July 18, 2008

By By Hazel Davis, Manchester

Twenty-year-old British violin sensation Chloe Hanslip needs a new violin and is appealing to rich benefactors to help her get it.

The purpose-formed Chloe Hanslip Violin Trust -- backed by Welsh tenor Bryn Terfel -- is trying to raise ?1.5 million ($2.9 million) for a top-of-the-range instrument for the player's exclusive use.

The trust is looking for investors willing to pay around ?50,000 ($100,000) to ?100,000 ($200,000), in return for a share in the trust and helping to secure a long-term loan of a world-class instrument.

Hanslip -- who was signed to Warner Classics at the age of 12 -- has performed with a number of different instruments over the years, mostly on a short-term loan basis.

She told Billboard.biz, "It is absolutely vital for my music and my career to secure an outstanding instrument as soon as possible. Violins are wonderful investments and I so hope it will be possible to find generous benefactors to help my cause."

Hanslip releases her third album on the Naxos label in September.

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