I enjoyed an action-packed week with the Aurora Orchestra and their conductor, Nicholas Collon, in the week beginning 20th March 2023. We performed Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony from memory six times in several different venues and settings in England and Germany. It was a pleasure to revisit this symphony, having memorised it for performances, including at the BBC Proms, in 2022.After two days of rehearsals

Aurora. What an orchestra, what energy, and what a privilege it has been to perform with them again. I recently wrote an article, in which I listed some of the most incredible things I have ever seen with my own eyes, among them: the Basilica di San Marco in Venice, the Vasa museum in Stockholm, Shakespeare’s Globe in London, Roger W Smith’s mechanical watchmaking, and the Aurora Orchestra's

It was a great pleasure to revisit Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique after the thrilling performances, including at the BBC Proms, in 2019. Our first performance in 2022—again, memorised— took place at 18:00 on Saturday 17th September 2022 at the Telekom Forum in Bonn. The performance was live-streamed to YouTube.We also played Beethoven's Triple Concerto (Op. 56) in the first half of the

The last time I performed at the BBC Proms with the Aurora Orchestra was in 2020—in the midst of the pandemic. Back then, we played Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 to a remote audience. This year was thankfully a stark contrast: it was great to experience the electrifying ambiance of a packed Royal Albert Hall once again, and it was a privilege to perform in the Proms in the BBC’s centenary year. Full

I performed in an education project on Wednesday 6th July 2022 with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment which took place at the Lee Valley VeloPark—the velodrome built for the 2012 Olympics. This event entitled 'Passing the Baton' marked 10 years since London hosted the Olympic Games. Incidentally, it was exactly 10 years ago today that my Royal College of Music graduation ceremony took

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,

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

‘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

It is difficult to put into words how it feels to once again, after this long interval, perform live music with an orchestra. I’ve missed the explorative sounds, the thrill of a challenge, the deeply immersive concentration in performance, the organic progression of a project, the collective pursuit of excellence, the feeling of belonging, the extraordinary characters, the excitement, the unexpected

Three Manx trumpet players performed in two consecutive BBC Proms concerts (in socially-distanced orchestras with no audience present) at the Royal Albert Hall in September 2020. Despite the shortening of this year’s Proms season, Manx trumpeters were key players at the world’s biggest classical music festival. Jason Evans took centre stage to perform the strongly-featured trumpet part in

Performing Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique with the Aurora Orchestra was one of the most enjoyable projects I participated in last year. It was great to return to play with the orchestra in February 2020 for music by Beethoven and Mozart. The orchestra rehearsed Beethoven’s Symphony No.1 in C [Op.21] on Wednesday 5th February 2020 at Morley College in London. We regrouped at London’s Heathrow

Ping. An email notification from the Aurora Orchestra: “Hi Russell, Is there a chance you might be available and willing to play 1st natural trumpet for this memorised Berlioz project, including at the BBC Proms? You’d just be needed for Symphonie Fantastique.”  There followed a moment of hesitance and doubt, quickly overridden by a feeling of ‘if others can do it, I can do it’. Four

Over the summer I had the pleasure of deputising with the Aurora Orchestra, playing first trumpet in a Mozart Symphony prior to their performances at Kings Place in London and at La Seine Musicale in Paris. I had been unable to play in the whole project on that occasion as it was around the time of my wedding so I agreed to deputise for just one rehearsal, which was most enjoyable. A few months later