I performed Haydn’s ‘Nelson Mass’ and Mozart’s ‘Requiem’ at St Mary’s Collegiate Church in the Old Square in Warwick on Saturday 11th of March 2017. Thomas Corns directed the Choirs of St Mary’s Collegiate Church and the period instrument orchestra, led by Lucy Russell. Imogen Russell (soprano) Judy Brown (mezzo-soprano) Matthew Sandy (tenor) Edmund Saddington (bass) For Mozarts

Performing at St. Martin-in-the-Fields is always a privilege. The site on the North-East corner of London's iconic Trafalgar Square has a fascinating history dating back to Roman times (c.410 AD). A magnificent example of Neoclassical architecture, the current building was designed by architect James Gibbs and construction was completed in 1726. Concerts at St. Martin-in-the-Fields tend to attract

I performed the 'Sound the Trumpet' programme with ‘Spiritato’ at the Chichester Assembly Room on Thursday the 16th of February 2017. The evening included works by Purcell, Corbett, Rebel, Fantini, Legrenzi, Albrici, Matheis and Franceschini. Rehearsing Albrici in #chichester ahead of our Sound the Trumpet concert tonight! pic.twitter.com/KW9oOgb3ok — Spiritato! (@Spiritato) February 16,

On Thursday 9th of March 2017, I was involved in delivering a Historically Informed Performance Class at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Four members of the period-instrument ensemble ‘Spiritato!’ talked about their recent ‘Guts & Glory’ project - which involved discussing many of the key aspects of being a Historically Informed performer. The class focused on the pros and cons of

On Saturday the 28th of January 2017, I performed Bach’s Magnificat [BWV 243] and the Cantata: Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis [BWV 21] at St. Martin-in-the-Fields as part of the Brandenburg Choral Festival of London. Bach's Magnificat is, of course, very well-known and it pairs excellently with BWV 21. I played a very similar programme (although it was the E-flat Magnificat) at the Leipzig BachFest

The Evangelische Chorgemeinschaft an der Saar and Le Concert Lorrain invited me to perform in their New Year Concert, at the Congreßhalle in Saarbrücken. It took place on the Saturday 7th of January 2017. The group, directed by Georg Grün, performed Handel’s ‘Messiah’ with notable soloists from the UK and Germany. The trumpet section consisted of Russell Gilmour (1st trumpet) and William

December 2016 has consisted of several Messiah, B Minor Mass, Magnificat and Christmas Oratorio performances. The final concert before the festive season offered a similarly balanced variety of music from Handel and Bach. It featured Part I of Handel's Messiah in the first half and Bach's Magnificat in D [BWV 243] in the second half. The performance took place at St. Anne's in Kew Green, London on

After two days and two Weihnachtsoratorium performances in Germany, I travelled on to Luxembourg by train and car to join a different Weihnachtsoratorium project, this time with Le Concert Lorrain on Monday 19th of December 2016. From the starting point in Halle I went by train to Köln via Hannover - where I met the third trumpet player, Gareth. From the outskirts of Köln, we met the conductor who

I performed Bach's Weihnachtsoratorium [BWV 248, Cantatas I–III & VI] with the Halle Händelfestpiele Orkester in Zerbst (17th December 2016) and Halle (18th December 2016) in Germany. I had been invited to play with the orchestra as their guest principal trumpet player. The Stadtsingechor zu Halle and the choir of Halle University joined forces to sing the Christmas Oratorio,

On Thursday 15th of December 2016, I performed Part I of Handel’s ‘Messiah’ in the majestic chapel of Magdalen College, Oxford. The performance featured the magnificent Choir of Magdalen College, four soloists and the orchestra, Oxford Baroque. The choir and the orchestra - led by violinist Claudia Norz - performed from the nave of the chapel with trumpeters Russell Gilmour and William

Solomon’s Knot Baroque Collective performed Bach’s B Minor Mass on Sunday the 11th of December 2016 at Shoreditch Town Hall in London. This, the penultimate concert of Spitalfields Music’s Winter Festival 2016, had been selected by The Times as their 'top pick' in the Classical column (written by Richard Morrison). © James Berry Solomon's Knot brought their characteristic - now

Oxford Baroque performed a programme entitled ‘Bach’s Christmas Vespers 1723’ on Saturday 10th of December 2016 at King’s Place - as part of the venue's ‘Baroque Unwrapped’ season. Jeremy Summerly conducted the choir and orchestra of Oxford Baroque throughout this fascinating programme which included liturgically-linked music by Bach, Franck, Gabrieli, Kuhnau, Praetorius and others. JS

Spiritato’s final 2016 performance of their ‘Guts & Glory’ programme opened the York Early Music Winter Festival on Thursday 8th of December 2016 at St. Margaret’s Church in York - home of the National Centre for Early Music (NCEM). The ensemble was led by the wonderful violinist Kinga Ujszaszi. The fun Guts and Glory project finished for 2016 in York last night. Thank you guys for all

I performed Handel’s ‘Messiah’ at St. Gabriel’s Church in Pimlico on Tuesday 6th of December 2016. The orchestra ‘Spiritato!’ and the Schola Cantorum of the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School was conducted by Scott Price, Director of Music of the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School. Photography by Weenson Oo The boys of the Schola Cantorum sang all of the arias, recitatives and

The Gresham Centre at the church of St Anne & St Agnes (near the old city wall of London) was the venue for Voces8's performance of Handel's 'Messiah' on Monday the 5th of December 2016. According to the Gresham Centre's website, there has been a church on this site since 1137 - though it has been rebuilt several times due to fire (including the 1666 Great Fire of London) and the Blitz of the Second

Devon Baroque and Exeter Festival Chorus performed J S Bach's Christmas Oratorio in Exeter Cathedral on Saturday 3rd December 2016. The performance was directed by Aidan Oliver. The Exeter Festival Chorus did an excellent job and the soloists, Anna Patalong (soprano), Kate Symonds-Joy (alto), David Webb (tenor) and Benedict Nelson (bass) were all very good too. The guest conductor, Aidan Oliver,

The Newcastle Upon Tyne Bach Choir performed George Frederic Handel's oratorio 'Deborah’ [HWV 51] in the King's Hall at Newcastle University on Saturday 16th of November 2016. Eric Cross conducted the choir and the orchestra: Newcastle Baroque. We were joined by excellent soloists: Charlotte La Thrope (Soprano - Deborah), Ruth Jenkins-Róbertsson (Soprano - Jael), Rosanna Cooper (Mezzo-Soprano -

Headington School in Oxford put on a concert showcasing the talents of their thriving Music Department [@MusicHSO] on Thursday 24th November 2016. The programme featured an array of the school ensembles. The school choir had chosen to sing John Rutter’s ‘Gloria’ and a number of professional brass players joined them. There were also three very good brass players from the school playing in

The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment joined forces with Camden Music to put on an educational project called 'Music is Special' at Cecil Sharp House on Monday 21st of November 2016. This innovative project integrated students from two special needs schools and two mainstream schools with the period-instrument players of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Composer and animateur, Sam Chaplin

Venturing into the 18th Century, the Monteverdi String Band performed Handel’s ‘Messiah’ with The Ripieno Choir (directed by David Hansell) in the London suburb of Esher on Saturday 19th of November 2016. The Monteverdi String Band was joined by two oboes, a bassoon, two trumpets and timpani for the performance of Handel’s glorious ‘Messiah’. Wonderful evening yesterday venturing into