Home : The Group : Chris Evans

30 Second Interviews - Chris Evans - Trumpet

Chris, what have you been doing recently?
I’ve been playing with the London Symphony Orchestra in some recording sessions, performing with the London Contemporary Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall with the 70's singer 'Donovan', performing with the Philharmonia Orchestra in a variety of venue's in Britain and also being involved in their recent Mahler cycle conducted by Loren Marzel. As you can imagine this can get tiring but I really enjoy the contrast between the different orchestras.

How is life as a freelancer at the moment?
As a freelance trumpet player life can vary quite a lot in terms of schedule. I often find myself travelling to venues hundreds of miles away from each other with different ensembles at very unsociable hours, but the variety of playing and social atmosphere always makes this worthwhile. It is obviously necessary to be able to perform on any position within the trumpet section and be very versatile, especially in this economic climate, which has definitely effected repertoire choice of some orchestra's, sometimes culminating in less players being needed in certain pieces.

And what’s next on the horizon?
As the summer is getting closer, work is being focussed more towards the music festivals, and future engagements include: Brandenburg Sinfonia and other regional orchestras such as Bath, Guildford and some brass chamber concert's in Norwich and Essex. I am also working with the Aurora orchestra which has recently won the 2011 Royal Philharmonic Society Ensemble award for its promotion of new music and versatility, which I very much agree with.

Finally, what have you been up to away from playing the Trumpet?
Beside from playing the trumpet I am also interested in wine, and myself and Steve often compare notes on recently purchased bottles that we have tasted. I am also restoring a wooden boat, which I would like to spend more time on, but the trumpet always seems to have priority. At some point I would also like to invest in property and hopefully try and renovate a house or flat.