“She makes the trumpet sing with an irresistible exuberance and eloquence.”
- Richard Morrison, The Times, September 2008
A highly acclaimed artist and one of music’s great ambassadors, Alison Balsom was named Best Young British Performer at the 2006 Classical BRITs and was honoured with the Classic FM Listener’s Award at the September 2006 Gramophone Awards. In 2007 the Echo Klassik Awards hailed her “Rising Artist of the Year” and in 2009 she became the first Britain ever to be crowned “Female Artist of the Year” at the Classical BRITs.
Whilst represented by the Young Concert Artists Trust, Alison caught the ear of EMI Classics, with whom she records exclusively. 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 the gems of the trumpet repertoire, the Haydn and Hummel’s Trumpet Concertos was named among the 24 records of 2008 by the New York Times.
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.
Recent debuts included appearances with the Los Angeles, Japan and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestras, the San Francisco Symphony and the 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 will be soloist at the “Last Night of the Proms” in September 2009 at the Royal Albert Hall.
Alison studied trumpet at the Guildhall School of Music, the Paris Conservatoire, and with Håkan Hardenberger. She was previously a member of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of Britain. Alison 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 is Visiting Professor of Trumpet to the Guildhall School of Music. Alison performs a wide range of recital and concerto repertoire, from Albinoni to MacMillan and performs on both modern and baroque trumpets.
This biography was provided by the artist or their representative.
