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.
Purcell - The Fairy Queen - Vox Luminis - Ghent & Madrid
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2025, %RIt was a pleasure to perform Purcell’s The Fairy Queen (Z. 692) with Vox Luminis at De Bijloke in Ghent on Thursday 13 November 2025 and at the Teatro Real in Madrid on Saturday 15 November 2025. We began rehearsing in Belgium on Armistice Day—Namur was particularly quiet on this poignant day.
It was great to explore the historic old town in Ghent and fantastic to revisit Madrid. My last performance at the Teatro Real was with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and René Jacobs on 13 June 2023, when we performed Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice. This time I took the opportunity to visit the Parque de el Retiro. I got back to the hotel before the heavens opened, and later made a dash to the metro to get to the Opéra station next to the Teatro Real; this was extreme rainfall with roads turning to rivers and passing vehicles soaking the pedestrians even more! After the rehearsal the rain had relented enough to be able to make my way to the incredible Mercado de San Miguel for tapas, amid the hustle and bustle.
Lionel Meunier, director of Vox Luminis, sang bass and played the recorder in this production. I played first trumpet, including the trumpet solos in ‘Hark! The echoing air a triumph sings’, sung by Carine Tinney, and ‘Thus, thus the gloomy world began to shine’, sung by Kieran White. I played on the opposite side of the stage to Will Russell on 2nd trumpet and Marianne Soroka, timpani and percussion, was situated in the middle of the stage at the back of the orchestra.
As with Purcell’s King Arthur (which I performed with Vox Luminis when I first met them at Snape Maltings in 2017), The Fairy Queen was performed as a semi-staged concert version, which once again featured the narration of Simon Robson. I used to teach Simon’s son the trumpet, and I am delighted to hear that he has recently graduated from Oxford University with a first class degree in Music!
Natural Trumpet, Purcell, Touring, Vox Luminis
It was great to explore the historic old town in Ghent and fantastic to revisit Madrid. My last performance at the Teatro Real was with the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra and René Jacobs on 13 June 2023, when we performed Christoph Willibald Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice. This time I took the opportunity to visit the Parque de el Retiro. I got back to the hotel before the heavens opened, and later made a dash to the metro to get to the Opéra station next to the Teatro Real; this was extreme rainfall with roads turning to rivers and passing vehicles soaking the pedestrians even more! After the rehearsal the rain had relented enough to be able to make my way to the incredible Mercado de San Miguel for tapas, amid the hustle and bustle.
Lionel Meunier, director of Vox Luminis, sang bass and played the recorder in this production. I played first trumpet, including the trumpet solos in ‘Hark! The echoing air a triumph sings’, sung by Carine Tinney, and ‘Thus, thus the gloomy world began to shine’, sung by Kieran White. I played on the opposite side of the stage to Will Russell on 2nd trumpet and Marianne Soroka, timpani and percussion, was situated in the middle of the stage at the back of the orchestra.
As with Purcell’s King Arthur (which I performed with Vox Luminis when I first met them at Snape Maltings in 2017), The Fairy Queen was performed as a semi-staged concert version, which once again featured the narration of Simon Robson. I used to teach Simon’s son the trumpet, and I am delighted to hear that he has recently graduated from Oxford University with a first class degree in Music!
This is not my last project with Vox Luminis this year: I will be returning to perform with them in Hamburg, Rotterdam, Dortmund, Antwerp, London, Amsterdam, Modena, and Brescia in December.