Sydney recently played host to Wynton Marsalis, a musical superstar who made history by taking out two Grammies in the same year — one for jazz and the other for his classical recording of the Haydn trumpet concertos.

But there is another trumpeter who successfully bestrides the two genres: the Belgian virtuoso Jeroen Berwaerts, Principal Trumpet of the NDR Radio Symphony Hamburg and member of fabled Canadian Brass and Stockholm Chamber Brass ensembles. Here he presented a brilliant and fascinating program accompanied by Australian-based Russian pianist Konstantin Shamray in the gorgeous acoustic of Sydney’s City Recital Hall.

Jeroen Berwaerts. Photo supplied

Berwaerts came late to the classical stage, having started off in brass bands, jazz and funk groups. “I hadn’t listened to any real classical music before I was 18!” he admits.

This accounts for his eclectic approach to solo performances where the likes of Henry Purcell and Paul Hindemith rub shoulders with Chet Baker and Duke Ellington.

His philosophy is refreshingly simple: “Music is music. This is how we widen our audience, putting good pieces alongside each other.” And judging from this one-off concert the recipe works a treat.

Of course, it helps...