Page 45 - Alison Balsom Quiet City FULL BOOK

anything else, when you could be lucky enough to just be a creative
person. I think that’s a valuable thing to bring to the world.

What advice do you have for young trumpet players, principally for

female trumpet players that are beginning their careers and are
inspired by your success?

I think my advice would just be to keep going, keep seeking out new

experiences that remind you why you love it and that inspire you all

over again. Whether that be a live performance or even something
that isn’t even to do with the trumpet. It doesn’t even have to be

classical music; it can be any live performance that makes you feel

alive and inspires you. If you’re not getting the opportunities you’re

perhaps looking for, you’ve got to find ways to create them. Of course,
you do need a generous helping of luck, but you can make

opportunities. And where things don’t work out, just minimise them

and move towards a direction where things are working. I think that
constantly inspiring yourself is really, really key. My other secret

(which is not really a secret!) is starting each day with the James

Stamp method.

You just signed a five-album deal with Warner. The first one, Quiet

City, explores American music from the 20th century and will be
released on August 26th. You recorded Copland’s Quiet City, a newly

edited version of Bernstein’s Lonely Town from On the Town,

Ives’s Unanswered Question, a brand-new orchestral arrangement

from Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, and two works by the iconic
Miles Davis/Gil Evans partnership, Concierto de Aranjuez and My

Ship.

What inspired your selection of works?

It started from my decades-long love for Copland’s Quiet City, which is
just such an incredible piece. It’s very profound, it’s very universally