19th March 2024
InClassica, Dubai.
Culture Music Spotlight

EU Foundation for Support of Culture holds ‘stunning’ InClassica Festival in Dubai

This is a Spotlight feature in association with the European Foundation for Support of Culture.

Between 15 August and 26 September, the European Foundation for Support of Culture (EUFSC), led by its President Konstantin Ishkhanov and in collaboration with SAMIT Event Group, is holding the 10th anniversary edition of its renowned InClassica International Music Festival, with the festival taking place in Dubai for the first time in its long and storied history. 

Over its 43-day duration, InClassica will be featuring no fewer than 38 acclaimed soloists, including Grammy Award, twice Gramophone Classical Music Award, Classic Brit Award and 5 times Edison Classical Music Award winner, violinist Maxim Vengerov; ECHO Klassik Award winner, Gold Medal of Salzburg and Vienna recipient, pianist Rudolf Buchbinder; Gramophone’s Instrumental Album of the Year winner, Critics’ Choice at the Classic BRITS awards and CBE recipient, cellist Steven Isserlis; seven-times ECHO Klassik Award winner violinist Daniel Hope; Emmy and ECHO Klassik Award, Orphee d’or winner, soprano Danielle De Nies; and Grammy Award-winner and Avery Fisher Prize-recipient, violinist Gil Shaham, among many others.

The festival, which shall be hosted at two of the most illustrious venues in the United Arab Emirates city – the Dubai Opera and the Coca-Cola Arena – will also be presenting 8 different leading orchestras from all over the world, with some of the institutions set to make an appearance being the Russian National Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra (Israel), Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz (Germany) and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (UK), to name a few. 

InClassica, Dubai.
InClassica, Dubai.

Led by a variety of famed composers including but not limited to Dmitry Yablonsky (Israel/USA/Spain), Michael Francis (UK/USA), Alexander Sladkovsky (Russia), Gergely Madaras (Hungary), and Daniel Raiskin (Russia/Netherlands), the orchestras shall be interpreting a vast variety of concertos, symphonies, tone poems and other works by some of the most seminal composers in the romantic and classical tradition, along with music by a number of contemporary composers, including the festival’s Composer-in-Residence, Alexey Shor

‘To be invited to appear as part of the upcoming InClassica Festival is of course a great honour, and I cannot wait to conduct concerts at this event that is iconic for so many reasons, especially due to the prestigious location chosen this year. I’ve worked with the EUFSC’s president, Konstantin Ishkhanov, on a number of fantastic musical projects in the past, and have no doubt that this stunning upcoming festival will be no different,’ said Dmitry Yablonsky, leading conductor and cellist.

Moreover, during the same period, visitors to Dubai shall also be able to attend the grand finale of the EUFSC’s Classic Piano International Competition, which will be taking place from 15 August to 3 September. Winners of the 14 preliminary competitions that have been held around the world over the past two years shall be competing across four rounds that have been designed to test all aspects of their musical abilities, with a total prize fund of €300,000 awaiting the most accomplished among them. 

In addition, September 2021 will also see the EUFSC, together with SAMIT, debuting the first edition of its Middle East Classical Music Academy which shall be taking place in parallel with InClassica from 4-23 September. A number of professors and musicians from across the world shall be travelling to Dubai to lead a series of masterclasses, lectures and seminars in the schools of piano, strings, and wind, thereby giving students of these instruments a unique opportunity to learn from established masters, and further their own musical education. 

This Academy shall also be noteworthy for its inclusion of daily daytime concerts, with the most talented students being given the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to participate in these concerts alongside a host of international orchestras and soloists who will be performing some of the best-loved works from the classical music repertoire. 

‘The InClassica Music Festival has always been the crowning achievement of the EUFSC’s annual calendar, and this year’s edition, marking the festival’s 10th anniversary, is certainly set to be no exception,’ said Konstantin Ishkhanov, President of the EUFSC.

Konstantin Ishkhanov, President of the EUFSC.
Konstantin Ishkhanov, President of the EUFSC.

‘All of us here at the EUFSC have been working night and day to make sure that no effort is spared in turning Dubai into a veritable hub of classical music, with competitions, masterclasses, and concerts taking place around every corner,’ he continued. 

‘This spectacular global city shall form the perfect backdrop for this year’s event, with some of the best orchestras and soloists active today preparing to delight audiences with their interpretations of the works of the great masters. I am certain that this experience shall prove to be a wonderful and memorable one for all of you who join us, and I personally cannot wait to welcome you all to the United Arab Emirates so that we can indulge in this magnificent celebration of classical music together.’

This is a Spotlight feature in association with the European Foundation for Support of Culture.

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