Trumpeters Russell Gilmour and William Russell travelled to Chichester on Saturday 5th November 2016, to be involved in a concert entitled ‘Gloria’, hosted by the choir 'Chichester Voices’ and their director Andrew Naylor. The all-Vivaldi programme was performed in St. George’s Church on Cleveland Road and featured Vivaldi’s: ‘Magnificat’, ‘Concerto for Two Trumpets in C Major’, ‘Beatus

Cadogan Hall was the venue for a concert given by Goldsmiths Choral Union, celebrating the 70th birthday of their acclaimed and longstanding Musical Director, Brian Wright. The programme consisted of Haydn’s 'Nelson Mass' and Mozart’s ‘Requiem’. The choral union was accompanied by the ‘Musicians of London’ orchestra. The period-instrument orchestra featured a fantastic obbligato from

A performance of Mozart’s ‘Requiem’ took place at St. Anne’s in Kew Green for the 'commemoration of the faithful departed’ service on All Souls’ Day. The Requiem Mass was held from 18:30 until 19:30 on Sunday 30th of October 2016.Chad Kelly directed the St. Anne's Choir and an orchestra of reduced forces (namely: Violin I, Violin II, Viola, Cello, Cor Anglais I, Cor Anglais II, Bassoon

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

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

I performed Vivaldi’s ‘Gloria’ with the Brandenburg Baroque Soloists at St. Martin-in-the-fields at 1900 on Thursday 15th of September 2016. The first half of the concert explored instrumental works by J.S. Bach. The Violin Concerto in E major (BWV 1042) and the 'Brandenburg Concerto No.3 in G major' (BWV1048) were finely-played and led by violinist, Persephone Gibbs.Oboist, Tony Robson and natural

I performed with Kasia Slawski (Soprano) in her Final MA Recital which took place at the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall at the University of York on Monday 12th of September.Kasia had chosen to sing music by Scarlatti, Handel and Bach. She was accompanied by Peter Seymour on the Harpsichord and Organ, and by myself (Russell Gilmour) on Baroque Trumpets in C and in D.Her recital began with two movements

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

Culture Vannin put on a show on Sunday 24th of July at the Gaiety Theatre in the Isle of Man called ‘Manannan’s Isle’. It combined Manx music with Manx dance and Manx folklore and gave the audience a flavour of a similar show given at the 2015 Festival Interceltique de Lorient (FIL). 2015 had been ’the year of the Isle of Man and Cornwall’. Click here to read my earlier blog about the 2015

I performed Tudor music from the time of King Henry VIII at Hampton Court Palace on Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th of July 2016. I played the natural trumpet and the cornetto in several different formations of ensemble, in various locations around the palace and grounds. Other colleagues played upon the sackbutt, lute, tenor drum, tambourine, bagpipe and hurdy-gurdy, showing a selection of the instruments

On Saturday 25th of June 2016, I performed music by Gabrieli, Banchieri, Vaughan-Williams and Rutter in Hampstead Parish Church (St. John-at-Hampstead). The Hampstead Chamber Choir, conducted by Dominic Brennan, had chosen an eclectic mix of music for choir, brass, organ and percussion. The concert began chronologically, with the ancient music in the first half (performed on modern instruments). The

Zelenka - Hypocondrie Bach - Magnificat in D Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 - Interval - Handel - Dixit Dominus Ars Eloquentiae and the Southampton Philharmonic Choir performed a programme of demanding choral and instrumental works on Saturday 18th of June 2016. The 7:30pm concert in Winchester Cathedral was attended by a substantial and ethereally back-lit audience. As the concert began

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

St. Martin-in-the-Fields was the venue for a candlelit concert on Saturday 28th of May 2016. The Brandenburg Sinfonia performed music by Mozart and Haydn with the professional choir of St. Martin’s Voices, led by St. Martin-in-the-Fields’ Director of Music, Andrew Earis. On this occasion, the orchestra played on modern instruments and I played in a section with Paul Archibald. The concert began

On Saturday 21st May 2016 I performed with Sinfonia Britannica in the National Musicians’ Church in London, otherwise known as St Sepulchre-without-Newgate on Holborn Viaduct. Soloists: Miriam Allan, Elizabeth Weisberg, Cathy Bell, Greg Tassell and Julian Debreuil Joanna Tomlinson directed the large and enthusiastic voices of the Constanza Chorus through three demanding works: Vivaldi’s ‘Dixit

Oxford Early Music festival put on a concert of Georg Frederic Händel’s ‘Israel in Egypt’ on Friday 13th of May 2016 in the University of Oxford’s first official building, the University Church. The International Baroque Players joined a fantastic line-up of soloists: Emma Kirkby (soprano), Robyn Allegra Parton (soprano), Robin Blaze (countertenor), Thomas Hobbs (tenor), Jonathan Arnold

I participated in a performance of Bach's B Minor Mass at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London. The performance was on modern instruments, so I played on the piccolo trumpet - as is the convention with modern trumpet players. These days, the majority of my work is on period instruments so it is very rare for me to play Baroque music on modern instruments. I did miss the rich sounds of the natural trumpets

I played Cornetto with The Little Baroque Company, performing Monteverdi's Vespers in London's 'City Temple' (Holborn Viaduct) on Monday 25th April 2016. Esther Jones conducted the orchestra and the combined choirs of The Esterhazy Singers and London Youth Choirs. Esther even conducted to another conductor (Greg Hallam) who relayed the tempo to the members of the youth choirs, who were facing away

St Andrew's Church in Cheam, (in the London Borough of Sutton) was the venue for a performance of Bach’s B Minor Mass on Saturday 16th of April 2016. The performance was given by the St Cecilia Chorus and the Little Baroque Company (orchestra). The performance was directed by Jonathan Rennert. It was a fantastic orchestra and the choir did a wonderful job singing this epic and virtuosic work. Soloists: Soprano:

Last week saw the realisation of Spiritato’s innovative ‘Guts and Glory’ project. Exploring ‘equal tension’ strings and using natural trumpets without finger holes, the group devised and delivered a programme of 17th Century music by Biber, Schmelzer, Vejvanovsky and Bertali. The project began with an open rehearsal and discussion event on Friday 8th April 2016 in which Spiritato welcomed