The Medieval Manuscript the 'Chronicles of Mann and Sudreys' mentions various locations, including the Isle of Man, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and even places as far away as Norway and Brittany.
Russell Gilmour (trumpet) and David Kilgallon (organ) use melodies from these countries and they merge and fuse these ideas together with their own to create unique compositions for trumpet and organ. The idea behind their musical collaboration is to explore traditional music from these countries and to adapt the music, interpret it and explore it. Chronicles' musical format is slightly unusual in that it combines trumpet and organ - not the instruments you may initially associate with folk music - but it is an approach that has sparked a lot of interest.
Their limited edition EP "Prologue" is a sample of things to come, as the production of a full album is underway. The full album will be Chronicles' musical impression of the Isle of Man's influences and rich history - as documented in the Chronicles of Mann.
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writing on music, photography, travel and life as a freelance professional musician.
Mozart - La Clemenza di Tito - Les Talens Lyriques - The Grange Festival
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2026, %RI recently had the pleasure of playing first trumpet in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito (K.621) with Les Talens Lyriques at The Grange Festival in Northington, Hampshire. The two concert performances, directed from the fortepiano by Christophe Rousset, took place on Tuesday 9 and Wednesday 10 June 2026 at The Grange.I was delighted to visit The Grange as I had heard about this historic venue in reference
Handel - Foundling Hospital Anthem & Messiah
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2026, %ROn Thursday 4 June 2026, I played first trumpet at St Andrew Holborn, London, in a performance featuring the choir of the law firm Macfarlanes. They performed Handel’s Foundling Hospital Anthem (HWV 268), together with selections from Messiah (HWV 56), accompanied by a chamber orchestra.The Foundling Hospital Anthem is also known by its longer title, Blessed Are
Handel - Ode for St Cecelia’s Day and Bach Magnificat - Vox Luminis - Saint-Denis Festival
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2026, %RI travelled from the Göttingen Händel Festival to Malonne in Belgium on 26 May 2026, during a spell of particularly warm weather, to play first trumpet in Vox Luminis’ rehearsals ahead of a concert on Thursday 28 May 2026 at the Saint-Denis Festival in Paris. The programme featured Handel’s Ode for St Cecelia’s Day (HWV 74) and Bach’s Magnificat in D (BWV 243). Vox Luminis were joined
Göttingen International Handel Festival - 2026 - Deidamia, Gala Concert & Messiah
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2026, %RIt was a great pleasure to return to Göttingen for the 2026 International Handel Festival, which celebrated the 20th anniversary of the festival orchestra, Festspiel Orchester Göttingen (FOG). It was an honour to play first trumpet throughout the whole festival, comprising a Gala Concert, five performances of Handel’s last opera (1741), Deidamia (HWV 42), and two performances of Messiah (HWV 56). The
Haydn - Nelson Mass - Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment - Snape Maltings
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2026, %RI played first trumpet with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment for a performance of Joseph Haydn’s Nelson Mass (Hob. XXII:11) with the University of Essex Choir on Saturday 9 May 2026. The ensemble was directed by Ben Vonberg-Clark and the orchestra was led by the violinist Kati Debretzeni. The soloists were Charlotte Bowden (soprano), Rebecca Leggett (alto), James Way (tenor) and Bozidar
Bach - Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis - Emmanuel College, Cambridge
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2026, %RI played first trumpet in Johann Sebastian Bach’s Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis (BWV 21) under the direction of Graham Walker, with Gabriella Jones leading, for a church service at Emmanuel College, Cambridge on Sunday 3 May 2026. The service also included music by Georg Philipp Telemann, namely his Conclusion in D major (TWV 50:9) and Graham Walker’s arrangement of George Frideric Handel’s
Silversmithing with Ray Walton
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2026, %RThis is the final article in my series about my Arts Council England ‘Developing Your Creative Practice’ (DYCP) project entitled ‘learning to make a (hallmarked) silver natural trumpet in order to build skills, preserve specialist knowledge, rejuvenate a highly endangered craft, and develop as a musician and instrument maker’. This long title was inspired by the premise of Johann Joachim Quantz’s
Handel - Israel in Egypt - Mayfield Festival Chorus
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2026, %ROn Sunday 26 April 2026 I visited Mayfield in East Sussex to perform Handel’s Israel in Egypt. The 2026 Mayfield Festival opened with this performance at St Dunstan’s Church, conducted by Jeremy Summerly, with George Clifford leading from the violin, and the following soloists: Natalka Pasicznyk (Soprano), Aneska Diament (Soprano), Alexandria Moon (Alto), Francis Melville (Tenor), Edward Burchinall
Chasing and Repoussé with Miriam Hanid
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2026, %RAs a musician, I have some sense of what it takes to practise and gradually refine a difficult skill, and perhaps this has shaped how I approach learning new ones. I try not to get discouraged by difficulty; in fact, I often find a task all the more motivating and engaging because of it. In the words of the travel writer and comedian, Michael Palin (2019), ‘the more difficult somewhere is to get
Mozart - Ascanio in Alba - Les Talens Lyriques - Théâtre des Champs-Élysées & Opéra de Lausanne
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2026, %RFollowing on from our performance at the Theater an der Wien earlier this month, we revisited Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Ascanio in Alba (K. 111) for two further performances and a recording with Les Talens Lyriques under the direction of Christophe Rousset.Our recording took place at La Seine Musicale in Paris, and it was flanked by performances at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris on 25
Silversmithing - an emphasis on traditional skills with Julian Stephens - West Dean College
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2026, %RIt was while I was studying at the Royal Northern College of Music that I first became interested in playing the natural trumpet. I seem to be attracted to learning new (often difficult) skills, and my approach with the trumpet was to pick the most difficult music I could possibly find, namely J. S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major (BWV 1047), and gradually learn to play it. I was ready
Gassmann - L’Opera Seria - Les Talens Lyriques - Theater an der Wien
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2026, %RL’Opera Seria, an opera by the Bohemian-born composer Florian Leopold Gassmann (1729–1774), was the main focus of Les Talens Lyriques’ three-week residency at Vienna’s Theater an der Wien (the newly refurbished theatre where several of Ludwig van Beethoven’s symphonies were once premiered). Our fully staged production of L’Opera Seria, directed by Christophe Rousset, was performed on 26
Mozart - Ascanio in Alba - Les Talens Lyriques - Theater an der Wien
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2026, %RWhile we were in Vienna performing Florian Leopold Gassmann’s L’Opera Seria, Les Talens Lyriques also gave a concert (i.e. un-staged) performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Ascanio in Alba (K. 111), a work written for the wedding of the son of Empress Maria Theresa in 1771. We performed the opera on stage at the Theater an der Wien, where we have been in residence for a few weeks already. The
Clarke - Trumpet Tune in D Major - BBC Radio 3 Interview - St. Paul’s Cathedral
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2026, %ROn Thursday 22 January 2026, I played the trumpet and took part in an on-location recording for BBC Radio 3’s The Early Music Show at St Paul’s Cathedral. The programme, presented by Dr Hannah French and produced by Ben Collingwood, will be broadcast in March. Listen to the programme by clicking this link.This episode of The Early Music Show explored music by John Blow, William Croft, and
Bach - B Minor Mass - Oxford Bach Soloists - Winchester Cathedral
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2026, %RI played third trumpet in Bach’s B minor mass (BWV 232) at Winchester Cathedral on Wednesday 21 January 2026. The performance brought together the combined forces of five choirs from Oxford and Winchester: the Winchester Philharmonic Choir, the Winchester College Choral Society, the Winchester College Chapel Choir, the Winchester Cathedral Chamber Choir, and the Oxford Bach Soloists Choral Scholars. The
Bach - Christmas Oratorio - Oxford Bach Soloists - University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Oxford
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2026, %RI played third trumpet in Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248) at the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, Oxford, on Saturday 3 January 2026. The performance, featuring cantatas I, II, and VI of the Christmas Oratorio, was given by Oxford Bach Soloists and conducted by Steven Grahl. The soloists were Mariana Rodrigues (soprano), Stephanie Franklin (alto), Nicholas Mulroy (tenor),
Trumpet & Organ Recital - Russell Gilmour & Jörg Halubek - Hospitalkirche, Stuttgart
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2025, %RI met the organist, harpsichordist, and director of Il Gusto Barocco, Jörg Halubek when I recorded Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, as a last-minute stand-in, in 2019. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Il Gusto Barocco (@ilgustobarocco)
Fast forward to 2025, and I was delighted to be invited to perform a trumpet and organ recital with him at the Hospitalkirche
Mendelssohn & Prokofiev - Aurora Orchestra - Bradford on Avon, Snape, Saffron Walden, London & Nottingham
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2025, %RIt was wonderful to perform at Wiltshire Music Centre (21 November 2025), Snape Maltings (22 November), Saffron Hall (23 November), Highgate Wood School (24 November), and the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham (25 November) with the Aurora Orchestra; we performed Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 with Chloë Hanslip and Mendelssohn’s 4th Symphony from memory under the baton of Nicholas Collon. It
Purcell - The Fairy Queen - Vox Luminis - Ghent & Madrid
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2025, %RIt was a pleasure to perform Purcell’s The Fairy Queen (Z. 692) with Vox Luminis at De Bijloke in Ghent on Thursday 13 November 2025 and at the Teatro Real in Madrid on Saturday 15 November 2025. We began rehearsing in Belgium on Armistice Day—Namur was particularly quiet on this poignant day. It was great to explore the historic old town in Ghent and fantastic to revisit Madrid. My last performance
The Leipzig Legacy - Spiritato - Wiltshire Music Centre & London Festival of Baroque Music
%PM, %Europe/London %b %2025, %RIt was a pleasure to give two performances with Spiritato this week: firstly at the Wiltshire Music Centre in Bradford on Avon on 5 November 2025 and then again as part of the London Festival of Baroque Music at Smith Square Hall (formerly St. John’s Smith Square) on 7 November 2025. The orchestra, directed from the violin by Kinga Ujszászi, presented a thrilling programme that explored the music