I can’t listen in. I have church, a meeting (really! A meeting before a performance. These drive me bonkers! Especially when I received only a notice a few days ago), and work, all in one long row.

British trumpeter Alison Balsom arrived in Minnesota after making her West Coast debut at Walt Disney Concert with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. If she’d stayed in California, she’d be enjoying temperatures in the upper 60s this weekend. Instead, she’s facing a frigid sixteen below.

But the hearty young English woman doesn’t mind. She says it’s a nice change from the dampness of London. She’s looking forward to her first appearance on Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion” radio show, even if she admits some trepidition in being roped into a skit.

“I’m a musician, not an actor,” she jokes.

Balsom has been getting quite a bit of attention for a warm style of playing that seems to take inspiration from woodwinds and the violin.

She’s gotta be one smart trumpet player, trying to play like us wind players. Right? 🙂

I’ll probably listen to her later, when yesterday’s/today’s broadcast is put up at Prairie Home Companion’s site