As part of his 70th birthday celebrations, Crispian Steele-Perkins makes a welcome return to the Festival with his famous light-hearted lecture recital. Drawing on his large collection of historic instruments, he traces the history of the trumpet from Tutankhamen’s tomb to the present, taking in music by Henry Purcell, J.S. Bach, Handel (including the ‘hosepipe hornpipe’), Haydn, Mozart, Glenn Miller, Leonard Bernstein and others. A concert suitable for all the family, especially for young people learning brass instruments, or hoping to do so.

Crispian’s unique performances and recordings on historic instruments led Continuo magazine to describe him as ‘the world’s leading player of the Baroque trumpet’. Playing alongside many of the greatest singers of our time, his purity of tone and artistic subtlety have received critical acclaim for more than three decades.

Recordings of Handel’s ‘Let the bright seraphim’ with Dame Kiri te Kanawa and ‘Eternal source of light divine’ with James Bowman are familiar to many. More recently, his performances with Emma Kirkby, Lynn Dawson, Carolyn Sampson, Bryn Terfel and Lesley Garrett have strengthened his reputation as a modern icon.