Crispian Steele-Perkins, hailed by critics as "the world's leading performer on the baroque trumpet," will give a free guest master class and recital at Ithaca College on Thursday, April 6. Featuring both familiar and lesser known compositions by Purcell, Handel, Hummel, and Mozart, the public performance will begin at 8:00 p.m. in the Hockett Family Recital Hall in the James J. Whalen Center for Music. Steele-Perkins will be joined by pianist Irina Feoktistova.
A longtime professor of trumpet at London's Guildhall School of Music, Steele-Perkins began his performing career as a symphonic trumpeter and studio musician in the Sadlers Wells Opera and the Royal Philharmonic. He has reached his widest audiences, however, through movie soundtracks, having recorded more than 85 of them for films such as "A Bridge Too Far," "Batman," "Gandhi," and "Jaws." He has also played the signature tunes for several television programs, including "The Antiques Roadshow."
Steele-Perkins's interest in historical research and performance techniques has led him to restore more than 100 "natural" and early mechanical trumpets. With these he has performed and recorded with many leading ensembles, including the Academy of Ancient Music, the King's Consort, and the award-winning Canadian baroque ensemble Tafelmusik.
A graduate of the St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia, Feoktistova is involved in various projects performing Russian and American contemporary music. She is affiliated with the Maverick Ensemble in Chicago and the Union of Composers in St. Petersburg.
