It would be quite a task to pick a favourite from the glorious eight-concert-in-a-day Festival of Music that enthralled hundreds at the QNCC all through last Friday. However, the Qatar Music Academy (QMA) students joining the stellar talents of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra (QPO) on stage, both as soloists and as orchestra players, is unarguably the standout highlight of a most melodious day.
For the first time, the 45-minute collaboration witnessed the QMA students and the QPO perform together in a concert of Western and Arab classical music. The conductor of the landmark concert was Giovanni Pasini, the QPO’s Principal Viola and the QMA Youth Orchestra Conductor, and he also arranged the takht music for performance with the orchestra.
The QMA students played a range of instruments as orchestral players and soloists – Tricia Enlin Ng, violin; David Sztankov, horn; Sebastian Tia, piano; Talin Rimoun F Jouzi, qanun; Nader Abd al-Salam, oud; Lubna Hassanain, nay; Sami Bou Ghanem, percussion; and Chloe Adelaja, percussion – traversing the rich, layered symphonies of everything from Tchaikovsky to Haydn to Vivaldi to Brahms.
The QMA is organised into two programmes of study, covering Arab and Western Music, and the concert packed in recitals from both traditions. A student takht, the fundamental Arab music ensemble of five musicians, performed music compositions by Omar Farouk and Yassine Ayari, the Head of the Arab music department at the QMA. A combined orchestra of students and professionals presented music from sections of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio Italien and Johannes Brahms’s Hungarian Dances.
Bruce Robinson, Head of Communications, the QPO, told Community, “A decade ago there was no QPO. And there was no QMA. When they were formed, there was the idea that the QMA students would learn from Philharmonic musicians. On Friday, this was done in a big way.”
Anne-Marie Pignéguy, Head of Western Music, QMA, said, “It was a wonderful opportunity for the QMA students to rehearse and perform alongside members of the QPO. After the event, one of the QPO musicians wrote to me saying that she felt that she was playing alongside a colleague rather than a student. The level of confidence and professionalism exhibited by the students was incredible. The students really enjoyed playing music from different genres. It is always delightful for the QMA Youth Orchestra students to play with the students in the Arabic takht. I am also extremely proud of the three soloists who performed at such a high calibre. The concert was truly an inspirational afternoon of entertainment.”
Indeed, it was. Three student soloists enchanted the audience with their performances with the orchestra. Sebastian Tia played Joseph Haydn’s D Major piano concerto; David Sztankov appeared in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Third Horn concerto; and violinist Tricia Enlin Ng played Spring from Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.
Robinson said that all three solo performers were completely solid in their performance. “Pianist Sebastian Tia plays with joy, and projects the sound of the piano solo passages so that they are in balance with the orchestra – something not always done by professionals. The French horn is a famously temperamental instrument. But David Szantov played with total assurance. Tricia Enlin Ng’s performance of Vivaldi had it all – virtuoso passages and long lyrical melodies that created an idyllic mood, the pleasure of a spring day.”
Pasini explained to Community how the Friday concert is “the success story” of a joint venture between two Qatar Foundation entities who are now harvesting the fruit of a long-term cultural investment. “It is often forgotten that the seed of music needs years and years of feeding in order to grow and permeate the community. I think, in the concert, the QPO and the QMA achieved the goal that is at the core of the Foundation, unlocking the potential of these music students by bringing them on stage on a professional level. I am very happy to be part of this joyful success story of Qatar Foundation,” Pasini said.
For the young music students, this has been an unforgettable experience which they will carry forever in their best memories, feels Pasini. “Their dedication and practice brought music inside their families and circle of friends, and inspired some to seriously think of becoming professional musicians. When we started the youth orchestra less than two years ago, an event like this could only be a distant dream,” Pasini said.
The QMA says it is leading the renaissance of music within Qatar, and Friday’s concert could be ample proof of that claim. The QMA’s custom built campus is said to offer “an inspirational and creative environment in which world-class teachers and musicians transform young talents into the next generation of maestros”. As a note by the QMA on the Katara website says, “We believe that with music, students develop better language and reasoning skills. Learning to play and perform, they also develop greater concentration and confidence. Together, the myriad benefits of a musical education translate into academic excellence across the board. It has been proven. That’s why music is our path to nurturing young minds.”
For the big debut concert, the orchestra was designed in a way that every student would sit next to a QPO musician, in many cases their own teacher, explains Pasini. “My colleagues accepted with enthusiasm to be part of this project and really enjoyed passing on to the youngster their knowledge and passion. For many, including myself, it was also a way of remembering how we got into music in the first place. We all have in our past a similar experience that made us fall in love with music,” he said.
For Pasini, it was also important to make music with the Arabic department of the academy. “It is often said that music is a universal language capable of bringing people together, more than anything else. It was a challenge for me to arrange two Arabic pieces in a way that would blend with the western orchestra. And I hope we showed not only that it is possible, but also that it can beautiful,” Pasini said, “The large audience who attended the concert was the reward for all those days spent practicing and studying.”


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