One of today’s most in-demand classical music personalities, English trumpeter and BBC Proms darling Alison Balsom shares her love of Paris on this new solo album. After becoming the first British woman to win Gramophone Magazine’s prestigious Artist of the Year award, Alison brings her glamour, poise and dazzling virtuosity to Paris with a selection of music written in and inspired by the most romantic city in the world.

Accessible yet surprising at every turn, the programme ranges from 20th-century French composers (Ravel, Duruflé, Messiaen) to jazz and popular chanson française (Django Reinhardt, Joseph Kosma), all in enchanting arrangements for trumpet. Classical favourites include Erik Satie’s calming Gnossienne No.3, and an impassioned Café 1930 by the Paris Conservatoire-trained Astor Piazzolla, in which Alison is joined by Miloš Karadaglic — the charismatic superstar of classical guitar with whom she co-hosted the 2014 BBC Young Musician of the Year competition.

Other special guests on Paris include Guy Barker, the renowned trumpeter and band leader who co-produced the album with Alison, and Downton Abbey star Julian Ovenden, who sings Les feuilles mortes in the original French on a bonus track.