A highly acclaimed artist and one of music's great ambassadors, Alison Balsom was named Best Young British Performer at the 2006 Classical Brit Awards and was honoured with the Classic FM Listener's Award at the September 2006 Gramaphone Awards. The Echo Klassik Awards recently hailed her "Rising Artist of the Year 2007".

Whilst represented by the Young Artists Concert Trust, Alison caught the ear of EMI Classics, for whome she now records exclusivel. Her internationally celebrated Bach Trumpet and Organ disc of 2005 was quickly followed by the Caprice album which won her further critical acclaim. Alison's most recent recording which includes Haydn and Hummel's Trumpet Concertos was released in September 2008.

Under the auspices of BBC Radio 3's New Generation Artists scheme, Alison performed at the Wigmore Hall and with all of the BBC orchestras. The summer of 2006 saw Alison take part in the BBC's celebrated 'Last Night of the Proms' in London's Hyde Park.

Alison recently debuted with the Los Angeles, Japan, and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestras, the San Francisco Symphony and Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. Highlights from the current season include performances with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Brazil Symphony Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin and the Orchestre de Paris.

Alison studied trumpet at the Guildhall School of Music, the Paris Conservatoire, and with Håkan Hardenberger. She was a concerto finalist in the BBC Young Musicians Competition in 1998 and received the Feeling Musique Prize for quality of sound in the 4th Maurice André International Trumpet Competition. She was recently appointed Visiting Professor of the trumpet to the Guildhall School of Music. Alison performs a wide range of recital and concerto repertoire, from Albinoni to Zimmerman and performs on both modern and baroque trumpets.


Testimony:

"Incredible sensitivity is Balsom's secret. In her hands, the trumpet rivals the human voice for expressivity and tonal colouring"
- St. Petersburg Times