Overview

• Balsom confirmed the decision in a conversation with John Wilson for BBC Radio 4’s This Cultural Life, with the interview scheduled to air on September 4.
• Her final appearance will be at the Last Night of the Proms 2025, where she will perform the Hummel Trumpet Concerto in E flat major on September 13.
• The concert will be broadcast live on BBC Two before switching to BBC One for the second half.
• She said the trumpet cannot be played part-time and that short breaks quickly erode performance, prompting her to “put the trumpet down.”
• Across roughly four decades, she won three Classic BRIT awards and was appointed OBE in 2016 for services to music.