Will Dave resist saying STrumpet?

With her new recording, Italian Concertos, already firmly established on Billboard’s classical bestsellers chart, the dynamic British trumpet player Alison Balsom takes another step towards superstardom when she appears tonight on Late Night with David Letterman (CBS-TV beginning 11:35pm; locally in San Antonio at 10:35pm on KENS 5). Balsom, an exclusive EMI Classics recording artist, is scheduled to perform a track featured on her new album: the third movement (Allegro) of Marcello’s Oboe Concerto in C minor, arranged for trumpet by Balsom herself.
Balsom recently performed in New York City, following the release of Italian Concertos in October. The Los Angeles Times included the new title in its holiday gift guide, where critic Mark Swed noted, “The young British trumpeter Alison Balsom knocks off high notes like they were going out of style.” Gramophone enthusiastically praised “Balsom’s suave, characterful performances.” New York’s classical music station, WQXR, invited listeners to comment on the new album, stating its own opinion clearly: “It’s not just that she’s blonde, slim, and stylish; it’s the depth of her musicianship that makes her stand out along with the ability to make the solo trumpet seem as natural as a solo violin or cello. Those qualities emerge on Balsom’s new album, Italian Concertos, which focuses on concertos originally composed for violin or oboe by Vivaldi, Albinoni, Tartini, Cimarosa, and Marcello.”
Balsom discusses Italian Concertos in this video, available on EMI Classics’ YouTube channel:

Alison Balsom has achieved an international reputation as one of classical music’s great ambassadors. She has been honored with numerous awards by Classic FM, Gramophone, and Echo Klassik, and in 2009 she became the first ever Briton to be crowned “Female Artist of the Year” at the Classical BRITs. In September 2009 Balsom headlined The Last Night of the BBC Proms, which was viewed by an estimated global audience of 150 million.
Recent and upcoming highlights include appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, Toronto Symphony, Orchestre National de France, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, and La Verdi.
Major international tours in 2010-11 and beyond will bring Balsom into collaboration with I Musici di Roma, Kremerata Baltica, Concerto Köln, the Scottish Ensemble, and her own Balsom Ensemble. Her ever-growing recording catalog for EMI Classics, with whom she records exclusively, has won international critical renown.
Alison Balsom studied trumpet at the Guildhall School of Music, the Paris Conservatoire, and with Hakan Hardenberger.