Dubai, UAE
On Sunday 4th March, Dubai will welcome the famed UK violinist Chloë Hanslip, a Warner Classics Recording Artist and recipient of Echo Klassik and Classical BRIT Awards. Performing on the stage of Dubai Opera, Hanslip will be delivering a concert as part of the 2023 InClassica International Music Festival, where she will be joined by the acclaimed Middle East Orchestra and conductor Howard Wong. While not her first appearance in the UAE, this will be Hanslip’s debut performance at this spectacular venue, with the violinist looking to bring her inimitable brand of warmth, clarity and indescribable panache to Dubai audiences.
Howard Wong began vocal studies under Benjamin Luxon CBE whilst studying for his Bachelor and Master degrees at university. A scholarship then enabled him to pursue further studies at London Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he graduated with Distinction. Since then, opera, oratorio and recital appearances have taken him to The Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, The Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, Snape Maltings and other major venues throughout the UK, Europe and beyond.
Away from singing, Howard Wong has conducted a number of choirs and orchestras, including a spell at City of Canterbury Sinfonia and as Chorusmaster and Assistant Conductor for the prestigious Chelsea Opera Group, where his predecessors included conducting giants such as Sir Colin Davies, Sir Roger Norrington, Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Richard Hickox.
Since settling in Dubai, he has led local choirs and orchestras made up entirely of UAE residents. He has also occasionally crossed over to less traditional genres of music, serving as Chorus Director for Andrea Bocelli concerts and other projects ranging from the film music to Arabic popular music.
Howard has adjudicated international competitions for organisations such as The Association of English Singers & Speakers and given numerous masterclasses for institutions such as Cambridge University. Howard is deeply committed to music education and seeks to offer younger listeners the opportunities to explore music whenever possible.
Chloë Hanslip (b. 1987) has already established herself as an artist of distinction on the international stage. Prodigiously talented, she made her BBC Proms debut at fourteen and her US concerto debut at fifteen and has performed at major venues in the UK (Royal Festival Hall, Wigmore Hall), Europe (Vienna Musikverein, Hamburg Laeiszhalle, Paris Louvre and Salle Gaveau, St Petersburg Hermitage) as well as Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Arts Space in Tokyo and the Seoul Arts Centre. Her performances have included the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Bern Symphony Orchestra, Bremen Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Lahti Symphony, Moscow State Symphony,Norwegian Radio, Real Filharmonia Galicia, Vienna Tonkünstler Orchester, Hamburg Symfoniker, Czech National Symphony, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Orchestra Regionale Toscana, Helsingborg Symphony, Royal Flemish Philharmonic and the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra. Further afield her engagements include the Cincinnati Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Houston Symphony, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, Malaysia Philharmonic, Adelaide Symphony, Auckland Philharmonina and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. She has collaborated with conductors such as Sir Andrew Davis, Mariss Jansons, Paavo Järvi, Charles Dutoit, Giordano Bellincampi, Jakub Hrusa, Pietari Inkinen, Susanna Mälkki, Gianandrea Noseda, Tadaaki Otaka, Vasily Petrenko, Vassily Sinaisky, Dmitri Slobodeniouk, Alexander Vedernikov, Juraj Valcuha and Xian Zhang.
Chloë has an extensive discography and her latest releases include the complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas in three volumes on Rubicon Classics with regular duo partner, Danny Driver: “instantly engaging, thanks to the warmth and clarity of Hanslip’s playing and the obvious rapport between the musicians.” (Strad). Her other recordings include concertos by John Adams with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Slatkin and Bruch Concertos with the London Symphony Orchestra on Warner Classics for which she won a Classical BRIT 'Young British Classical Performer' (2003). Recital discs followed on Hyperion (York Bowen, Medtner) and concertos by Vieuxtemps, Schoeck and Glazunov.
Hanslip’s wide-ranging repertoire spans concertos by Britten, Prokofiev, Beethoven, Brahms, Korngold, Shostakovich, Barber, Bernstein, Delius, Mendelssohn, Bruch, Elgar, Tchaikovsky, Walton and Sibelius. With a particular passion for contemporary repertoire, she has championed works by Adams, Glass, Corigliano, Nyman, Huw Watkins, Michael Berkeley, Peter Maxwell Davies and Brett Dean. A committed chamber musician, she is a regular participant at festivals across Europe including Båstad, West Cork, Prussia Cove and Kutna Hora with recital partners including Angela Hewitt, Danny Driver, Igor Tchetuev and Charles Owen. Alongside her performing career, Chloë is a Visiting Professor at The Royal Academy of Music, in London and an Ambassador for the charity Future Talent.
Highlights of the 2021-22 season include concerto performances with the Philhamonia and Hallé Orchestras, the Russian Philharmonic of Novosibirsk and the Baltimore, Singapore and Aalborg Symphony Orchestras. She will be Artist in Residence at the Lammermuir Festival and perform at the Wigmore Hall alongside regular duo partner Danny Driver.
Chloë studied for ten years with the Russian pedagogue Zakhar Bron and has also worked with Christian Tetzlaff, Robert Masters, Ida Haendel, Salvatore Accardo, and Gerhard Schulz. She plays a Nicolo Amati violin kindly loaned to her through the Beare’s International Violin Society by a generous sponsor.
Founded by SAMIT Event Group, the Middle East Orchestra (MEO) is an exciting new initiative which seeks to tap into the rich musical potential that is harboured in this fast-growing region.
For as long as history can recall, the Middle East has not only been a vital artery allowing the transfer of knowledge and wisdom around the globe, but has itself been a crucial multicultural melting pot, bringing together talented artists and innovative creators from all over the world, and enriching them with its own heritage.
This was the spirit that inspired SAMIT when it launched the MEO back in 2022, bringing together an eclectic group of international musicians for the Second Edition of the Middle East Classical Music Academy, which was organised together with the Fujairah Fine Arts Academy under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al Sharqi. Taking on the role of Orchestra-in-Residence for the event, the ensemble performed to great acclaim in multiple concerts throughout the UAE alongside various esteemed soloists under the baton of internationally acclaimed conductors.
Now, heading into 2023, the MEO boasts a roster of musicians from more than 10 different nations, all communicating ideas through the international language that is Music!
Guided by the invigorating vision of Artistic Director Gianluca Marciano and the direction of Chief Conductor Howard Wong, the Orchestra now looks forward to a packed 2023, where they will be presenting a new concert programme that has been specially prepared for this season.
Through it all, the Middle East Orchestra will continue to celebrate the value of individual identity and global citizenship, while working tirelessly to provide a vital contribution to the cultural fabric of this region.
