AT the age when most little girls were playing with dolls, four-year-old Chloe Hanslip was playing the violin at London's Purcell Room.

"My group was doing a concert and I had two solo pieces," she says matter-of-factly.

By the age of ten, she had played in the Royal Albert Hall and Carnegie Hall in New York. Four days before her 14th birthday, her debut album was released, going straight to number two in the classical chart.

Now Chloe, who'll be 16 at the end of September, is making her North-East concert debut at a major fund-raising event at Seaham Hall Hotel, Seaham, County Durham, next month.

The concert has been organised by the Sunny Land Foundation, which is raising funds with the Children's Hope Foundation. "This is the first concert I've done for this particular foundation, but I love to help charities," says Chloe.

She's fitting the date into a busy schedule, something that's evident from the list of places she mentions that feature in her current timetable - Milan, Cardiff, London, New York, Kuala Lumpur and Borneo.

Juggling a career and her normal studies hasn't proved difficult. "I have a private tutor at home, so there's no problem there," she says. "I took my GCSEs around my violin performing, so that was OK too."

Young Chloe first showed an interest in music after watching her sister practising on the piano at home. "As soon as I could walk, I would go to the piano and pick out the notes she'd been playing with one finger. Then my parents started me on the violin," she recalls.

No one else in the family plays that instrument, although her 90-year-old grandmother still teaches piano. There was a time, when she was about six, that she wanted to play the cello. Her size ruled it out - "I'm too small, I've just reached 5ft now," she says.

At five, she performed for legendary violinist Yehudi Menhuin. Too young to attend his school, she began private lessons with one of the top teachers. Before her age reached double figures, she'd played most of the major concert halls in England and Europe.

In 1995, she began studying in Germany, living there with her mother for three years.

"I love travel because I get to meet new people, see different countries and learn about different things," she says. "I speak four languages, with German as my second language."

Now she's based in England, with concerts for royalty and musical prizes to her credit. Despite the amount she's achieved so far, she has plenty of unfulfilled ambitions. She's particularly looking forward to playing in her first BBC Prom, hopefully next year. After her second CD met with critical and public approval, a third CD is due for release soon.

The Seaham Hall fund-raiser, Symphony By The Sea, is being staged outdoors on a specially-built stage in the grounds.

The young violinist, who recently won a Classical Brit Award, will join the English Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by David Haslam, in a programme of classical favourites including Liberty Bell, Jerusalem and Pomp And Circumstance. The night will also feature music by Wagner, Strauss, Bernstein and Lehar, ending with a fireworks display.

Chloe doesn't feel she's missed out on a so-called ordinary childhood by pursuing her musical ambitions. "I have a lot of friends in Germany, Switzerland and Spain as well as England," she says.

"The majority of my close friends are violinists because we all stay in the same class. And I love reading, swimming, skiing and all the normal things - and shopping."

Not that she's been spending her earnings. They've been safely banked and, like a lot of other youngsters, she gets regular pocket money.

Tickets for the event on August 2 are £20 for adults, £10 for children and £50 for a family ticket (for two adults and three children). Parties of ten receive the tenth ticket free.

Tickets and further information from the booking line (0191) 4210581.

l COMPETITION

The Northern Echo has a pair of tickets for the picnic area at the Symphony By The Sea event for each of the five winners of a competition. To enter: name the country in which Yehudi Menuhin was born.

Send your answer, together with your name, address and telephone number, to Symphony competition, Features Dept, The Northern Echo, Priestgate, Darlington DL1 1NF. The closing date is July 26