Will Russell, who was playing second trumpet, mentioned that this was our first Messiah together since before the pandemic. I have only played one Messiah since then, in Evian. It was great to perform it again, and to hear the wonderful choruses and arias sung by members of the choir and played by the small but perfectly-formed orchestra, led violinist by Liz McCarthy.

It was the first live concert that St. John's Voices have done for two years (apart from performing evensong). It was fantastic to accompany them again. I last played with them in 2019, when we performed Bach's Cantata 51 and Handel's Coronation Anthems.