I was invited by Murray Greig, Head of Brass at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, to lead trumpet class and introduce my book, ‘Just’ Natural Trumpet, to the college’s trumpet players on Monday 18 November 2024. This was a wonderful ‘full circle’ moment for me, as I first began playing the natural trumpet 18 years ago after attending a similar masterclass at the

I gave a lecture presentation about my book, ‘Just’ Natural Trumpet on Saturday 5 October 2024 at St Andrew’s church in Thornhill Square in London. The lecture was part of a natural trumpet weekend course organised by Bill Tuck. I have known Bill for many years, having first met him in 2008, even before I moved to London. Indeed one of my earliest blogs on this website was entitled ‘Tomes

I had the pleasure of mentoring for ‘Future Talent’ at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) on Sunday 9th February 2020. The extreme weather of Storm Ciara made some of the travel arrangements a bit of a challenge. Fortunately my route to and from Manchester was largely unaffected but there was more debris on the roads than normal, and at one point I had to ford a deeply-flooded road on

At the invitation of Adrian France, Head of Brass, I gave a natural trumpet masterclass to the brass students of Newcastle University on Wednesday 31st January 2019. The class took place between 14:00 and 16:00 in the spacious Robert Boyle Lecture Theatre in the Armstrong Building, on the main University campus. I was glad to be able to deliver a masterclass to higher education students on the subject

Exactly a week after playing in Oxford with the Oxford Bach Soloists, I was back in the 'City of Dreaming Spires' for the Taverner Consort's Symposium, entitled 'A Pursuit of Music'. The talk took place at Oxford University's Faculty of Music and Bate Collection on Sunday 23rd of April 2017. I had given a talk at the previous event (Taverner at 40 - April 2013) and it was remembered that I had shown

On Thursday 9th of March 2017, I was involved in delivering a Historically Informed Performance Class at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Four members of the period-instrument ensemble ‘Spiritato!’ talked about their recent ‘Guts & Glory’ project - which involved discussing many of the key aspects of being a Historically Informed performer. The class focused on the pros and cons of

On Saturday morning, I tutored students who were participating in Birmingham University’s Baroque Orchestra. The trumpet players had been asked to play Bach’s Orchestral Suite No.3 (BWV 1068) and Rameau’s Suite from Les Indes Galantes. I spent a few hours helping the students with issues of playing in Baroque style and ensuring they were prepared for the intensive weekend of music.

On Tuesday, 25th of March, I had the pleasure of giving a lecture and masterclass at Hyde Park Barracks for members of the Life Guards in the Household Cavalry and members of the Band of the Blues and Royals. I performed with the Altenburg Ensemble and we presented a short history of the Natural Trumpet, and then demonstrated each point using a suitable piece of music. We performed music by Bendinelli,

The "Un-Natural Trumpet" : 7th April 2013 With the launch of their new recording of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo and to celebrate the Taverner Consort's 40th Anniversary, Andrew Parrott organised a day of lectures at the Oxford University Faculty of Music and Bate Collection of Musical Instruments. Andrew asked me to give a lecture about the Natural Trumpet. The lecture was held on the 7th April

The Natural Trumpet: Original Instruments - “Original Ears”? “Original Ears” - By Bruce Haynes - from” The End of Early Music - Oxford University Press, 2007 University College of London - North and South Cloisters Katie Hodges (Left) - with the ensemble of new Natural Trumpet players. L-R Katie Hodges (Conducting), Andrew Thompson (sitting), Maria Jose Pinilla, Brian Read, Dearbhla

University College of London Music Society The Natural Trumpet: Original Instruments - “Original Ears”?“Original Ears” - By Bruce Haynes - from” The End of Early Music - Oxford University Press, 2007 University College of London - North and South Cloisters Katie Hodges (Left) - with the ensemble of new Natural Trumpet players. L-R Katie Hodges (Conducting), Andrew Thompson (sitting),