Trumpeter Alison Balsom Bids Farewell After Final Performance at Last Night of the Proms
Renowned British trumpeter Alison Balsom has announced she will retire from the concert stage, closing her extraordinary performing career with one final appearance at the Last Night of the Proms 2025.
The 46-year-old, hailed as one of the world’s leading classical soloists, confirmed the decision during an interview on BBC Radio 4’s This Cultural Life. Speaking candidly with journalist John Wilson, she described the upcoming Proms performance as her “last night on stage.”
Balsom, married to acclaimed filmmaker Sir Sam Mendes, has been a fixture in the international classical scene for decades. With three Classic Brit Awards and an OBE for music services, her career has been marked by trailblazing performances that brought the trumpet centre stage.
Reflecting on her journey, she told the programme: “I’ve been so lucky to play with some of the greatest orchestras in the world. The light hits them in a new way, and they feel different every time.
But this chance to play the Hummel at the Last Night Of The Proms feels very final for me. I know what I want to say about this piece, but I don’t think I’m going to have anything more to say after this.”
The Hummel Trumpet Concerto in E-flat major will mark her swansong at the Royal Albert Hall on 13 September, broadcast live on BBC Two and BBC One.
Balsom admitted the decision was shaped by both personal and professional realities. Touring, she explained, had become “intense and unsustainable” alongside family life.
“I’m done with touring because it’s incredibly intense, and it’s not just that you’re physically removed from your family but you’re also mentally, emotionally, just somewhere else.
It’s incredibly intense and all-encompassing when you’re working as a soloist and you’re on the road.”
The trumpeter also spoke about the unique challenges of her instrument. “Yeah, because it’s really hard with the trumpet to just do it a bit.
Because it will only take a couple of days before you can’t really play as well. And then two weeks later I wouldn’t get through the whole concerto, and no one would want to hear it at all. It doesn’t take long.”
For Balsom, the Proms carry deep personal meaning. She recalled watching the Last Night as a child on television — the very performance that inspired her future.
“And it hit me between the eyes of, ‘Wow, that’s a brilliant thing’. And I’ve been given that chance again for the second time and I just think it’s a sign.”
She last performed at the Proms in 2009, a moment she remembers vividly as she was pregnant at the time.
With her departure, the classical world loses a performer who has not only mastered her craft but also reshaped perceptions of what the trumpet can do in a concert hall setting.
This year’s Proms season has already featured genre-spanning performances from Jade, Grammy-winner Samara Joy, and piano sensation Yunchan Lim. But Balsom’s farewell promises to be the emotional high point of the festival.
Her episode of This Cultural Life airs on 4 September at 11am, with her final performance following on 13 September.
As the curtain falls on her performing career, one thing is clear: Alison Balsom leaves the stage not with silence, but with a final, resounding note at the heart of British musical history.
