What an experience it would have been to hear Bach’s music in the first year of his 27-year tenure as Thomaskantor and director musices of Leipzig in 1723. It was wonderful to be involved in an ambitious initiative, called Bach300, which is providing opportunities to perform works by Bach 300 years after the occasions for which they were originally composed. It was with great pleasure that I was

'Zen in the Art of Archery': ‘Occasionally several […] right shots came off in close succession and hit the target, besides of course the many more that failed. But if ever the least flicker of satisfaction showed in my face the Master turned on me with unwonted fierceness. "What are you thinking of?" he would cry. "You know already that you should not grieve over bad shots; learn now not to

While my B-flat trumpet lay dormant in the trumpet cupboard at home, its sound could be heard on BBC Radio 4's Easter Sunday service which aired on Sunday 12th April 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic has prevented any equivalent services from taking place this year. Andrew Earis (Director of Music at St. Martin-in-the-Fields) produced a BBC radio programme which featured some of the music from the 2013 service

When I was a student at the Royal College of Music I proposed a series of classes (in 2011) that would be organised and directed by postgraduate students from the Historical Performance department. Since I had proposed the idea, I had the job of arranging the inaugural class and I could choose the repertoire myself. I chose Johann Sebastian Bach’s ‘Christen, ätzet diesen Tag’ [BWV 63], originally

After I played in the BBC Proms for the first time in September 2016 I wrote about the inspiring influence of being allowed to stay up late as a child to watch the Last Night of the Proms - broadcast live from the Royal Albert Hall. Later in life, as a postgraduate student at the Royal College of Music, the area around the Royal Albert Hall became very familiar. On occasion, I would have morning rehearsals

I performed Purcell’s ‘Hark! the echoing air’ from the Fairy Queen with Clare Lloyd-Griffiths (soprano) and Solomon’s Knot as part of a special Proms edition of the BBC Radio 3 programme ‘In Tune’. The live broadcast took place just after the 17:00 news on Friday 19th July 2019 (the First Night of the Proms) in front of an audience at Imperial College London on Prince Consort Road. The

Andrzej Kosendiak and the Wrocław Baroque Ensemble performed music by Marcin Mielczewski in two cities alongside the Vistula river in central Poland. The first concert took place in Płock Cathedral (the Bazylika Katedralna Wniebowzięcia Najświętszej Maryi Panny) on Saturday 2nd February 2019, and the second concert took place in the Great Hall of the Royal Castle in Warsaw on Sunday 3rd February

When I first visited the Palace of Versailles on a school history trip in March 2005 I would never have imagined that I would, one day, have the opportunity to play there as a professional trumpet player. Since then I have performed and recorded in the Opéra Royal de Versailles with Les Talens Lyriques (often playing operas that were originally performed there, such as Lully’s Alceste and

After enjoyable projects over the summer with Vox Luminis in Uzès and at the Utrecht Early Music Festival, it was great to rejoin our friends and colleagues for two more festival appearances on consecutive evenings. The ensemble performed Handel’s Dixit Dominus [HWV 23] and Bach’s Magnificat [BWV 243] in the Ambronay Festival (Festival D’Ambronay) on Friday 21st September 2018 and in the

I was invited to perform in Groningen and Hamburg with the Gabrieli Consort and Players, directed by Paul McCreesh. They performed 'King Arthur or The British Worthy - A Dramatick Opera' by Henry Purcell and John Dryden. The group performed this piece using a new Concert Performing Edition by Christopher Suckling & Paul McCreesh which included some additional music from Purcell’s ‘Dioclesian’

As a young lad, if I showed any reluctance to attend a rehearsal I was given the choice of: 'band, ballet or bed'. I ruled out ballet immediately and always chose band eventually. To a six-year-old, the prospect of going to bed early seemed like a punishment - how times change! Being allowed to stay up late was a privilege reserved for very special occasions - one such occasion being the Last Night

It was an immense honour to perform in the opening concert of the new National Forum of Music (Narodowe Forum Muzyki) in Wrocław, Poland. The NFM is an incredible facility and a stunning addition to Wrocław's architectural skyline and musical culture. It will play a valuable role during Wrocław's 'European Capital of Culture' status in 2016.   The musicians of the Wrocław Baroque Orchestra

On Tuesday 4th of November 2014, I performed as an off-stage trumpeter with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in (or technically, just outside) the Royal Festival Hall in London. Sir Mark Elder conducted Donizetti's 'Les Martyrs', directing around 150 performers. My modest role involved playing a straight fanfare trumpet, which was provided for me by the orchestra. It had valves (which

'Te Lucis Ante Terminum' - Wrocław Cathedral Tuesday 9th September 2014 Music by Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki: Completorium Conductus Funebris Missa Rorate II Litaniae de Providentia Divina Andrzej Kosendiak - Musical Director Aldona Bartnik, Agnieszka Ryman - Soprano Matthew Venner - Alto Maciej Gocman - Tenor Tomaš Kral, Jaromir Nosek - Bass Zbigniew Pilch - 1st Violin Mikołaj

A recording from a concert given last week in Kaiserslautern (featuring Russell Gilmour) will be broadcast on German National Radio: 'Deutschland Radio Kultur' - this evening (Tuesday 28th January 2014) at 19:03 GMT (20:03 in German time) - after the news. Russell is playing with the French ensemble, 'Le Concert Lorrain' and he features in the first item in the programme: the Telemann Trumpet