I participated in a performance of Bach's B Minor Mass at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London. The performance was on modern instruments, so I played on the piccolo trumpet - as is the convention with modern trumpet players. These days, the majority of my work is on period instruments so it is very rare for me to play Baroque music on modern instruments.

I did miss the rich sounds of the natural trumpets but I enjoyed the performance in an entirely different way. We sat on the opposite side to where natural trumpets would normally be (often behind the first violins), and we were seated next to the bassoons on the right hand side - so I heard some different parts in the choir and orchestra that I hadn't ever been able to hear before.

The performance involved The St. Martins Singers, The Brandenburg Sinfonia and it was conducted by Andrew Earis. Special mention must go to the French horn player Martin Grainger for his playing in the 'Quoniam'.