Alison Balsom

"Balsom is a superb advocate, combining technical brilliance with penetrating musicianship – a true poet of the trumpet as well as a formidable athlete." (BBC Music Magazine, February 2012)

"Alison Balsom’s shimmering tone is never more evident than in these contemporary works." (The Daily Express, February 2012)

"What really makes this performer so magnetic and distinctive is the quality of the notes that tumble so effortlessly from whatever trumpet she holds in her hands, and whatever music she plays." (The Times, January 2012)

"She sides with the gods by championing five little-known contemporary concertos, each of which profiles her stratospheric top register. (Financial Times, January 2012)

“Balsom proved to be as disarming after the concert as she was brilliant during it…she played the Vivaldi and Albinoni concertos, the latter being a particularly spectacular success, highlighted by Balsom’s liquid passagework and her bewitching dialogue in the slow movement with the Ensemble’s leader Jonathan Morton.

“The trumpet’s staccato, legato runs and calls provided much enjoyable tripping of the light fantastic, while brusque chords and hushed tremolos in the strings introduced moments of Balsom’s unique sunshine.” (Seen and Heard International, September 2011)

“As a showcase for Alison Balsom’s dazzling instrumental skill and technical panache, this disc could hardly be bettered…Balsom dispatches it all with ease and flair, and what the transcriptions lose in instrumental colour they gain in exuberance.” (Italian Concertos - Classical Music Magazine, February 2011)

“In Hummel's Trumpet Concerto, the orchestra played breezily alongside the young Briton Alison Balsom. She gave the music elegance, brightness and spirit. And in her encore - "Libertango" by Argentina's Astor Piazzolla - she danced the tango with silkiness and swagger galore.” (Charlotte Observer, November 2010)

"Brilliant: that’s the word for the Classical Brit Award’s Female Artist of 2009 as her trumpet glides and tootles through Italian baroque concertos originally written for violin or oboe. Two Vivaldi violin concertos yield the most excitement, but the perky selection regularly tickles the ear with catchy melodies and rhythmic fizz. The Scottish Ensemble joins the party with its own sprightly artistry." (The Times, October 2010)

“Alison Balsom was soloist in the MacMillan, her glamorous appearance complemented by genuine dedicated musicianship, the searching trumpet writing delivered with stamina and concentration, and with the orchestra under Edward Gardner contributing a dazzling collaboration.” (Birmingham Post, January 2010)

“Alison Balsom took on James MacMillan's single-movement trumpet concerto from 1993, Epiclesis. Balsom's virtuosity was unfailingly impressive.”  (The Guardian, January 2010)

“If trumpet virtuoso Alison Balsom wanted to repeat her enthusiastic Albert Hall Last Night Of The Proms reception, relayed to millions worldwide, then she had come to the right place. Here was a confident performance, with an engagingly light and tripping finale -followed by a succinct, but actually more impressive, solo encore by Debussy.” (Liverpool Echo, September 2009)