Andy Howells chats to musician Alison Balsom ahead of her show in St David’s Hall this October.

It’s a pretty busy year for multi Brit award winning Alison Balsom who will shortly be releasing a new album with acclaimed jazz producer Guy Barker and embarking on her first ever headline UK tour which brings her to Cardiff's St David's Hall on October 5. “I've played at St David’s Hall so many times, it’s an amazing hall,” says Alison enthusiastically, “I just love the acoustics there!”

As one of the most highly regarded trumpeters and innovative classical musicians of a generation, Alison has spent the last decade performing in the world’s most prestigious venues. It’s the culmination of a long musical journey that has spanned some 28 years. “I started at my local primary school and just fell in love with the instrument straight away” says Alison who hails from Hertfordshire, “I loved the look of it, sound of it and what it could do. I heard a recording of Dizzy Gillespie of which we'd got out of the library and I thought “Yeah, this is what I want to do!”

Alison then joined a local brass band as she continued with her studies at school. She later became a student at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and the Conservatoire de Paris.

Playing as part of an ensemble and then as a solo musician has helped Alison uncover many layers to performing. “With the trumpet the biggest challenge is finding the repertoire,” she says, “it’s got to be artistically interesting but also something that people want to hear. It’s been the biggest challenge of my career finding that line. I try to imagine myself as the average punter, What would I want to hear if I’m parting with my hard earned cash? I want value for money! I want to have a real emotional experience! That’s what musicians have a duty to do really. Of course, you have to be flashy and virtuous sometimes but you also have to be intimate and storytelling and that’s what I’m going to try and do.”

The tour will include repertoire from Alison’s much anticipated new album entitled Paris, which she has co-produced with Guy Barker as well as some classic material. “ I’m going to start with a little bit of Bach, but then I’ll go to Sachse and Ravel,” she continues, “there will also be a lot jazzy things like April In Paris and Gershwin’s Someone To Watch Over Me .”

Even though Alison hasn’t begun her UK tour yet she is still incredibly busy with live performances. She has recently played a world premiere piece in Beijing and goes on to play The Hollywood Bowl in the US on August 5 with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Alison will also be collaborating with her own ensemble of musicians for her forthcoming UK shows. “I’m going to have a mixture of amazing musicians with me,” she tells me, “I’ll have a jazz trio, a rhythm section and string players. With the trumpet, I’m showing it can do all these different Miles Davis and Baroque things, and then there are these other instruments like the double bass and the piano that have all those different personalities too.” Evidently Alison intends to exploit all the musical instruments in her show to their full potential, “It’ll be eclectic, classical and a bit more jazzy, something for everyone,” she says.

Tickets for the St David’s Hall concert are available by contacting 029 2087 8444. For further information on Alison’s work visit alisonbalsom.com