EUFSC President Konstantin Ishkhanov 'Honored' to Launch Iconic InClassica Festival in Dubai

Having started on the 15th of August and running until the 26th of September, an extraordinary musical event featuring 37 soloists, seven orchestras and twelve conductors from all over the world is being held in Dubai, UAE. This distinguished project is led by the European Foundation for Support of Culture (EUFSC) with the collaboration of SAMIT Event Group. InClassica 2021 brings classical music to new audiences, and gives this prestigious art form a new platform in today's cultural landscape.

In addition to this outstanding festival, the EUFSC and SAMIT are also bringing to Dubai two hotly anticipated events: the Classic Piano International Competition, which started on the 15th August and finished on the 3rd of September, and the Middle East Classical Music Academy (MECMA). Classic Piano featured the winners of fourteen preliminary competitions from around the world, who competed in Dubai across four rounds in a display of pianistic excellence. The Middle East Classical Music Academy, taking place in parallel with InClassica from 4th to 23rd September, welcomes some of the most esteemed professors and performers from across the globe, for a series of workshops, lectures and open masterclasses for piano, violin, cello, clarinet and flute.

Soloists billed to appear at InClassica include:

Exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist, two-times Opus Klassik Award-winner and Principal Clarinettist of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Andreas Ottensamer (Austria);

Winner of the 1986 Rostropovich International Competition in Paris and BMG (RCA), Sony and EMI recording artist, cellist Gary Hoffman (Canada/USA/France);

First Prize winner in the Rome Piano Competition and prizewinner of various other international competitions including the Grand Prix of the Montecarlo World Piano-Masters and F. Busoni Competition, recording artist for labels including EMI Classics and Dinemec Classics, pianist Roustem Saitkoulov (Russia/France);

Recording artists for Sony Classical, Universal, Cyprès, Mirare and Capriccio, multiple award-winners including Choc of the year (Le Monde de la Musique), Editor’s Choice (Gramophone), CD of the month (Fono Forum and BBC Music Magazine), Diapason d’Or de l’Année, Midem Classical Award, Victoire de la Musique (“Best Instrumental Ensemble of the year” 1997, 2000 and 2009), recipients of the title of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier dans l’ordre des Arts et Lettres), ARD (Munich, 1988) and Fischoff Chamber Music (1990) competition winners, Trio Wanderer (France).

Founder and Leader of the Classe d'Excellence de Violoncelle at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, exclusive Erato (Warner Classics) recording artist, cellist Gautier Capuçon (France).

“I am honored to launch such a prestigious edition of InClassica in Dubai, which represents a special location where audiences from all over the world will have the incredible opportunity to enjoy these concerts and listen to some of the most important compositions of classical music. After all the hard work that has been done in the previous months, it gives me great pleasure to welcome our audiences to the InClassica International Music festival. I wish good luck to all the soloists, conductors and orchestras involved in this project, and I am sure that this edition will be viewed as a terrific success and the start of a great cultural and artistic journey here in the Middle East,” said Konstantin Ishkhanov, President of the EUFSC.

Orchestras scheduled to appear include the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra (Israel), Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, Kaliningrad Symphony Orchestra (Russia) and Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz (Germany).

The orchestras perform under the baton of twelve celebrated conductors, including: Founder, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the ASSO, Sergey Smbatyan (Armenia); Honored Art Worker of Russia and member of the Union of Composers of Russia, Arkady Feldman (Russia); Grammy nominated conductor and cellist, Dmitry Yablonsky (USA/Israel/Spain); Chief Conductor of the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra in Bratislava, Daniel Raiskin (Russia/Netherlands) and Founder and Music Director of the St. Petersburg Festival Orchestra, Marius Stravinsky (UK), to name a few.

In regards to the works featured, in addition to the repertoire by prominent classical European composers, InClassica features music by contemporary composer Alexey Shor, who serves as Composer-in-Residence for the event. His pieces have been performed by some of the most acclaimed soloists from all over the world, including violinists Salvatore Accardo and Andrey Baranov, cellist Gautier Capuçon, pianist Freddy Kempf and many others, and by prominent orchestras including the Malta Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Armenian State Symphony Orchestra and Brandenburg State Orchestra.

InClassica brings to Dubai an ambitious program of classical music, and represents a stunning new opportunity for the genre in the Middle East. This edition of the festival is something not to miss, with visitors and audiences able to enjoy the opportunity to attend concerts performed by living legends, in the unique and impressive surroundings of Dubai.