Discover the Tuba with Classic FM

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John Whitener with his cimbasso backstage at the Royal Albert Hall

Meet the cimbasso, the epic brass contraption heard in ‘Inception’ and ‘Call of Duty’

Hans Nickel and the WDR Symphony Orchestra

Jaw-droppingly nimble soloist plays virtuosic violin Czardas... on the tuba?

Videos

Seven students age 16-18 have been left without their musical instruments for 25 days

‘How is this okay?’ – outrage as seven music students’ brass instruments lost by Lufthansa

The UK experienced its highest ever temperatures on record

How do extreme temperatures affect our musical instruments?

COVID-19 patient serenades hospital staff in Utah with violin

Intubated COVID-19 patient plays violin for medical staff to say a musical ‘thank you’

News & Features

US orchestra study finds trumpet ‘riskiest’ instrument for spreading COVID-19

US orchestra study finds trumpet ‘riskiest’ instrument for spreading COVID-19

Coronavirus

Matt Marzano sustains a note for five minutes using circular breathing

‘Mind-blowing’ tuba player holds a five-minute note using circular breathing

Videos

Pictured: Sarah and Simon Jacobs

Newly-wed couple distraught after ‘sentimental’ tuba stolen from car

I refuse to count this

16 confessions of a brass player that will make you say ‘same’

Paganini tuba

Watch this guy play some virtuosic Paganini on TUBA and make it look easy

Paganini

dad text tuba

This dad accidentally texted using voice recognition while playing the TUBA

Game of Thrones low bass cover

23 low brass playing the Game of Thrones theme is monumentally epic

Discover other brass

Rare iron age trumpet unearthed in Norfolk

Rare iron age battle trumpet unearthed in Norfolk

Orchestra formation

What are all the instruments in an orchestra?

A boy plays the trumpet at a No Kings protest in San Diego

‘Goosebumps’ as young boy plays Star-Spangled Banner on his trumpet at San Diego protest

Brass players delight passengers with impromptu ‘The Bare Necessities’ on aeroplane

Brass players delight passengers with impromptu ‘The Bare Necessities’ on aeroplane

Videos

Trumpet rental letter

Son finds touching note sent to his struggling mother ‘forgiving trumpet debt’

English trumpeter Alison Balsom plays in Cologne’s philharmonic hall

10 most spectacular pieces of trumpet music

Paul McCartney asked an English trumpeter to play a painfully high piccolo trumpet solo for ‘Penny Lane’

When Paul McCartney asked an English trumpeter to play the painfully high ‘Penny Lane’ piccolo trumpet solo

The top 10 best pieces of music by Haydn.

10 greatest pieces of classical music by Haydn

Haydn

Trumpeter creates mesmerising sound wave visualisation using fire

Trumpeter uses actual fire to create mesmerising soundwave visualisation

Videos

Sheku Kanneh-Mason plays Elgar Cello Concerto; Alison Balsom plays Haydn Trumpet Concerto; Anne-Sophie Mutter plays Williams Violin Concerto No.2

The 20 greatest concertos in classical music

Exclusive
Trumpeter Matilda Lloyd performs a Puccini aria in a beautiful stairwell acoustic.

Trumpeter finds extraordinary church stairwell acoustic, plays opera’s greatest tune

Puccini

Bugler sounds the Last Post

What is The Last Post and why is it played on Remembrance Day?

Exclusive
Alison Balsom is an award-winning trumpet soloist

‘To diminish music in education is a really big mistake’ – star trumpeter Alison Balsom

Alison Balsom

John Blanke, Trumpet

Meet John Blanke, Henry VIII’s highly favoured trumpeter and the face of Black Tudor England

Alison Balsom reveals her Top 5 Trumpet Concertos of all time

Star trumpeter Alison Balsom reveals the top five trumpet concertos of all time

Alison Balsom

A Ukrainian musician plays the National Anthem in a metro station being used as a bomb shelter

Ukrainian trumpeter’s solo national anthem echoes through underground shelter

Videos

Latest on Classic FM

A new piece by Ralph Vaughan Williams has been uncovered in a London college archive.

‘Rare’ new music by Vaughan Williams discovered in college archive

Vaughan Williams

The 2025 winners of the Classic FM Music Teacher of the Year Awards, with hosts Dan Walker and Myleene Klass at Classic FM Live.

The Classic FM Music Teacher of the Year Awards 2026 with ABRSM: nominate an inspiring teacher!

Events

The horrifying moment a conductor knocked a violin worth millions from a violinist's hand.

Watch the horrifying moment conductor knocks priceless violin out of soloist’s hand

Pianist Ruth Slenczynska, the last surviving pupil of Sergei Rachmaninov, has died at the age of 101.

Pianist Ruth Slenczynska, the last surviving pupil of Rachmaninov, has died aged 101

Magdalen College Choir sing at the top of the Great Tower at dawn on May 1.

Oxford’s Magdalen College Choir will admit girl choristers for first time in over 500 years
More than 2 million children in the UK are ‘locked out’ of live music, according to a new report.

More than 2 million children ‘locked out’ of live music, according to new report

Music Education

American conductor Michael Tilson Thomas has died at the age of 81.

American conductor Michael Tilson Thomas has died aged 81

Michael Tilson Thomas

Michael Sheen will star as Salieri in a new West End production of Amadeus.

Michael Sheen to play Salieri in new ‘Amadeus’ production

Mozart

Classic FM Live at the Royal Albert Hall in October 2026.

All the photo highlights from Classic FM Live with Viking!

Events

Puccini at the Palace

Book tickets for ‘Puccini at the Palace’ with Royal Choral Society at Alexandra Palace

Events

Latest instrument features

Pianist and composer Alexis Ffrench joins Classic FM to present new series on classical music in everyday life.

Pianist and composer Alexis Ffrench joins Classic FM to present new series ‘Music to Live By’
Baroque Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi features on RAYE’s new album.

RAYE used a 300-year-old Baroque music sample on her new album

Vivaldi

David López Ibáñez

Man charged with theft of £150,000 violin from north London pub

Who are the new musical mentors for Season 4 of Channel 4’s The Piano?

Who are the new musical mentors for Season 4 of The Piano?

How a harp caused the break up of The Beatles

How a harp sparked the breakup of The Beatles

Best classical music

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The 15 most famous tunes in classical music

The 15 most famous tunes in classical music

Best symphonies: Ludwig van Beethoven, Antonin Dvorak and Florence Price

The 15 greatest symphonies of all time

4 eras of classical music

The 4 eras of classical music: a quick guide

A young Marin Alsop, Sir Simon Rattle, and Seiji Ozawa conduct their respective orchestras.

The 25 greatest conductors of all time

Hildegard von Bingen, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Edward Elgar among the greatest composers in classical music history.

The 30 greatest classical music composers of all time

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