Fab performance by @auroraorchestra of Beethoven’s third symphony this eve at Queen Elizabeth Hall pic.twitter.com/HWbaaY7GVF

— Sonia Sodha (@soniasodha) May 8, 2024

Each concert came with slight variation; on the first two occasions we gave a presentation on the subject of the Eroica symphony described by conductor Nicholas Collon and the presenter (and Beethoven fanatic) Tom Service. The programme at Snape Maltings featured the Richard Strauss’s horn concerto no. 1 in E-flat with the incredible horn soloist Annemarie Federle (principal horn of Aurora). The performances in Norwich Cathedral enveloped audience members within the orchestra, and music for strings by Strauss (Metamorphosen) and Elgar (Introduction and Allegro) showed the skill of Aurora's wonderful string section.

It was a great pleasure to play principal trumpet with Aurora once again, this time with Sam Kinrade (2nd trumpet) and Matt Henry (timpani). As ever, it was a wonderful project and the memorisation aspect brought wonderful fluency to the music; this is always a career affirming experience—electrifying concerts with like-minded musicians. I must admit it was quite difficult memorising this symphony while in the final stages of editing and proofreading my book (www.justnaturaltrumpet.com)—both activities can easily fill the available time—but I managed!

I’m looking forward to the next challenge with Aurora—performing Beethoven’s ninth symphony at the BBC Proms this summer! Seats sold out on the first day of BBC Proms ticket sales, but entrance for ‘Prommers’ will, as ever, be available on the day.