ON THE MOON: The young musicians with Sonja Park of the Moving Young Artists. Photo by the author
By Anand Holla
On Saturday evening, the warm ambience at Paper Moon, Doha’s signature Italian restaurant, had gained an additional tone or two of pleasantness. Eight bright young musical talents performed the choicest of Western Classical pieces as patrons dined and cheered to the train of melodies.
With the Moving Young Artists (MYA) and Paper Moon Doha having partnered up to create a platform to support local talents in the pursuit of their artistic potential in a casual, chic setting, the delightful live performances of musical prodigies from all across Doha seem to be as much a welcome enhancement to the fine dining experience as a cultural step forward for the city.
The first session of the series took place on November 29 with five local talents, and like Saturday, these sessions will be now held every month at Paper Moon, located in the new Jaidah Square building.
MYA is a non-profit foundation that reaches out to sponsors, partners, organisations, peers and volunteers in Qatar, “in order to create opportunities for music to be the motor for individual and collective change and exchange.”
Pianist Sonja Park and her musician husband Joris Laenen are the founders of MYA, which aspires to develop music education programmes for children, and also find, support and encourage local talent.
As they put it: “Out of the desire to inspire a deep love and knowledge of music within the Qatari community, MYA kick-started a cultural development programme to promote the transformative powers of music, the value of creativity through playing music, and an appreciation of cultural diversity.”
In keeping with this spirit, Saturday evening kicked off with a moving performance by Sonja’s seven-year-old daughter Mia Park-Torchinsky, who played Prelude in C-minor by Bach and Study in A-minor ‘Irrlichter’ by Shytte.
In no time, the richness of the compositions had flooded the easy atmosphere of the restaurant, effortlessly drawing the attention of the diners to the centre. 12-year-old Anna Zaffagni on violin accompanied by Lilya Bekirova and Sara Zaffagni, performed the pieces Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni, and Trad. Klezmer Congratulations to the Bridegroom and Bride.
While Lili Sztankov, 11, took to the piano to pull off a nice Mazurka in B-flat Major by Chopin, 10-year-old Tricia Ng accompanied by nine-year-old Nicole Ng presented a fabulous Meditation by Thais. Nicole, on the piano, charmed with a couple of pieces, too.
Lizzi Dijkstra, 15, performed the first movement of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata and even sang and played along her original composition His Song, the melody of which sounded like a neat prequel to Adele’s Someone Like You.
The evening ended with David Sztankov, 14, performing the first movement of Morceau de concert op 94 by Saint-Saens, on the French Horn.
