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

It was a great pleasure to play with the Festspiel Orchester Göttingen (FOG) as part of the Göttingen Handel Festival 2023, under their new artistic director, George Petrou. I played first trumpet, with Gareth Hoddinott on second, Maarten van der Valk on timpani, and the horn players Stephan Katte and Claudia Pallaver.This year I arrived in Göttingen on 14th May 2023 and departed on 29th May 2023. The

Immediately after performing George Frideric Handel’s Ariodante at the Göttingen Händel Festival, I segued into another Handel (pasticcio) opera project, Il Muzio Scevola, with Il Gusto Barocco in Stuttgart. This opera featured a Prologue which had been specially written for the occasion by Th. W. Leininger in 2021 to a text from 1723 (Hamburg). The first act was by Filippo Amadei, with a second

'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

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

‘Snape Maltings, Snape Maltings, Thank Benjamin Britten for Snape Maltings’ was the specially-written encore of Vox Luminis’ King Arthur performance at Snape Maltings in 2017. That memorable performance, exactly two years ago, was my first appearance with the group and there have been many exceptional projects in the interim, including performances at Versailles, the Utrecht Early Music Festival,

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

Les Talens Lyriques performed Mozart’s azione sacra (literally ‘sacred action’) Betulia Liberata [K.118/74c] under the direction of Christophe Rousset in Salzburg’s Mozartwoche 2019. The concert took place in Salzburg’s Haus für Mozart on Sunday 27th January 2019, exactly 263 years after Mozart's birthday on the 27th January 1756. La Betulia Liberata is based on the biblical character of

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’

Living a life as a touring musician, it is certainly a frequent occurrence to wake up and wonder exactly where you are. Sometimes it takes just a few moments to realise, as you recall your movements of the previous day. On other occasions a blandly corporate hotel room (while offering predictability and consistency) gives little indication of whether you are in London, Paris, Vancouver or Sydney. Even

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

The baroque collective Solomon’s Knot performed on the second day of Leipzig’s Bachfest, giving a concert on Saturday, 11th of June 2016 in the Nikolaikirche. The singers performed the entire concert from memory and the conductorless ensemble wowed the Leipzig audience with what the Leipzig Bachfest described as an ‘outstandingly vivid’ performance. The response from the audience was overwhelming

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

'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

On Sunday 28th July, Russell performed in the Burgundy region of France with the Gabrieli Consort - directed by Paul McCreesh. The concert was part of the Beaune Festival. The group gave a performance of L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato (HWV 55) by Handel, which was streamed live online. It will be broadcast on television in September. The online stream of the concert is available

Next month, Russell is set to perform in the Winspear Centre in Edmonton, Canada in the “Mission Hill and Friends” Concert with the Mission Hill Brass Band. He will be performing the Haydn Trumpet Concerto in Eb on the Keyed Trumpet and Let the Bright Seraphim on the Natural Trumpet with Soprano soloist Catherine Abele. “Mission Hill Brass will be joined by the Ukrainian Male Chorus of