I first visited Poland in July 2011 to play cornetto in Mikołaj Zieleński’s Offertoria et Communiones Totius Anni (1611), alongside David Staff (cornetto), with Emma Kirkby (soprano), Joel Frederiksen (bass), and a group called Collegium Zielenski directed by Stanisław Gałoński (who is now 93 years old) in Krakow. David Staff and I returned to Krakow several times for recordings and performances

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

I travelled to Wrocław in Poland to perform Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki's 'Completorium' in a concert of chamber music, played in the Red Hall (Sala Czerwona) at the National Forum of Music (Narodowe Forum Muzyki). The concert was given on the 18th of November 2015 and it marked the 50th Anniversary of a message being sent from Polish Bishops to German Bishops after World War 2. 'Chamber

The National Forum of Music in Wrocław commissioned me to 'recreate' cornett and sackbutt parts for Marcin Mielczewski's Vesperae Dominicales. The original version of the piece has eight vocal parts, two violin parts, a dulcian part and basso continuo, though historical sources indicate that this would have been extended to include cornetts and sackbutts in a later version. A later manuscript

The Wratislavia Cantans festival, now celebrating its 50th year, has a long tradition of holding an 'Interpretation Course' for young instrumentalists and singers to perform cantatas and oratorios. The importance of this course became quickly apparent in the first ever festival, where the participants of the course had to spring into action to replace an orchestra that could not get to Wrocław in

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 Wednesday 1st July 2015, I finished teaching for the day and I noticed a missed call on my iPhone. It was from my former teacher Michael Laird. I called him back as I walked to the railway station and he told me, now that he had turned 75, he would be retiring from trumpet playing entirely. He explained that he had played since he was 15 years old and now, 60 years on, it was time to stop playing

After the Göttingen Händel Festspiele, I embarked on a somewhat complex journey to Opava in the Czech Republic. The journey involved an overnight stay in a hotel next to Dortmund Airport, an early flight to Katowice and a critically-timed lift to Opava. We played in a beautiful, rustic church which had an elaborate painting on the ceiling. This church was the venue for the first concert in

After a successful concert in the Wratislavia Cantans Festival in Wrocław, after a break of a week - the group travelled to the Island of Usedom in the North East of Germany, near the Polish border on the Baltic coast. I flew from London Heathrow to Berlin Tegel Airport, with my colleague Stephen Gilbey. We took a train from the Berlin Hauptbahnhof to Anklam station on mainland Germany, where we

I was invited to play Bach's Jauchzett Gott In Allen Landen (BWV 51) in Katowice in Poland. I had never been to Katowice before and I was scheduled to be in Wrocław the preceding day, so it fitted perfectly into my schedule. Upon my arrival to Katowice, I was welcomed by a lady who showed me the way to the hotel. At first we struggled to find a way through the major building works going

'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

I returned to Wrocław to make a CD recording with Andrzej Kosendiak's ensemble. We recorded more music by Gorczycki for Volume 2 of the National Forum of Music's Gorczycki series.  The music is just as stunning as the pieces we played in the first volume. This time we recorded three different pieces of music involving trumpets in three different keys: D, C and B-flat. These included:

20th - 22nd June saw another visit to the charming city of Wrocław in Poland. I was joined by Matthew Manchester, as he happened to be back in Britain from Australia at the perfect time to be able to fit this little tour into his schedule. It was great to be able to play with him again, as the last time was in Australia doing a tour of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo in 2012. We played two concerts in Poland