By our correspondent

 

Preparations and arrangements for the Katara European Jazz Festival were revealed at a press conference organised by Katara.  

Ahmed  Alsayed, Deputy Manager of Operations in Katara, and the ambassadors of the five European countries, the Ambassador of France Eric Chevalier, the Ambassador of Germany Angelika Storz Charakja, the Ambassador of Italy Guido de Sanctis, the Ambassador of Switzerland Martin Ashbachr and Chargé d’affaires at Embassy of Austria in Qatar Sieglinde Fedele di Catrano, attended the press conference.

Alsayed said Katara is keen to communicate and collaborate with all the embassies in Qatar, to open important cultural and civilisational windows to introduce art and human creativity to different peoples.

He added: “Katara is spreading all kinds of musical culture, as we believe that the music is an international language with no limits … and this extraordinary festival involving five European countries is a platform for artistic creativity and musical expression.

“The festival presents European music, and provides a rare opportunity for all the musicians of Qatar to meet with European performers and discover European jazz music, as well as learning the various and diverse patterns.”

French Ambassador Eric Chevallier said the French jazz group of the well-known French percussionist Bertrand Renaudin, with his fellow-musicians Thierry Bonneaux on vibraphone, Jean-Louis Pommier on trombone and Yves Torchinsky on double bass, will be playing the group’s new opus called PLAY.

German Ambassador Angelika Storz Charakji said Germany will participate in the festival through the Jan Schneider Quartett. This jazz combo consists of professional musicians based in the cities of Cologne and Düsseldorf. Jan Schneider plays the trumpet and as band leader, he composed various of the pieces played. Other members are Ralf Gessler (drums), Sebastian Gahler (piano), and Nico Brandenburg (double bass).

Swiss Ambassador Martin Eshbakher said his country will participate in the Jazz Festival with a trio of independent and talented musicians, named “Alptraum”. Marco Käppeli, Nick Gutersohn and Jean-Jacques Pedretti create a “unique musical language” that captures elements taken from various traditions and cultures, Jazz and African atmospheres.

Italian Ambassador Guido De Sanctis introduced the Italian band which will include a jazz trio under the leadership of Stefano Battaglia, a musician whose most recent works take inspiration by classic and modern literature, and  Salvatore Maiore at the double base and Roberto Dani at drums.

Chargé d’affaires of Embassy of Austria in Qatar Sieglinde Fedele di Catrano introduced Mario Rom’s Interzone, a band formed out of a need to play music at the most basic and perhaps the only sensible way: Without any rules or forced complexity. She said that the group includes three of Austria’s most promising young musicians: Mario Rom, Lukas Kranzelbinder and Maximilian Andrzejewski.

The Katara European Jazz festival will be held at the courtyard located behind building 5 in Katara and will also know the screening of documentaries about jazz, as Katara considers this festival as the first step to establish a forum where the traditional European music is combined with the Arab music.

Some workshops will be organised by a group of international musicians in Qatar Music Academy (QMA), in collaboration with local music students, as they will have the opportunity to communicate and transfer their expertise to students of QMA, as this initiative will encourage creativity and stimulate inspiration in a multicultural learning environment, which reflects the message of Katara to introduce different cultures and build bridges of communication between peoples.

 

 

 

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