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Alison Balsom

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Biography

World-renowned classical trumpeter and teacher at London's Guildhall School, Alison Balsom is an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). Born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire (UK) on October 7, 1978, Alison Louise Balsom developed a passion for the trumpet as a child, taking her first lessons at the age of seven. She played in a local brass band, the Royston Town Band, before joining the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain at the age of fifteen, and studying at the Guildhall School in London, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow and the Conservatoire de Paris with Håkan Hardenberger. A professional musician since 2001, the year she graduated from the Guildhall School, the trumpeter signed with the EMI Classics label to record the albums Music for Trumpet and Organ with Quentin Thomas (2001), Bach: Works for Trumpet (2005), which won a Classical Brit Award, Caprice (2006) with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra conducted by Edward Gardner and Haydn - Hummel: Trumpet Concertos (2008). Invited to Prom Night 2009, Alison Balsom teaches at London's Guildhall School and is principal trumpet with the London Chamber Orchestra. She has premiered works by Qigang Chen and Guy Barker and, in addition to the baroque recital Sound the Trumpet - Royal Music of Purcell & Handel with Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert (2012), has recorded for Warner Classics: Italian Concertos (2010), Paris (2014), Jubilo: Bach, Corelli, Torelli, Fasch (2016), Légende - Works for Trumpet & Piano with Tom Poster (2017) and Quiet City (2022). In 2014, ten years after benefiting from the BBC Radio 3 Generation Artist program, she presented the radio show with classical guitarist Miloš Karadaglić. An Officer of the Order of the British Empire since 2016, Alison Balsom or Lady Mendes after her 2017 marriage to director Sam Mendes, was appointed Artistic Director of the Cheltenham Festival in 2019 but relinquished this role to focus on her career.
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Albums


Top Tracks

  1.   Track
    Popularity
  2.   Klavierbüchlein für Anna Magdalena Bach, II: Aria, BWV508: Bist du bei mir featuring Alastair Ross
  3.   Badinerie from Suite No. 2, BWV 1067
  4.   Partita No. 3 in E BWV1006: Gigue
  5.   Violin Concerto in G Major, RV 310: Largo featuring Alison Balsom
  6.   Sonata for trumpet and piano~II. Mäßig bewegt
  7.   Légende for trumpet and piano
  8.   Trumpet Concerto in E-Flat Major, Hob. VIIe:1: II. Andante by Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie
  9.   Variations on Bellini's Norma (Casta Diva) featuring Edward Gardner
  10.   Okna ("Windows"), after Marc Chagall~Zelené Okno [The Green Window] (Andantino pastorale)
  11.   Trumpet Concerto, TWV 51:D7: I. Adagio
  12.   The Unanswered Question
  13.   'Paths'
  14.   Trumpet Concerto in E Flat, Hob.VIIe:I: Allegro by Alison Balsom
  15.   Trumpet Concerto in E-Flat Major: I. Allegro by Alison Balsom
  16.   Trumpet Concerto in E Flat, Hob.VIIe:I: Finale. Allegro by Alison Balsom
  17.   Nobody Knows
  18.   Trumpet Concerto in E-Flat Major: II. Andante by Alison Balsom
  19.   Trumpet Concerto in E-Flat Major: I. Allegro con spirito by Alison Balsom
  20.   Stella Natalis: IV. Only Heavenly Music (In Memoriam Christine Brown) featuring Alison Balsom
  21.   Trumpet Concerto in E-Flat Major: III. Vivace by Alison Balsom
  22.   Trumpet Concerto in E-Flat Major: II. Largo by Alison Balsom
  23.   6 Schübler Chorales (Arr. for Trumpet & Organ): V. Ach bleib bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ, BWV 649
  24.   6 Schübler Chorales (Arr. for Trumpet & Organ): I. Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme, BWV 645
  25.   6 Schübler Chorales (Arr. for Trumpet & Organ): VI. Kommst du nun, Jesu, vom Himmel herunter auf Erden, BWV 650
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