It’s exactly a month until I go to New Orleans with Kinetika Bloco! Thank you so much to everyone who donated to my PayPal fundraising or the Local Giving site in my name – I’ve raised enough to mean that this time next month, I’ll be in the air somewhere over the Atlantic. I’m very excited! All the excitement and fundraising has meant I’ve not updated my blog this summer so here’s a brief summary. Those of you who follow me on Instagram will have seen a bit of what I’ve been up to but for everyone else, here goes… June and July were busy with school concerts, the Lewisham Gala at the Royal Fe ..read more

Back in 2015, I went on my first Kinetika Bloco junior summer school. This was the first time that Bloco had run a summer school for children ages 10-14 (now ages 9-13). I had such an amazing time there and that was when I first met trumpeter Sheila Maurice-Grey. Sheila was so friendly and supportive and really helped me feel more confident as a jazz player seeing as I had never played that style before. This even led to me starting to do grades in jazz on my trumpet. I enjoyed these so much more than I’d enjoyed the traditional grades and felt like they were much more my style. In Y7, I took ..read more

It feels like ages ago now but at the beginning of the summer holidays I was kindly sent a unique product to review; the ERGObrass Trumpet Support. It was brilliant timing because my teacher had set me the challenge of improving my trumpet hold over the summer. I have been testing this over the past couple of months and am pleased to say I have noticed a big improvement in my posture and the height at which I hold my trumpet. ERGObrass is designed to help with playing posture by taking the weight off the player to make it easier to sustain a comfortable and upright posture. It distributes the ..read more

In August I took part in Kinetika Bloco’s senior summer school. I have previously joined in with their junior scheme but after going to Norway a few months ago, I was keen to join the main Bloco. I’m really glad I did… On the August Bank Holiday, we played at Notting Hill Carnival. Although it was an incredibly rainy day, that did not prevent us from thoroughly enjoying it. The Bloco tagline this year is #firstinline and we stayed true to that by opening the parade. There was a great atmosphere and everyone looked amazing in their green and purple costumes. We paraded around the streets of Lon ..read more

At the beginning of August, my aunt and uncle got married and asked me to play for them. So I did! On their big day I performed on the grand staircase of Barnett Hill Hotel near Guildford. As guests arrived for the wedding breakfast, I performed a jazz set that I’d put together. Amongst others, the set included Fly Me to the Moon by Frank Sinatra, Georgia on my Mind by Ray Charles and Autumn Leaves (transcribed by me after my uncle got me a ticket to see Alison Balsom perform at the Albert Hall, where he works). The final piece that I played was a piece that they had especially requested – A M ..read more

This is another post that’s mainly images (taken by my mum). This time, from Make Music Day on 21st June, I was playing with Kinetika Bloco… but we joined up with Voodoo Brass and the Unswung Heroes along the way. Think Pitch Perfect meets meets Brassed Off. Sort of. There are some audio clips on my Twitter and Instagram feeds. I’m on Twitter as @mytrumpetandme. Click on the icon to follow me on Instagram ..read more

On Sunday 10th June I was one of approximately 70 people in the all-female brass band for Processions 2018, a piece of living art to celebrate 100 years since women got the vote. I heard about it through my trumpet teacher and went along to be conducted by Jo Hensell. It was a scorching day and we played a number of pieces by female composers, including Lucy Pankhurst who performed in the band. Photos below are by Sam Benjafield Photography. There are a few clips on Twitter, I’m on there as @mytrumpetandme. Click on the icon to follow me on Instagram ..read more

This time last month, I travelled to Oslo, Norway with Kinetika Bloco to play with the band of Grunerlökka School. As well as spending lots of time rehearsing with the school band and practising marching, we spent some time sightseeing, including visiting the opera house (where we walked on the roof!) and trying out Norwegian sweets and ice cream. We were in Oslo to play in the children’s parade which celebrates Norwegian Constitution Day. We paraded along the streets of Oslo for around five hours, playing for the majority of the time and all the way up to the palace where the royal family was ..read more

  I was up really early this time last week and on a bus by 5:30am, headed for Pimlico to meet the rest of Kinetika Bloco. Once we were all kitted out in our costumes, we travelled to St James Park where we prepared to perform for the formal opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. It was the hottest day of the year so far but an amazing experience to perform on the Mall. Next time I’m back with Kinetika, we’ll be on a plane! I’m on Twitter as @mytrumpetandme. Click on the icon to follow me on Instagram ..read more

This post isn’t about my trumpet, it’s about my cornet! I didn’t actually have a cornet until a few weeks ago but because I’d signed up for the Southern Counties Youth Band (SCYB) Easter course, I needed one. Playing in a brass band isn’t something I’ve ever done before so I was a bit nervous. However, I needn’t have worried as I had a great time! The cornet section was very friendly and it didn’t take me long to make friends in the back row (we were even awarded section of the week in the concert!). We rehearsed for about seven hours a day under Ian Porthouse and in the evenings, took part in ..read more