Although I have visited Belgium on a number of occasions, I have never had the luxury of a free day in Brussels (except on a Monday, when the museum was closed). So, I took the opportunity to use up some British Airways and Eurostar vouchers, and visit Brussels especially to see the famous musical instrument museum. I arrived in Belgium on Tuesday 12th April 2022. I had arranged to meet up with the

I performed Handel’s Fernando on Wednesday 6th April 2022 at Handel’s local church in London—St. George’s, Hanover Square. The performance was a modern premiere of Fernando, Re di Castiglia, which Handel abandoned, or rather, completed under a different title, Sosarme, due to political reasons. This performance, given by Opera Settecento (directed by Leo Duarte) was part of the London

On Sunday 3rd April 2022 I performed Mozart’s Requiem at St Philip’s Church in Norbury, London, with the St. Philip’s Choir and the orchestra Libera. Sam Coates directed the orchestra and this young and excellent choir. The performance began with a hymn—My Song Is Love Unknown—sung by the choir and the congregation, accompanied by church organ and (a special arrangement had been produced

I performed Handel’s Messiah on Saturday 2nd April 2022 with Southampton Baroque and the Southampton Choral Society, conducted by Andrew Hayman, at Romsey Abbey in Hampshire.I played first trumpet, with Sam Goble on second trumpet. I last performed Handel’s Messiah with Southampton Choral Society in April 2019.It was wonderful to play in Romsey Abbey, a large Norman-era church in the heart of Romsey,

I performed with the Oxford Bach Soloists for a concert in celebration of an 80th birthday. The performance took place at New College in Oxford on Friday 1st April 2022, and was directed by Tom Hammond-Davies. It featured the soprano soloists Mary Bevan and Joanne Lunn, and the bass soloist Alex Ashworth. The programme featured Mozart’s Exsultate, Jubilate (K. 165), Mozart’s Fate Presto O Cari

I performed with the Aldeburgh Music Club (founded by Benjamin Britten) and the Suffolk Baroque Players at Snape Maltings on Saturday 26th March 2022. Their all-Bach programme featured the Easter Oratorio [BWV 249] and the Magnificat in D [BWV 243], under the direction of their new director, Tom Appleton.This concert was dedicated to the memory of their former director, Edmond Fivet CBE, who I had

I played first trumpet in Handel’s Messiah with the Brandenburg Baroque Soloists on Tuesday 22nd March 2022 at Eton College Chapel. The performance was conducted by Matthew O’Donovan and presented by the Eton College Musical Society. It featured a 200-strong chorus, with members of the ECMS Chorus, the Taplow Youth Choir and Wycombe Abbey School, and soloists: Miriam Allan (soprano), Tim Travers-Brown

Thanks to a grant from Arts Council England, I was able to invite a bespoke focus group to Bedford to play and experiment using natural trumpets without holes and to discuss the content of my upcoming book, ‘Just’ Natural Trumpet. The workshops took place at the Bunyan Meeting in my home town of Bedford on Friday 11th and Monday 14th of February 2022. [Incidentally, it has recently been announced

I played first trumpet with Oxford Bach Soloists for their performance of Bach’s cantata Vereinigte Zwietracht der wechselnden Saiten [BWV 207] at New College, Oxford, on Sunday 23rd January 2022. BWV 207 was the final piece in the concert, which also included Bach’s first Brandenburg Concerto [BWV 1046] and the cantata Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht! [BWV 52]. Each cantata featured recognisable

I arrived at the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles (CMBV) around three hours early for the afternoon rehearsal on Sunday 12th December 2021. I had intended to leave my trumpet in the rehearsal room and have a walk around the gardens at the Palace of Versailles. However, when I arrived at the CMBV, I cupped my hands to look through the tinted window in the door and I was spotted by the musical

I will always remember the performance of Handel's Israel in Egypt in York Minster on the 11th March 2020, with the Yorkshire Bach Choir. That performance would be my last for 172 days. So, it was with great delight to be back in York and – thankfully – in front of a live audience in the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall at York University. (I had visited York with Spiritato for a recorded

I played first trumpet for the Installation of the President of the Royal College of Surgeons on Thursday 9th December 2021. The Installation took place at the Royal College of Surgeons of England at Lincoln’s Inn Fields in London. Prior to the ceremony, the oboists and bassoonists played sonatas and concerti by Prowo and Corelli. The procession, led by a mace-bearer, was accompanied by Handel’s

I performed in a carol service which was led by students from Emanuel School. The service took place at St Luke's Church on Thurleigh Road, near Clapham South tube station on Tuesday 7th December 2021. I performed in the brass quintet with Sam Kinrade (trumpet), Katrina Lauder (horn), Rory Cartmell (trombone) and Sasha Koushk-Jalali (tuba). Charles Jenz directed the school choir, organist, and brass

I performed first trumpet in Handel’s Messiah in Exeter Cathedral on Sunday 5th December 2021. The afternoon performance featured the orchestra Devon Baroque and the singers and young choristers of Exeter Cathedral Choir. It was great to perform Handel’s Messiah with so many young people involved, and congratulations must go to them and to their teachers and supporters. I played first trumpet,

I played first trumpet in a performance of Handel's Messiah directed by Graham Walker at St. John's College Chapel in Cambridge on Saturday 4th December 2021. Will Russell, who was playing second trumpet, mentioned that this was our first Messiah together since before the pandemic. I have only played one Messiah since then, in Evian. It was great to perform it again, and to hear the wonderful choruses

Over the years Will Russell (2nd trumpet) and I have been fortunate enough to come into the possession of several rare and unusual nineteenth-century brass instruments. We were delighted when Les Talens Lyriques invited us to join their recording project – Portrait de Pauline Viardot – as we do not often get the opportunity to play these instruments professionally. The programme featured music

On 20th November 2021, I played first trumpet in Bach's Christmas Oratorio [BWV 248] at St. George's Church in Jesmond in Newcastle with the Newcastle Bach Choir. Their performance, conducted by Eric Cross, marked the choir's first concert since the beginning of the pandemic. It was only the second choral society concert I have done since March 2020, but it is good to see that these are gradually returning.

‘Until about the first third of the nineteenth century, audiences considered themselves in charge of the event. They paid attention and listened as they pleased. […] Performers had to win their audience’s attention before they could win them over.’ – Burgess, Geoffrey – 'The Pathetick Musician' – Oxford University Press (2016) – § '9: To Kindle the Heart: Engagement in Performance' The

The Aurora Orchestra’s performance of Beethoven’s 7th Symphony was socially distanced and performed without an audience at the 2020 BBC Proms, so it was with great pleasure that we were able to revisit this symphony, to perform it (again from memory) to capacity audiences in Nottinghamshire, London, and Suffolk. The first three performances – at the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham (Wednesday

A small number of ensembles in the UK have begun to experiment with using natural trumpets [i.e. without finger holes], although it is still relatively uncommon. It was great to take part in a project that offered enough rehearsal time to develop and explore playing without holes in an ensemble setting; playing some of the repertoire that is thought to have inspired Johann Sebastian Bach. The project,