göttingen in Germany to perform with FestspielOrchester Göttingen (FOG) directed by Laurence Cummings. It was delightful to be back at the Göttingen International Händel Festival having enjoyed performing in the 2014 and 2015 festivals.The Galakonzert took place at the Stadthalle on Saturday 13th of May 2017 and it marked the opening of the Göttingen

Christophe Rousset’s orchestra, Les Talens Lyriques [@talenslyriques] invited me to play in their project comprising two performances and a recording of the opera ‘Les Horaces' (1786) by Antonio Salieri (1750 - 1825).On the 10th of October 2016, I travelled from London to Paris on the Eurostar [a marvel of railway engineering that I never fail to be impressed by]. Rehearsals with Les Talens Lyriques

As a young lad, if I showed any reluctance to attend a rehearsal I was given the choice of: 'band, ballet or bed'. I ruled out ballet immediately and always chose band eventually. To a six-year-old, the prospect of going to bed early seemed like a punishment - how times change! Being allowed to stay up late was a privilege reserved for very special occasions - one such occasion being the Last Night

The baroque collective Solomon’s Knot performed on the second day of Leipzig’s Bachfest, giving a concert on Saturday, 11th of June 2016 in the Nikolaikirche. The singers performed the entire concert from memory and the conductorless ensemble wowed the Leipzig audience with what the Leipzig Bachfest described as an ‘outstandingly vivid’ performance. The response from the audience was overwhelming

I travelled to the Thüringen region of Germany to participate in Cantus Thuringia's project; to perform and record music by Johann Peter Kellner (1705-1772). The project took place in the village of Gräfenroda, where Kellner was born and we performed in the church in which Kellner worked as the Cantor from 1732. The village of Gräfenroda is around 50 kilometres South-West of Weimar and it is set

The National Forum of Music in Wrocław commissioned me to 'recreate' cornett and sackbutt parts for Marcin Mielczewski's Vesperae Dominicales. The original version of the piece has eight vocal parts, two violin parts, a dulcian part and basso continuo, though historical sources indicate that this would have been extended to include cornetts and sackbutts in a later version. A later manuscript

The London-based orchestra Ars Eloquentiae joined forces with the Fitzwilliam String Quartet to give several performances during a residency at St. Andrews University in Scotland. The project involved performing Gluck's 'Iphigéne en Tauride' with Byre Opera in the Byre Theatre in St. Andrews. There was a Bach project taking place simultaneously which included performing and recording the 'Credo' from

I was involved, for a second year, in the International Händel Festival in Göttingen, Germany. I performed with Festspiel Orchester Göttingen (also known as FOG) in the Opera ‘Agrippina’ (HWV 6) and the Oratorio ‘Theodora’ (HWV 68).We gave six performances of Händel's 'Agrippina' in the Deutsches Theatre in Göttingen. It is a large-scale, three-act opera with a running time of around 5

I feel like I am hitting the ground running at the beginning of 2015! It's the 3rd of January 2015 as I write and I have been fortunate enough to have been involved in two musical projects already this year. I returned from Saarbrücken via London City Airport last night and I woke up early this morning to head towards Cambridgeshire, to play at Wimpole Hall with Eboracum Baroque, directed by Chris

I recently received my copy of the Gorczycki - Volume II CD, directed by Andrzej Kosendiak, from the National Forum for Music in Wrocław, Poland. I participated in the recording in July 2014, you can read my earlier article here.The disc has turned out very well. It was very well recorded by CD Accord. The Schoeps microphones have been given a very pleasing sound of the ensemble. The editing

On Tuesday 4th of November 2014, I performed as an off-stage trumpeter with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in (or technically, just outside) the Royal Festival Hall in London. Sir Mark Elder conducted Donizetti's 'Les Martyrs', directing around 150 performers. My modest role involved playing a straight fanfare trumpet, which was provided for me by the orchestra. It had valves (which

I returned to Wrocław to make a CD recording with Andrzej Kosendiak's ensemble. We recorded more music by Gorczycki for Volume 2 of the National Forum of Music's Gorczycki series. The music is just as stunning as the pieces we played in the first volume. This time we recorded three different pieces of music involving trumpets in three different keys: D, C and B-flat. These included: 'In Virtute

May through to June has been an exciting time. I had the great pleasure of playing in the Thüringia Bach Festival in Weimar in May and then toured with the Göttingen Händel Festival through May and June.I have been amazed by the Festspiel Orchester Göttingen (known colloquially as FOG). The quality of the music-making has been incredible. I was impressed with the string section in particular, as

The "Un-Natural Trumpet" : 7th April 2013With the launch of their new recording of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo and to celebrate the Taverner Consort's 40th Anniversary, Andrew Parrott organised a day of lectures at the Oxford University Faculty of Music and Bate Collection of Musical Instruments. Andrew asked me to give a lecture about the Natural Trumpet. The lecture was held on the 7th April 2013.

I have spent the last few days in Wrocław in Poland. A beautiful city, with lots going on. They are currently building a new home for the Philharmonic (which I am told will be the best acoustic of any concert hall in central Europe) and the Euro 2012 football trophy has been unveiled since we have been here. There is lots happening. Also, yesterday it was 25°C, which was an added bonus.We are here