Allison balsom biography

English trumpet player (b1978)

Not to be confused with Allison Balson.

Musical artist

Alison Louise Balsom, Lady Mendes, OBE (born 7 October 1978) is an English trumpet soloist, arranger, producer, and music educator.

Balsom was awarded Artist of the Year at the 2013 Gramophone Awards and has won three Classic BRIT Awards and three German Echo Awards, and was a soloist at the BBC Last Night of the Proms in 2009. She was the artistic director of the 2019 Cheltenham Music Festival.

Early life and education

Balsom was born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, on 7 October 1978.^[1] She attended Tannery Drift First School in Royston, Hertfordshire, where she started taking trumpet lessons from the age of seven, followed by Greneway Middle School and Meridian School, whilst also playing in the Royston Town Band from ages 8 to 15.^[2][3][4] Subsequently, she took her A-levels at Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge.^[5