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SAMIT Event Group: Transforming the Middle East into a natural home for classical music

Ever since its foundation, SAMIT Event Group has held the aim of helping to turn the UAE into a global hub for cultural initiatives, equal in stature to any of the major cities of Europe, America and beyond. More so than with any of our projects, the InClassica International Music Festival has been closely intertwined with this mission from the very beginning, setting the standard for large-scale classical music entertainment in the Middle East and announcing to the international community that Dubai has now joined the ranks of the world’s premier music capitals.

When we first brought InClassica to the UAE in 2020, one of the primary goals was to prove to the world that classical music does indeed have a place within the Middle East. Since we were the first organisation to ever attempt to hold a festival of such scope in Dubai, the preparation for this event involved the creation of various collaborations within the UAE and all around the world, as we embarked upon an international campaign that introduced the country as a cultural destination to many classical music lovers for the first time.

Such was the success of this endeavour among audiences, artists, and critics alike that the festival has continued to return to the UAE thanks to popular demand, and in fact, just a few short weeks ago, we had the honour of once again hosting InClassica in Dubai, this time marking its 12th anniversary edition with a month-long series of symphonic, chamber and recital concerts held at some of the city’s most spectacular venues between February 12 to March 10.

InClassica 2023 was met with a very different Dubai from that we had found when we started on this journey more than three years ago. Thanks to the achievements of the festival itself, as well as other cultural initiatives which are being spearheaded by SAMIT, audiences in the Middle East have now become used to classical music concerts being organised in their midst, while artists and music fans living abroad are no longer surprised to see such events taking place in this part of the world. The festival itself remains the largest event of its kind to be held within this region, but this is no longer enough for us, since these changing conditions also brought about a shift in priorities. After all, whereas InClassica 2020 showcased the potential for a classical music sector within the UAE, this year’s festival has proven just how vast that potential truly is and that classical music can easily become one of the chief pillars of the nation’s wider cultural industry.

In fact, with its international roster of talent featuring dozens of multiple-award-winning musicians hailing from more than 20 different countries, InClassica has, on its own, heavily influenced the UAE’s cultural tourism market, attracting hundreds of audience members from all four corners of the globe over the course of its duration. As the festival continues to grow in size and renown, these numbers are only becoming bigger, as past attendees return and bring with them new converts ready and eager to experience all that this burgeoning field has to offer.

The story of InClassica is, of course, just the beginning. Perhaps the most exciting thing about the festival is that there is still so much room for it to flourish over the coming few years, and we at SAMIT are determined to ensure that each new edition raises the bar even further so as to attract larger numbers to the UAE. More important than InClassica itself, however, is the impact that this festival has had, and continues to have, on this nation and its cultural community.

Concurrently, there are also a number of more intimate and exclusive enterprises, such as the VIP Classical initiative, a private concert series organised on a monthly basis at Dubai Opera which seeks to build an exclusive community of cultural lovers and cultivate an ongoing interest in this sector throughout Dubai. It is through such events as these that we may ensure that this flame which we have managed to ignite will shine brighter every year, to the ultimate benefit of both the UAE itself, as well as countless future generations who may continue to celebrate and bask in the beauty of our shared global heritage for decades to come.