Following a memorable Messiah performance in December 2014, I returned to Brangwyn Hall in Swansea on Sunday 17th of December 2017 to perform another rendition of this, Handel’s most renowned oratorio, with the Swansea Bach Choir - under the direction of Greg Hallam, with the orchestra Musica Poetica London. The impressive decorative panels adorning Brangwyn Hall, completed by the Belgian-born Sir

I began playing on Friday 15th of December 2017 at 10am at Holy Trinity Church (Prince Consort Road) with an intensive B Minor Mass rehearsal with Solomon’s Knot ahead of their performances in Nottingham (16th Dec) and at St. John’s Smith Square (18th Dec). After this rehearsal, I walked to Cadogan Hall and took part in an afternoon rehearsal and evening performance of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio

Just as a distinctive smell can immediately remind you of a time, of a place, or of people in your life - so too can receiving a finished copy of a CD that you were involved with. Listening back is always an exciting, sensory-rich moment, one that gives an opportunity to reminisce about the process of capturing that recording. It gives the ability to remember the music after some time away from it

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

I played first trumpet with the Suffolk Baroque Players for Aldeburgh Music Club Choir’s performance of Handel’s Messiah, which was conducted by Edmond Fivet CBE. The concert took place on Saturday 18th of November 2017 in the wonderful venue of Snape Maltings at 7pm. The soloists were Zöe Bonner (Soprano), Amy Lyddon (Mezzo-Soprano), Christopher Bowen (Tenor) and Alex Ashworth (Bass). I performed

Incredibly, it has been eight years since I last visited Edinburgh. Back in July 2009, I visited the University of Edinburgh, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (Glasgow) and the Musical Instrument Museums Edinburgh (located at the Reid Concert Hall and St Cecilia's Hall). I visited these places as part of the ‘BRaSS’ (Brass Research and Scholarship in Scotland) Conference and spent much of the

After a memorable concert in November 2016 (when Will Russell and I performed Vivaldi’s ‘Concerto for two trumpets in C’) in St. George’s Church in Chichester, we were invited by Andrew Naylor - musical director of Chichester Voices - to return for their 2017 concert, entitled ‘Messiah with Fireworks’. We returned to Chichester on Saturday 4th of November with several additions to our trumpet

London’s Cadogan Hall was the venue for a concert given by the choir of Goldsmiths Choral Union and the period instrument orchestra Musicians of London. The concert took place on Tuesday 31st of October 2017 and it featured Haydn’s Te Deum, Mozart’s Vespers [K.339] and Beethoven’s Mass in C. The large forces of Goldsmiths Choral Union did an excellent job with these pieces, ably led by their

I performed with Devon Baroque in the Great Hall at Dartington on Sunday 29th October 2017 for a concert entitled “Musical Battles, and the Trumpet, Naturally”. I performed Torelli’s ‘Concerto in D for trumpet and strings’ [G1] and as one of the four featured soloists in Bach’s ‘Brandenburg Concerto No.2 in F Major’ [BWV 1047]. Tromba - Russell Gilmour Flauto - Olwen Foulkes Hautbois

Spiritato gave a performance of their ‘Guts & Glory’ programme at the Wiltshire Music Centre in Bradford on Avon on Saturday 21st of October 2017. They gave a brilliant performance of this programme (which was preceded by a thought-provoking pre-concert talk) and they suitably impressed the enthusiastic and inquisitive audience. This marked the fifth and final performance (as it

I led a Wind, Brass and Percussion sectional rehearsal at the Junior Guildhall on Saturday 14th of October 2017. The sectional rehearsal focused on Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor (Op.64) and De Falla’s Three Cornered Hat (Ballet). I began the sectional with tutti forces, and asked the students about Mendelssohn and the history of the Violin Concerto in E Minor. I asked the trombones

I performed Tudor music on the Cornetto as part of a high-profile corporate function in the Great Hall, at Hampton Court Palace on the evening of Wednesday 11th October 2017. The Great Hall at Hampton Court Palace features a highly decorated hammer-beam ceiling with King Henry VIII’s fine tapestries of 'The Story of Abraham' hung all around the room. The group of musicians wore Tudor regalia bearing

After the B Minor Mass performance in Suffolk, I returned home on Sunday 1st of October 2017 via David Staff’s workshop with a beautifully-restored natural trumpet, finished with a new cord of an alternating dark blue and red pattern on the binding [- the previous all-red binding had been added by Graham Nicholson on my first visit to The Hague in January 2011]. Upon arriving at home I had just enough

Saturday saw glorious autumnal sunshine, so I took the opportunity to explore the hamlet of Flatford in the Stour Valley. I walked around the countryside that is synonymous with John Constable; it was Flatford where Constable painted his ‘Scene on a Navigable River’. After an enjoyable walk, I drove the few remaining miles to Stoke by Nayland (also in the Stour Valley, in Suffolk) where I would

I performed Vivaldi’s Gloria with the Brandenburg Baroque Soloists at St. Martin-in-the-Fields on Thursday 28th of September 2017. The first half of the concert featured Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, led by violinist Persephone Gibbs. In the second half of the concert Jeremy Jackman conducted the English Baroque Choir and Brandenburg Baroque Soloists in Vivaldi’s Gloria. The soloists were Natasha Day

I travelled to the Isle of Man to celebrate Onchan Silver Band’s 80th Anniversary by participating in a performance of their newly-commissioned ‘Seven Kingdoms’ suite, which was performed on Tuesday 26th of September 2017 (for the first time on land) in the second half of their final concert this season at the Villa Marina Arcade in Douglas (promoted by the Isle of Man Arts Council). The band

Russell Gilmour, William Russell and Gareth Hoddinott travelled to Saarbrücken in Germany to perform with Le Concert Lorrain and the newly re-named BachChor Saarbrücken, with whom we have built up an excellent rapport over many years. The trumpet section was joined by timpanist Simon Stierle and it is always great to work with him. The performance took place at 6pm on Sunday 17th September 2017 in

Sunday 10th September 2017 saw a performance of J. S. Bach's 'Gelobet sei der Herr, mein Gott' [BWV 129] as part of the Lutheran Vespers at St Michael at the North Gate in Oxford. Oxford Bach Soloists, directed by Tom Hammond-Davies, performed the cantata liturgically as part of this 4pm service. The church was full to capacity. BWV 129 was written in 1724/5 for the Feast of the Trinity (possibly

Exeter Cathedral was the venue for ‘Grand Baroque III’, a programme compiled by Blackdowns Early Music Projects which featured several ‘German Choral Masterworks’ from composers such as Rosenmüller, Schelle and Kuhnau. The performance took place at Exeter Cathedral on Monday 28th August 2017. The baroque orchestra consisted of the English Cornett and Sackbutt Ensemble, the Monteverdi String

On Monday 21st of August 2017, I played first trumpet with the Brandenburg Baroque Soloists for a workshopped performance of Bach’s Magnificat in D Major (BWV 243). The performance was the culmination of a residential choral course for young singers at the stunning venue of Wellington College in Crowthorne, Berkshire and the group was directed by Ralph Allwood MBE. The choir took on the momentous