2015 was a very exciting year for me: I performed my Final Recital and graduated from the Royal Academy of Music. A major highlight of my final year at RAM was organising and performing a concert in which I played two concerti (including the London Premiere of Stephen Dodgson's Trumpet Concerto) surrounded by an orchestra of great friends and colleagues.
During 2015 I became a Park Lane Group (PLG) Artist for the 2015/16 season and was awarded the Julius Isserlis Scholarship by the Royal Philharmonic Society. I also formed new working partnerships with pianist Jennifer Hughes and harpist Olivia Jageurs. After finishing my studies at the Academy, I moved to Surbiton, performed at the St Endellion Summer Music Festival and successfully gained a place in the Southbank Sinfonia 2016.
Graduation at RAM with fellow trumpeter and good friend, Gwyn Owen (July 2015)
However 2016 already looks set to overtake last year with many exciting opportunities and new ventures! I am particularly looking forward to the next three weeks when I will be working with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Rehearsals start today for a tour involving 11 concerts around the UK and Europe with soloists Joshua Bell and Steven Isserlis and finally a recording of Brahms' Double Concerto in A minor. (See here for more details).
At the end of January, the new year of the Southbank Sinfonia begins. Upcoming projects include the premiere of a new youth opera at Glyndebourne (February), a concert at Cadogan Hall (March), a contemporary music project (April), trips to Paris (May) and Guernsey (June) and performing at a festival in Anghiari, Italy (August).
There are also the regular free rush hour concerts at St John's Waterloo, where the orchestra is based. The combination of free entry, a free glass of wine, and the chance to listen to an hour of great music, instead of being caught up in the rush hour, means that these concerts are always incredibly popular with commuters! See here for details of the first of these concerts.
Performing Dodgson's Trumpet Concerto at RAM (March, 2015)
In February, I am looking forward to the publication my first article in the Brass Herald, focusing on graduates from the Royal Academy of Music and their 'portfolio careers'. This new year also brings with it a new teaching job - I have recently been appointed as the new trumpet teacher at The Tiffin Girls' School in Kingston - and I will continue with my peripatetic teaching at Queen's College London alongside this.
I am excited to be performing with Jennifer Hughes at St John's Smith Square in April, as part of the Park Lane Group series. We heard recently that the Park Lane Group has actually commissioned composer Sally Beamish to write a new piece for us, the World Premiere of which we will perform on Friday 22nd April. I'll be keeping my Concerts page updated with all upcoming performances, so make sure you check it out.
I hope you had a very Happy New Year and 2016 is productive and prosperous for you all!