Alison Balsom

British trumpet soloist Alison Balsom has signed an exclusive recording contract with EMI Classics.

Balsom, who was born in Hertfordshire, England, studied in London at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and at the Paris Conservatoire, graduating in 2001 with First Class Honours. She has also studied with Håkan Hardenberger. In 1998 she was a concerto finalist in the BBC Young Musicians Competition and in 2000 she won the prize for the 'Most Beautiful Sound' at the Maurice André International Trumpet Competition, Paris. She is a BBC New Generation Artist.

Alison Balsom's career already covers appearances with many of the major British and European orchestras. In 2006 she will give the premiere of a new concerto, by the young British composer Joby Talbot, commissioned for her by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Munich Chamber Orchestras; in that year she also makes her US debut with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.

The new EMI Classics contract is for three CDs; the first, of "Bach chamber works" will be released in 2006. Balsom already has one recording, a trumpet and organ programme, out on EMI Classics in the Debut series.

Websites:
Alison_Balsom (at agents HarrisonParrott)
Alison Balsom (at BBC Young Generation Artists)
EMI Classics news announcement