York

York is wonderful city. It is one of those places that I always leave and think, 'I could easily live there'. There's a relaxed charm about the place. It has a good balance of down to earth people, fine architecture, interesting history, an excellent university (and all that comes with) and good rail links up and down the East Coast mainline, and also over the Pennines to Manchester. While we are
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Solomon's Knot Messiah - St. John's Smith Square

I played first trumpet in a performance of Handel's Messiah at St. John's Smith Square on Friday 5th of December 2014. The performance, given by Solomon's Knot was a refreshingly vibrant performance of this well-known work. The eight singers performed the entire piece from memory, which somehow gave the impression that the music was being spontaneously composed. The movements flowed seamlessly into
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Gorczycki - Volume II Released

I recently received my copy of the Gorczycki - Volume II CD, directed by Andrzej Kosendiak, from the National Forum for Music in Wrocław, Poland. I participated in the recording in July 2014, you can read my earlier article here. The disc has turned out very well. It was very well recorded by CD Accord. The Schoeps microphones have been given a very pleasing sound of the ensemble. The editing
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Orchestra of the 18th Century - Tour 123

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
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Wimbledon International Music Festival

I performed Haydn's Nelson Mass in the Wimbledon International Music Festival. The performance took place at St John’s Church on Saturday 8th of November 2014, in a programme which also included Mozart's 'Exsultate Jubilate' (K.165) and Rachmaninov's 'Vespers Music from the All-Night-Vigil'. I had the pleasure of playing in a section with the former principal trumpet player of the BBC Symphony Orchestra,
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Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Recording & Performance

On Tuesday 4th of November 2014, I performed as an off-stage trumpeter with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in (or technically, just outside) the Royal Festival Hall in London. Sir Mark Elder conducted Donizetti's 'Les Martyrs', directing around 150 performers. My modest role involved playing a straight fanfare trumpet, which was provided for me by the orchestra. It had valves (which
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Den Haag

I visited Graham Nicholson in The Hague, in order to tune, fit and finish the crooks for the Steinmetz Horn - details of this instrument may be found in my earlier post.  Taking the night boat from Harwich on Sunday evening meant hat I arrived at Hoek van Holland early on Monday morning. We spent the day making a mouthpiece in the workshop and starting work on the crooks. On Monday evening,
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Bach Vespers at St.Mary-at-Hill

St. Mary-at-Hill is a delightful church in the heart of London. I have been here several times, for rehearsals and recordings but I had never done a performance there before. I had been invited by the Director of Music and Organist Martin Knizia to play Bach's Jauchzett Gott in Allen Landen BWV 51, with the soprano Emily Atkinson. This concert wasn't in fact a concert at all, it was an evening service,
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Berlin Photography & Berlin Musical Instrument Museum

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
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Usedom Music Festival

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
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Katowice

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
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Wratislavia Cantans Festival 2014

'Te Lucis Ante Terminum' - Wrocław Cathedral Tuesday 9th September 2014 Music by Grzegorz Gerwazy Gorczycki: Completorium Conductus Funebris Missa Rorate II Litaniae de Providentia Divina Andrzej Kosendiak - Musical Director Aldona Bartnik, Agnieszka Ryman - Soprano Matthew Venner - Alto Maciej Gocman - Tenor Tomaš Kral, Jaromir Nosek - Bass Zbigniew Pilch - 1st Violin Mikołaj
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Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral Performance

I performed with 'Chronicles' (Manx Trumpet and Organ duo) in Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral on the 25th of July 2014. Liverpool University hosted the event, as part of their "Festival of Ideas", which included several other events around Liverpool. Other Manx musicians, including Ruth Keggin, Mec Lir and Nish as Rish, were also involved in the festival, giving performances in a large marquee in
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Sowerby Music & Passacaglia

On Saturday 19th of July 2014, I travelled to Sowerby, near Thirsk in North Yorkshire, to play for 'Sowerby Music' with the ensemble 'Passacaglia'. The London-based ensemble gave the final concert of the season for Sowerby Music. The organisers described the event as "an unashamedly celebratory concert", which combined a birthday celebration of one of the organisers and the remarkable milestone
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Gorczycki Recording Volume II

I returned to Wrocław to make a CD recording with Andrzej Kosendiak's ensemble. We recorded more music by Gorczycki for Volume 2 of the National Forum of Music's Gorczycki series.  The music is just as stunning as the pieces we played in the first volume. This time we recorded three different pieces of music involving trumpets in three different keys: D, C and B-flat. These included:
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Bach - Brandenburg II & Magnificat with Ars Eloquentiae at Douai Abbey

Ars Eloquentiae, meaning 'the Art of Eloquence', is a young and lively ensemble, specialising in period instrument performance. It is so great to work with people of my generation. I know people in this group from a range of place such as: the Royal Northern College of Music and the Royal College of Music. There are also several players I know from attending Dartington Summer School and others I know
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Mozart C Minor Mass in Wrocław

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
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Göttingen International Handel Festival 2014

May through to June has been an exciting time. I had the great pleasure of playing in the Thüringia Bach Festival in Weimar in May and then toured with the Göttingen Händel Festival through May and June. I have been amazed by the Festspiel Orchester Göttingen (known colloquially as FOG). The quality of the music-making has been incredible. I was impressed with the string section in particular,
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Bachfest 2014

The Stadtkirche St. Peter and Paul in Weimar (also known as the Herderkirche) was the setting for the Bachfest Weimar, 2014. I was invited to play first trumpet with Cantus Thüringia, in a concert on Friday the 2nd of May, under the direction of Bernhard Klapprott. Together we gave performances of J.S Bach's "Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis" (BWV 21) and C.P.E. Bach's "Ich will dem Herrn lobsingen" (H821b),
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Steinmetz Natural Horn Making - with Graham Nicholson

Last summer, on my way to various concerts in Germany, I needed a few overnight stays in Holland. I was fortunate to be able to stay with Graham Nicholson in The Hague. While I was there he showed me two horns he had been making in his workshop; detailed replicas of instruments by Leichamschneider. We practiced duets for several hours using these instruments and they worked brilliantly.Over the summer
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Russell Gilmour
Russell Gilmour Blog
writing on music, photography, engraving, travel and life as a freelance professional musician.