The Medieval Manuscript the 'Chronicles of Mann and Sudreys' mentions various locations, including the Isle of Man, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and even places as far away as Norway and Brittany.
Russell Gilmour (trumpet) and David Kilgallon (organ) use melodies from these countries and they merge and fuse these ideas together with their own to create unique compositions for trumpet and organ. The idea behind their musical collaboration is to explore traditional music from these countries and to adapt the music, interpret it and explore it. Chronicles' musical format is slightly unusual in that it combines trumpet and organ - not the instruments you may initially associate with folk music - but it is an approach that has sparked a lot of interest.
Their limited edition EP "Prologue" is a sample of things to come, as the production of a full album is underway. The full album will be Chronicles' musical impression of the Isle of Man's influences and rich history - as documented in the Chronicles of Mann.
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writing on music, photography, travel and life as a freelance professional musician.
King Lear - Shakespeare’s Globe
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2022, %RSince I first performed at Shakespeare’s Globe (Othello in 2018), I have noticed the building more and more. I look at it every time I cross Blackfriars bridge on the train, and it is surprising how often it appears on television: it was a much sought-after venue during the pandemic as it is, of course, predominantly outdoors (where Covid infection was deemed less likely).And so it was, in a heatwave,
1671 - Colonel Blood - Tower of London - April 2019
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Here lies the man who boldly hath run through
More 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 Epitaph
I 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)
Hampton Court Palace - ‘Christmas at Court’
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2018, %ROn 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
Tudor Music - Hampton Court Palace - Corporate Event
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2017, %RI 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
Hampton Court Palace - Tudor Music
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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