Trumpeter Alison Balsom makes history at Gramophone Classical Music Awards

Trumpet soloist Alison Balsom has made history after becoming the first British woman to take home the Artist of the Year honour at the 2013 Gramophone Classical Music Awards. The 34-year-old musician picked up the prestigious prize at a ceremony in London on Tuesday (17Sep13) and she is grateful to fans for voting for her.
She says, “I’m so thrilled. I could not think of a better way to end the best summer of my life than to receive this hugely prestigious honour. I am enjoying making music more than ever at the moment and to be praised for it by the Gramophone Classical Music Awards and by everyone who kindly voted for me is simply more than I could ask for.”
Other winners at the event included violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, who landed Recording of the Year for Seven, a tribute album in memory of the astronauts who perished in a NASA space shuttle tragedy in 2003, and veteran guitarist Julian Bream, who was presented with a lifetime achievement accolade.