I performed Monteverdi’s Vespers in the Swedish capital city of Stockholm on Sunday 24th March 2019. Prior to this visit I had spent only a few hours in Sweden (in Malmö, on a day trip over the railway bridge from Denmark) so I took the opportunity to extend my visit over a long weekend that tied in with the cheapest flights. This opportunity had arisen at fairly short notice and my Mum (who lives

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

Spain is a country I have visited only twice before. The more recent trip was to Úbeda with the Academy of Ancient Music in 2013. I performed as a soloist playing Handel’s Diana cacciatrice [HWV 79] with the soprano soloist Lucy Crowe. Before that I visited Spain for the first time with Le Concert Lorrain. We finished an extensive European tour in Burgos on the 21st of December 2010 with a performance

Overview | Brunei | Thailand | Laos | Cambodia | Philippines | Malaysia | VietnamApproaching Tân Sơn Nhất International Airport from the south-east gave stunning views over the meandering course of the Mekong Delta. As we descended, Ho Chi Minh City’s vast sprawl was apparent; 13.5 million inhabitants live in the metropolitan area and 8.4 million live in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) itself.

Overview | Brunei | Thailand | Laos | Cambodia | Philippines | Malaysia | VietnamFrom Manila we flew over the South China Sea again and arrived back at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia at 17:05 on Thursday 8th November 2018. Getting through immigration had been relatively tricky here. We all had the correct documentation but the sudden deluge of our group rather overwhelmed the sole staff

Overview | Brunei | Thailand | Laos | Cambodia | Philippines | Malaysia | VietnamAs soon as our plane landed at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila on 4th November 2018, an army of workers were waiting at the gate ready to unload our aircraft. I imagine they had at least double or triple the number of ground staff that would meet a plane landing the United Kingdom. We left to meet two coaches

Overview | Brunei | Thailand | Laos | Cambodia | Philippines | Malaysia | VietnamMarking the half-way point of the tour, we arrived in the capital city of Cambodia at Phnom Penh International Airport. Two coaches, decked out with lace curtains like a Pullman carriage, transported us toward the busy city centre and our hotel. It was interesting to observe the shops and stalls at the roadside. There

Overview | Brunei | Thailand | Laos | Cambodia | Philippines | Malaysia | VietnamWe arrived in Vientiane at Wattay International Airport on the evening of Friday 26th October 2018. The Lao Plaza hotel was only 6km away and we checked in very efficiently upon arrival. After dropping off our luggage we left the hotel and went to find something to eat. The hotel was near Nam Phou, a square with a central

Overview | Brunei | Thailand | Laos | Cambodia | Philippines | Malaysia | VietnamWe arrived at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (‘Land of Gold’) airport to the East of Bangkok and met the coaches that would take us to the Swissôtel Le Concorde in Bangkok’s Huai Khwang district. The scenes from the coach window were very different to Brunei’s. Even though it was 22:00 the volume of traffic was immense.

Overview | Brunei | Thailand | Laos | Cambodia | Philippines | Malaysia | VietnamAs we entered the arrival hall at Brunei International Airport we received an exceptionally warm welcome. There was a 10-metre wide banner upon which ‘Welcome Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’ had been printed, and a whole team of people had come to greet us: taking photographs of the occasion, helping us with

Overview | Brunei | Thailand | Laos | Cambodia | Philippines | Malaysia | VietnamThe weekend of the 16th and 17th of June 2018 saw three significant events in my life. Saturday 16th June 2018 was my stag do; seven of us visited the Adnams Brewery in Southwold and enjoyed incredible food and hospitality afterwards at the home of my former trumpet teacher. The following day, after tidying up (and notably

Although I am something of a regular flyer, I still find aerial views to be inspiring, humbling and often quite moving. This was especially true as there was hardly a cloud in the sky between London Heathrow Airport and Franjo Tuđman Airport in Zagreb on Thursday 27th September 2018.Upon arrival I was greeted by a familiar face, that of Krešimir Fabijanić. Krešimir (also known, for reasons unknown,

I Fagiolini’s interpretation of L’Orfeo, with Matthew Long in the starring role, began in Venice in November 2015 and has seen subsequent performances in London (May 2017), Purbeck (June 2017) and Cheltenham (July 2017) since then.The most recent performance took place in Antwerp in Belgium. I had been performing at the Utrecht Festival on Friday 24th of August 2018,

It was wonderful to return to the Göttingen International Handel Festival in 2018. Performing in this festival is one of the musical highlights of my year. The director and players of the FestspielOrchester Göttingen (FOG) are infectiously-energetic musicians; performing in their element. Thriving on each others’ energy, these remarkable and characterful musicians creatively achieve incredible

The Teatru Manoel presented a concert on the occasion of the European Day of Early Music (Wednesday 21st March 2018) at the Basilica of St. Dominic in the European Capital of Culture 2018: Valletta. Valletta is on the island of Malta in the Maltese Archipelago. I have been very fortunate to visit on two previous occasions (January 2013 and January 2015). It was great to return two subsequent times

Performing Purcell’s King Arthur at Snape Maltings with Vox Luminis was one of my highlights of 2017, so it was with great pleasure that I got the opportunity to visit Belgium for two days of recording with Vox Luminis. The ensemble was recording King Arthur at AMUZ (Augustinus Muziekcentrum) in the centre of Antwerp.Arriving in Antwerp is certainly an impressive affair; Antwerpen-Centraal railway

Just as a distinctive smell can immediately remind you of a time, of a place, or of people in your life - so too can receiving a finished copy of a CD that you were involved with. Listening back is always an exciting, sensory-rich moment, one that gives an opportunity to reminisce about the process of capturing that recording. It gives the ability to remember the music after some time away from it

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

I travelled to the wonderful University City of Göttingen in Germany to perform with FestspielOrchester Göttingen (FOG) directed by Laurence Cummings. It was delightful to be back at the Göttingen International Händel Festival having enjoyed performing in the 2014 and 2015 festivals.The Galakonzert took place at the Stadthalle on Saturday 13th of May 2017 and it marked the opening of the Göttingen

After two days and two Weihnachtsoratorium performances in Germany, I travelled on to Luxembourg by train and car to join a different Weihnachtsoratorium project, this time with Le Concert Lorrain on Monday 19th of December 2016. From the starting point in Halle I went by train to Köln via Hannover - where I met the third trumpet player, Gareth. From the outskirts of Köln, we met the conductor who

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

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 the Wrocław

I flew to Malta to take part in a performance of Handel's Messiah with the Goldberg Ensemble; an ensemble based in Malta. The concert was held in the Anglican Cathedral - St Paul's Pro-Cathedral - in the capital, Valletta.I departed from Gatwick Airport - remarkably all the passengers and bags were loaded ahead of schedule, so we departed 20 minutes early - and Air Malta transported

I made my debut with the Orchestra of the 18th Century on 'Tour 123'. The tour began on the 23rd of November 2014 and finished on the 3rd of December 2014. It included performances in Rotterdam (Holland), Roeselare (Belgium), Dublin (Ireland), Belfast (Northern Ireland), Amsterdam (Holland) and The Hague (Holland).It was a huge privilege to be asked to play with the Orchestra of the 18th Century for

Aside from a few rail trips that have passed through, I have seen little of Berlin outside of the Hauptbahnhof. I felt that it was a shame not to stop to see more on those visits, and I resolved to do just that on this occasion. Travelling to the Island of Usedom for the Usedomer Musikfest involved flights in and out of Berlin Tegel, so it seemed logical to extend my trip slightly (at no additional

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 were

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 on

'Te Lucis Ante Terminum'- Wrocław CathedralTuesday 9th September 2014Music by Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki:CompletoriumConductus FunebrisMissa Rorate IILitaniae de Providentia DivinaAndrzej Kosendiak - Musical DirectorAldona Bartnik, Agnieszka Ryman - SopranoMatthew Venner - AltoMaciej Gocman - TenorTomaš Kral, Jaromir Nosek - BassZbigniew Pilch - 1st ViolinMikołaj Zgółka - 2nd ViolinJulia Karpeta,

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