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 concert opening with Gustav Holst’s four-movement St Paul’s Suite. Originally titled simply Suite in C, the popular 1922 work took its name from St Paul’s Girls’ School in Hammersmith, London where Holst served as music master from 1905 to 1934. This is followed by Gerald Finzi’s Romance for string orchestra, a short orchestral work written in 1928 but not published until 1952, after some revisions by the composer. More light-hearted than some of Finzi’s other pieces, it is an affirming, freshening composition, characterised by a melodic tone and robust climax. Finally, the evening concludes with Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in D minor, composed when Mendelssohn was just thirteen years old in 1822. Consisting of three movements, it was written for his friend and teacher Eduard Rietz, and was relatively forgotten until interest in it was revived in the second half of the 20th century.