Handel’s Solomon (HWV 67) was the chosen oratorio at this year’s Göttingen International Handel Festival, which centred around the theme of laurels (Lorbeeren). George Petrou directed the Festspiel Orchester Göttingen (FOG) for two performances of this oratorio; the first took place at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie on 15 May 2025 and the second at Göttingen’s recently refurbished Stadthalle,

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Croatian Baroque Ensemble (Hrvatski Barokni Ansambl), as well as the 50th birthday of the trumpeter Krešimir Fabijanić, the Croatian Baroque Ensemble performed an instrumental programme entitled ‘Tromba Gloriosa’, featuring music by Biber, Purcell, Telemann, Bach and Handel. The programme began with Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber’s Sonata Sancti Polycarpi

It was a great pleasure to rejoin Christophe Rousset’s Les Talens Lyriques, once again as principal trumpet, for five all-Bach performances over the Easter period. Following rehearsals in Paris, we performed at the MC2 concert hall in Grenoble (16 April 2025), the Kultur- und Kongresszentrum Luzern (KKL) in Lucerne (18 April 2025), as part of the Festival de Pâques at the Grand Théâtre de Provence

I played first trumpet in Handel’s Saul with the Monteverdi String Band (led by Oliver Webber) and the Romsey Choral Society, conducted by Richard Pearce on Saturday 29 March 2025. The performance featured soloists Simon Thorpe (Saul), Maryam Wocial (Merab, Witch of Endor), Beatriz Volante (Michal), Christopher Bowen (Jonathan, Samuel, High Priest, Amalekite, Messenger) and

I played first trumpet in Bach’s Easter Oratorio (BWV 249) at St Clement Danes Church in London on Thursday 27 March 2025 with the ensemble Liturnia, directed by Joel Sanderson. The programme also featured Bach’s cantata Ihr werdet weinen und heulen (BWV 103) in which the trumpet aria, Erholet euch, betrübte Stimmen, was played by Nick Walker (who has performed it with this group on a previous

St Bartholomew the Great, London’s oldest parish church, was a suitably ancient venue for a performance of Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine (1610) on Wednesday 26 March 2025. The performance, directed by Rupert Gough, featured the Brandenburg Baroque Soloists and the excellent choir of Royal Holloway, University of London. I realised, when the conductor placed the parts for Monteverdi’s

I played second trumpet, alongside Adrian Woodward and Daniel Weitz, in Bach’s B Minor Mass (BWV 232) at the Parish Church of St John the Baptist in Chester on Saturday 22 March 2025.The performance given by the Chester Bach Singers featured the superb soloists Ruth Provost (soprano), Amy Wood (soprano), Joseph Judge (alto), William Balkwill (tenor [formerly a trumpeter!]), and Peter Edge (Baritone).

After an amazing fortnight of performances with the Aurora Orchestra (and a couple of days to rest at home), I travelled to Brittany to perform with Le Banquet Céleste: a French period-instrument orchestra based in Rennes. Before leaving home, I had a brief look at the list of musicians in the schedule and I did not see any names that I recognised. However, when I arrived (via Eurostar,

Words simply cannot convey the brilliance of the past fortnight, which I have spent performing with the Aurora Orchestra under the baton of Nicholas Collon. After a fairly gentle start to the year for me (professionally), the reunion of this family-like orchestra felt all the more uplifting. We performed Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 from memory at Saffron Hall (23 February), the Isarphilharmonie in

I performed Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Oxford Bach Soloists at SJE Arts in Oxford on Friday 3 January 2025 and at St James Piccadilly in London on Saturday 4 January 2025. The performance, featuring parts I, IV, and VI of the Christmas Oratorio, was directed by Steven Grahl and featured the soloists Nick Pritchard (Evangelist), Emilia Bertolini (soprano), Stephanie Franklin (alto), Thomas

On Friday 20 and Saturday 21 December 2024, I finished an incredibly busy week by playing carols with a small ensemble at Hampton Court Palace. We played Christmas music in the Great Hall and, later, a selection of carols requested by the visitors in the Presence Chamber and the Guard Chamber and . ‘Silent Night’ and ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ (the Holst version) were among the more traditional

I went to Gatwick Airport on 17 December 2024, straight after performing at St. Martin-in-the-Fields with the English Baroque Soloists, in preparation to travel to Gran Canaria early the following morning. Once I arrived in Gran Canaria on Wednesday 18 December 2024 (and following a quick dip in the hotel’s rooftop swimming pool, where the water temperature was a bracing 13°C and the weather

La Scala, Milan | Alte Oper, Frankfurt | Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg | St. Martin-in-the-Fields, LondonThe final concert of our tour, which featured Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Messe de minuit pour Noël, [H 9], Johann Sebastian Bach’s Schwingt freudig euch empor [BWV 36c], and Bach’s Unser Mund sei voll Lachens [BWV 110] took place at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London on Tuesday 17 December

I played first trumpet in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio [BWV 248] at Brompton Oratory in London on Monday 16 December 2024. This remarkable performance, directed by Charles Cole, featured only one professional singer (Peter Davoren, tenor) as the Evangelist, the rest of the soloists came from within the ranks of this incredible choir. The students and teachers of this fine choral school should be extremely

La Scala, Milan | Alte Oper, Frankfurt | Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg | St. Martin-in-the-Fields, LondonThe third concert of our tour, featuring Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Messe de minuit pour Noël, [H 9], Johann Sebastian Bach’s Schwingt freudig euch empor [BWV 36c] and Bach’s Unser Mund sei voll Lachens [BWV 110] took place at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg on Saturday 14 December 2024. This

I played with the Quintabile Brass Quintet for a carol concert at Christ Church Mayfair on Thursday 12 December 2024. I played with Sam Kinrade (trumpet), Emily Allen (horn), David Pitts (trombone), and Stuart Beard (tuba). It was wonderful to perform these well-arranged carols with these fine brass-playing friends and colleagues.I walked to Mayfair from St. Pancras and enjoyed seeing the Christmas

Following my return flight to the UK from Frankfurt (having performed at the Alte Oper yesterday), I travelled directly to Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford to play first trumpet in Handel’s Messiah. This performance, on Monday 9 December 2024, was directed by Peter Holder and featured Christ Church Cathedral Choir, Frideswide Voices, The Wolsey Ensemble, and the soloists Harriet Burns (soprano),

La Scala, Milan | Alte Oper, Frankfurt | Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg | St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London I rejoined the English Baroque Soloists under the direction of Christophe Rousset to perform Johann Sebastian Bach’s Unser Mund sei voll Lachens [BWV 110] alongside the Monteverdi Choir at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt on Sunday 8 December 2024. This was the second performance of the project,

As storm Darragh raged across much of the UK, I performed Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Adderbury Ensemble and the Cherwell Choral Society at St Peter and St Pauls Church in Deddington, Oxfordshire. It was nice to return to this village one year after our performance of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Magnificat last year.The performance, which took place on Saturday 7 December 2024, was directed

I performed Handel’s Messiah at Temple Church in London on Thursday 5 December 2024. The performance was led by Dominika Fehér (violin) and directed by Thomas Allery, Director of Music (and formerly my direct contemporary at the Royal College of Music).I performed The Trumpet Shall Sound with the bass soloist Ashley Riches. The other vocal soloists, equally excellent, were Jessica Cale (soprano),