Page 39 - Alison Balsom Quiet City FULL BOOK

emotional weight. The players I did love had these heartbreakingly
expressive qualities to their playing. I think that is the key, really. I

think that’s why anyone would bother listening to you; when you make

them feel something from your musicianship.

You are an extremely versatile artist; how do you manage to

perform at such a high level in so many different styles and

settings?

It’s always an uphill battle! Every trumpeter will say, “You’re only as
good as your last gig.” I never really feel like I can ever say to myself,

“I’ve got this!” Instead, I always feel like, “I hope I can do this! I really

want to, although I know I’m very close to not being able to do it.” With

the trumpet especially, there’s always a chance that something might
go wrong — your lip might go, and then everyone will know about it.

I think it’s very interest-based, and being a classical trumpeter is quite

a niche thing to do. I don’t want to further narrow my horizons. Within
those boundaries, there is so much that I’m interested in, and I’m such

a classical music lover, and there is so much that would never work

on the trumpet, and I respect that. I enjoy it for what it is, and I don’t
need to bring the trumpet into it. But sometimes those two worlds

meet, and it’s a really wonderful, exhilarating moment for me when I

realise I can actually contribute to it! So it’s just like that really — I love
baroque music, I love jazz, and I love everything in between. So if

there are ways for me to express myself through that, then that’s a

bonus. And then it’s just learning along the way. When I play with

baroque musicians, such as my great friend and exquisite baroque
cellist Joe Crouch, I always hope they can play whatever we’re

playing well, as I need to be near them to learn from them. Learn his

phrasing, learn what he knows about the harmonic structure of the

music! I just approach it like that. I think that’s the only way one can
really justify oneself dipping one’s toes into so many different styles.