I’ve been a professional musician spanning more than half a century now. It all started when I became  a chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral, London in 1964 - on December 20 we would have sung Choral Mattins and Choral Eucharist in the morning followed by Choral Evensong in the afternoon. That period of my life had the most profound influence on me musically
http://www.stpauls.co.uk/Worship-Music/Choir-Musicians

A half century has passed and last Sunday 23rd 2012 I was taking part in the service at Morningside United (Church of Scotland and United Reformed Church) at Holy Corner, Edinburgh. Playing Trumpet Voluntary (Clarke) arranged for two trumpets by the late John Wilbraham with my trumpeter friend, Pam Brown, and the Edinburgh Chamber Orchestra http://edinburghchamberorchestra.blogspot.co.uk/p/concert-diary.html . Also played a piece arranged for solo trumpet and orchestra, which I had purchased last January at the wonderful music store in Utrecht http://www.broekmans.com/en/about.cfm and have forgotten the composer and not at home at the moment so can’t look it up.

Work in Progress
 Sillico 2012 summed up for me:
 Kristian Steenstrup
 Make a world class sound
 Sing in the brain 
 Making a wonderful sound is the best way to increase my endurance 
Wouh -touh - thick air
My tongue is just a flag in my air stream
Re-programme constantly for a great sound

Ole Edvard Antonsen
Perform in the practice room
Take the trumpet up to my face
Play down going up and vice versa
Play off the bell
Read the music notation - it’s the only link between me and the composer

Just concentrating on these points for the last four months has resulted in: 
 My partner, Yvette, telling me that she can hear how much my trumpet playing has improved, so will I be going to Sillico again? And she tells me exactly what she thinks!
Consistently better trumpet sound
Plug and play out of the box from my first note - really
I seldom split a note now
Much more pleasure and less frustration with playing the trumpet

It's a perfect autumn day this morning with clear skies and burnished copper trees - good to be alive. I'm coming up to the last night of playing at the Churchill Theatre in a production of 'The Bartered Bride.' Edinburgh is such an elegant city, full of opportunities for the arts - I'm very fortunate to be here.

Sound Production
Yesterday, I had my last session of a basic introduction to sound production at Swanfield Studios, so there's a home recording of Galliard Battaglia by Samuel Scheidt below.

 This study enables me to get the best out of the recording gear that I have in Barlinnie and Glenochil. For example the students are creating some incidental music for a play about coming into prison for the first time. It's been written by our students within the Learning Centre at Glenochil. In Barlinnie, I have students who spend a great deal of time writing rap lyrics and are delighted to have the opportunity to record. Nowadays it's vital to be as versatile - playing a range of instruments, recording and writing are all essent

Sillico Trumpet Masterclass with Kristian Steenstrup and Ole Edvard Antonsen
What can I say or reflect upon after Sillico? For those of you who don't know - it's a mountain village in the Appenines (Italy) which is taken over by 27 trumpeters for a week of intensive study and performance. For me,, just the chance to spend time with these wonderful people was more than enough - my brain is still full of trumpet sounds made by some of the best players on the planet. How to capture what it's like to experience working with world class teachers and performers? Generosity, shared experience with world class trumpet sounds and virtuosity.
Its location in the mountains, delicious food and the best teaching you can imagine conspire to provide a life changing experience for students - even old ones like me.  

Musical highlights for me have included the opportunity to improvise within a jazz piece written for the Meadows Chamber Orchestra by Richard Michael. A special experience for me, hearing the orchestra while floating over the top on the flugelhorn.

Playing in The Starlets for the Noisee Music Festival at Cumbernauld Theatre, which is a first class venue with great sound. Having an engineer who can understand how to balance a trumpet within a rock band is so good and unusual.