Our first performance took place on Friday 27th January 2023 and it featured Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 6 in C major (D 589), Symphony No. 2 in B-flat minor (D 125), and Symphony No. 4 (‘Tragic’) in C minor (D 417). The second concert, on Sunday 29th January 2023, featured Symphony No. 1 in D major (D 82), Symphony No. 3 in D major (D 200) and Symphony No. 8 (‘Unfinished’) in B minor (D 759). The final performance, on Tuesday 31st January 2023, featured his Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major (D 485) and Symphony No. 9 (‘Great’) in C major (D 944). 

The architecturally impressive Théâtre du Châtelet, built between 1860–2 on the orders of Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann, was an apt venue for such a grand programme. The theatre sits alongside the river Seine in the first arrondissement of Paris.

We had a lot to play, on trumpets in E, E-flat, D, C, B-flat and A, and I was very grateful to have a bumper. I played first trumpet in this magnificent brass and percussion section: William Russell (2nd trumpet), Imogen Whitehead (bumper), Marie-Ange Petit (timpani), Yannick Maillet (1st horn), Cédric Muller (2nd horn), Alessandro Orlando (3rd horn), Camille Lebrequier (4th horn), Claire McIntyre (alto trombone), Aurélie Serre (tenor trombone) and Lucas Perruchon (bass trombone).