Mostly Mozart Presents Alison Balsom

The annual Mostly Mozart festival at the Barbican Centre has finally arrived so we thought it would be a good opportunity to speak to Alison Balsom, one of the festival's star performers....

Watch the Alison Balsom video here

'I loved the sound of it, loved the look of it and I thought it was cool...well it is cool isn't it!'

Alison's obvious passion and enthusiasm for her instrument and its repertoire has led to an award-winning musical career as a solo trumpeter. Young British Classical Performer of the Year at the 2006 Classical BRIT Awards and the Classic FM Listeners' Choice at the Classic FM Gramophone Awards also in 2006 are just two of her many achievements, but it is her recent recording of Handel's and Hummel's Trumpet Concertos, due for release in September, that Alison is most proud of.

'It was probably one of the greatest musical experiences I've ever had. When you're working with other musicians who you really admire, you kind of feed off each other's energy and inspirations, which in itself creates a higher and higher standard.'

'It was probably one of the greatest musical experiences I've ever had. When you're working with other musicians who you really admire, you kind of feed off each other's energy and inspirations, which in itself creates a higher and higher standard.'

It was in fact the sound of one particular talented musician that inspired Alison to take up the trumpet in the first place. Listening to a tape of American jazz trumpeter, Dizzy Gillespie as a young girl she came to the conclusion that the trumpet was the only instrument for her.

Now as a young woman she is in turn inspiring a new generation of musicians and has become a sought after performer in the classical scene. During the next few months Alison will be performing at the Mostly Mozart Festival on 25th July and join Emma Johnson and Kate Royal on the stage at the Royal Albert Hall for Classic FM Live on 25th September .

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