IT WAS a depressing, wet Friday afternoon and my mood was feeling very similar to the weather.

I sat down to talk to the young violinist Chlo Hanslip and suddenly the world became a happier place.

Chlo's enthusiasm for life and her music is so infectious that you can't help but feel happy just talking to her!

She is an amazingly talented young musician. She began playing the violin when she was two years old and performed her first concert when she was three, playing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

At five years old she played to Yehudi Menuin and her career was launched.

She still practises every day for up to six hours and plays a 1735 Guarneri "del Gesu" violin loaned to her by Ealing Strings.

She was the youngest artist ever to be signed to record for Warner Classics and made two very successful CDs with the company - and they continue to sell remarkably well. Unfortunately, the contract ended, but talks with another record company are progressing well.

The last time I spoke to her was two years ago when she last came to play for Basingstoke Concert Club, so I started by catching up on what had been happening to her.

She made her highly-successful Wigmore Hall, London, debut in November 2002 and was invited back.

Luckily, Chlo loves travelling because this year she has been to Vienna, San Francisco, Berlin and Frankfurt.

She said: "I played my beloved Bruch's Violin Concerto at the Henley Festival - in fact, I have played this piece 54 times in the last two years!

"I was invited to play a recital on a five-mast sailing boat as it cruised for five days from Rome to Capri, and Liprani to Corfu - it was quite divine, and I'm very much looking forward to repeating the experience next summer."

She was also bowled over by Colorado and loved Lisbon, Helsinki and Majorca. Future trips include Belgrade and Beijing.

And after all this travelling, she went off to Hong Kong for a holiday and some retail therapy!

I remembered her telling me that she was longing to learn to drive - so, now she's 17, is there any progress there?

"I'm taking lessons in a Mini Cooper and planning to take my test in January - and, if I pass, I hope to buy myself a car just like the one I'm learning in."

Despite practising on her violin for up to six hours a day, Chlo still finds time to study. She already has two A-levels and a number of GCSEs and is planning to take Spanish and Italian at A-level next year - and maybe another GCSE.

All she has ever wanted to do is play the violin. She plays like an angel, but is also a charming and lively young lady who loves life.

She listens to pop music, loves shopping for the latest fashionable clothes and meeting up with friends for a meal.

Has she any advice for young musicians who would like to follow in her footsteps?

She says: "Believe in yourself, be dedicated, practise and enjoy what you are doing."

Chlo Hanslip will be playing alongside Roderick Chadwick on the piano for the Basingstoke Concert Club's next event, this Saturday, at Trinity Methodist Church in Sarum Hill, Basingstoke.

Roderick, who is in demand as an accompanist, frequently performs with ensembles such as CHROMA and the New Music Players, and has broadcast on Radio 3.

Tickets can be purchased from the Haymarket Theatre box office on 0870 770 1088 or are available on the door on the evening of the concert.

Under-18s and students under 22 get in for free, courtesy of the Cavatina Trust.