By Darren Henley, station manager, Classic FM
28 September 2006

Alison Balsom
Both an artistic and marketing dream, the young trumpeter is the listeners' choice

It's not often that a young musician appears on the scene abundantly blessed with everything both an A&R (artists and repertoire) and marketing person could dream of, but the young British trumpeter Alison Balsom fulfils just such a dream. She's a musician of prodigious talent with an inquisitive, fresh approach to music-making. She is connected to her public, and rewards their attention with playing of a winning ease and fluency. She has an engaging personality - as listeners to Classic FM will know only too well - and she has the intelligence to take her burgeoning career well in her stride.

Her new solo disc, "Caprice", which we've been playing a lot recently, clearly captivated our listeners as much as it entranced us here at the station - and no doubt it was her thrilling impersonation of Mozart's "Queen of Night" or her gorgeous borrowing of Debussy's flute solo Syrinx that justly brought her this Award. We at Classic FM are greatly looking forward to hearing Alison Balsom in the new Trumpet Concerto that Joby Talbot, Classic FM's first composer-in-residence, is writing for her and which will be premiered with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra on October 28.