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 choir and players of the Collegium Musicum of London performed Bach’s B Minor Mass under the direction of Greg Morris on Saturday 27th of April 2019 at St James’ Piccadilly. I played first natural trumpet in the baroque orchestra led by violinist Persephone Gibbs, with Richard Thomas playing second trumpet, Tamsin Cowell on third trumpet and Robert Kendell on timpani. The soloists were: Philippa

Here lies the man who boldly hath run throughMore villainies than England ever knew;And ne'er to any friend he had was true.Here let him then by all unpitied lie,And let's rejoice his time was come to die. - Colonel Thomas Blood’s EpitaphI performed on the cornetto at the Tower of London for a day of events centred around the year 1671 and Colonel Thomas Blood’s (1618 - 1680) notorious attempt

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 -

I performed with the orchestra Musicians of London and the Goldsmiths Choral Union, under their conductor Brian Wright on Monday 15th April 2019. The ensemble performed Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis [Op. 123] in the Queen Elizabeth Hall at London’s Southbank Centre.I played first natural trumpet in the section with Nick Wright on second trumpet. Nick had taken on the daunting task of fixing this sizeable

I performed first trumpet in Handel’s Messiah with Oxford Baroque on Saturday 6th April 2019. The performance took place in the Dobson Art Centre in King Edward VI School in Southampton. Oxford Baroque provided a period instrument orchestra to accompany the Southampton Choral Society. The performance was directed by their conductor Benjamin Costello. During the rehearsal, Benjamin kindly remarked

This week continued with more Mozart, this time at St. John’s Smith Square on Wednesday 3rd April 2019. Will Russell (2nd trumpet) and I (1st trumpet) played natural trumpets with Musica Poetica and the English Baroque Choir under the direction of former King’s Singer, Jeremy Jackman.The programme consisted of Biber’s Requiem in F Minor [IHB 17] and Mozart’s Mass in C Minor [K. 427], both performed

On Saturday 30th March 2019 I traveled to St. Peter’s Church on Leigham Court Road in Streatham to perform Mozart’s Krönungsmesse (Coronation Mass) [K.317] and Vesperae Solennes de Confessore [K.339] with the Brandenburg Sinfonia and Streatham Choral. The well-attended concert, entitled Mozart Masterpieces, featured Ave Verum Corpus [K. 618], Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, Exultate Jubilate

I performed Monteverdi’s Vespers in the Swedish capital city of Stockholm on Sunday 24th March 2019. Prior to this visit I had spent only a few hours in Sweden (in Malmö, on a day trip over the railway bridge from Denmark) so I took the opportunity to extend my visit over a long weekend that tied in with the cheapest flights. This opportunity had arisen at fairly short notice and my Mum (who lives

Snape Maltings was the venue for Aldeburgh Music Club’s performance of a programme entitled ‘The Amazing Mr. Handel’ on Saturday 16th March 2019. The performance featured the Coronation Anthems [HWV 258], Water Music Suite in G [HWV 350], Concerto Grosso Op.6 No.9 [HWV 327], Chandos Anthem No.7 'My song shall be alway' [HWV 252] and the Chandos Anthem No.4 'O worship the Lord in the beauty of

Andrzej Kosendiak and the Wrocław Baroque Ensemble performed music by Marcin Mielczewski in two cities alongside the Vistula river in central Poland. The first concert took place in Płock Cathedral (the Bazylika Katedralna Wniebowzięcia Najświętszej Maryi Panny) on Saturday 2nd February 2019, and the second concert took place in the Great Hall of the Royal Castle in Warsaw on Sunday 3rd February

At the invitation of Adrian France, Head of Brass, I gave a natural trumpet masterclass to the brass students of Newcastle University on Wednesday 31st January 2019. The class took place between 14:00 and 16:00 in the spacious Robert Boyle Lecture Theatre in the Armstrong Building, on the main University campus. I was glad to be able to deliver a masterclass to higher education students on the subject

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

Les Talens Lyriques performed Mozart’s azione sacra (literally ‘sacred action’) Betulia Liberata [K.118/74c] under the direction of Christophe Rousset in Salzburg’s Mozartwoche 2019. The concert took place in Salzburg’s Haus für Mozart on Sunday 27th January 2019, exactly 263 years after Mozart's birthday on the 27th January 1756. La Betulia Liberata is based on the biblical character of

Spiritato’s Sound the Trumpet programme made an excellent impression with the audience at Holy Trinity Church in Claygate in Surrey on Saturday 12th January 2019. This early evening concert was promoted by the Oxshott & Cobham Music Society and included works by Purcell, Corbett, Rebel, Fantini, Legrenzi, Albrici, Matteis and Franceschini.Almost time to Sound the Trumpet with @Spiritato #soundthetrumpet

Inspired by the Medieval manuscript the Chronicles of Mann, two Manx-born musicians Russell Gilmour (trumpet) and David Kilgallon (organ) performed in the duo ‘Chronicles’ at St. Paul’s Church in Ramsey on the Isle of Man on Friday 28th December 2018.The Chronicles of Mann mentions various locations including: the Isle of Man, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and even places as far away as Norway and

Northampton Cathedral was the venue for my only complete Messiah performance this December. I played with the choir and orchestra of Fiori Musicali with their Director Penelope Rapson. Some years ago Handel’s Messiah seemed to be, almost exclusively, the only piece that I was asked to perform at this time of year. At the moment it seems to be slightly less common for me to have a solely Messiah-filled

Spain is a country I have visited only twice before. The more recent trip was to Úbeda with the Academy of Ancient Music in 2013. I performed as a soloist playing Handel’s Diana cacciatrice [HWV 79] with the soprano soloist Lucy Crowe. Before that I visited Spain for the first time with Le Concert Lorrain. We finished an extensive European tour in Burgos on the 21st of December 2010 with a performance

On Thursday 13th of December 2018 I deputised at Hampton Court Palace, playing festive music (some music had direct links to the palace) on 19th Century instruments as part of the palace’s ‘Christmas at Court’ events. A duo of brass players accompanied several of the grace-and-favour residents of 1906 and members of the public as they sang carols around the Christmas tree in Clock Court at 11:15

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

When I first visited the Palace of Versailles on a school history trip in March 2005 I would never have imagined that I would, one day, have the opportunity to play there as a professional trumpet player.Since then I have performed and recorded in the Opéra Royal de Versailles with Les Talens Lyriques (often playing operas that were originally performed there, such as Lully’s Alceste and Salieri’s

On Sunday 2nd December 2018 I deputised on first trumpet with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment for the first joint rehearsal day of Glydnebourne’s Community Opera, ‘Agreed’. This opera was composed and conducted by Howard Moody, and his daughter Anna Moody had written the libretto. 'Agreed' is directed by Simon Iorio and will be performed at Glyndebourne in the near future. For further

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

Overview | Brunei | Thailand | Laos | Cambodia | Philippines | Malaysia | VietnamApproaching Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport from the south-east gave stunning views over the meandering course of the Mekong Delta. As we descended, Ho Chi Minh City’s vast sprawl was apparent; 13.5 million inhabitants live in the metropolitan area and 8.4 million live in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) itself.

Overview | Brunei | Thailand | Laos | Cambodia | Philippines | Malaysia | VietnamFrom Manila we flew over the South China Sea again and arrived back at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia at 17:05 on Thursday 8th November 2018. Getting through immigration had been relatively tricky here. We all had the correct documentation but the sudden deluge of our group rather overwhelmed the sole staff

Overview | Brunei | Thailand | Laos | Cambodia | Philippines | Malaysia | VietnamAs soon as our plane landed at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila on 4th November 2018, an army of workers were waiting at the gate ready to unload our aircraft. I imagine they had at least double or triple the number of ground staff that would meet a plane landing the United Kingdom. We left to meet two coaches

Overview | Brunei | Thailand | Laos | Cambodia | Philippines | Malaysia | VietnamMarking the half-way point of the tour, we arrived in the capital city of Cambodia at Phnom Penh International Airport. Two coaches, decked out with lace curtains like a Pullman carriage, transported us toward the busy city centre and our hotel. It was interesting to observe the shops and stalls at the roadside. There

Overview | Brunei | Thailand | Laos | Cambodia | Philippines | Malaysia | VietnamWe arrived in Vientiane at Wattay International Airport on the evening of Friday 26th October 2018. The Lao Plaza hotel was only 6km away and we checked in very efficiently upon arrival. After dropping off our luggage we left the hotel and went to find something to eat. The hotel was near Nam Phou, a square with a central

Overview | Brunei | Thailand | Laos | Cambodia | Philippines | Malaysia | VietnamWe arrived at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (‘Land of Gold’) airport to the East of Bangkok and met the coaches that would take us to the Swissôtel Le Concorde in Bangkok’s Huai Khwang district. The scenes from the coach window were very different to Brunei’s. Even though it was 22:00 the volume of traffic was immense.