During the first lockdown in 2020, I had the idea of organising a natural trumpet course to take place as soon as the restrictions would allow. By September 2020, the inaugural course had taken place. It had been a great success, and demand for a future course was evident - so I decided to organise another course in 2021 (as soon as restrictions were suitably relaxed) with a new programme of music.

Again I invited a selection of amateur, semi-professional and professional natural trumpet players to play natural trumpets (without finger holes) as an ensemble. The course drew on my fresh subject knowledge, which has become rather more extensive as research for my upcoming book about the natural trumpet continues.

A group of 9 natural trumpeters and the professional timpanist Ben Fullbrook rehearsed at the Chuch of All Saints in Houghton Conquest. It was much easier to organise this year’s course, as the risk assessment paperwork (although we still followed social distancing etc.) was not such a consideration due to the success of the Covid-19 vaccination programme. Every player had their own 81-page booklet of music to play from, which enabled social distancing to be followed. This programme began with Military Signals by Marin Mersenne (1636), and progressed chronologically to the music of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, and other composers up to as late as 1891.

I thoroughly enjoyed organising and devising this second course and I am so thrilled that it has become something of an annual event. It is most promising that demand for places was high and that many players have heard about the course by word-of-mouth, based on the success of the course last year. I’m already looking forward to hosting another in 2022!