By the rhythmic crescendo and the fervent tempo of Lustre, the last piece of the evening, one could swear to have experienced the whole gamut of moods and emotions that the music of Dana Alfardan seeks to stir up.
The art-splattered insides of the acoustically rich Anima Gallery, The Pearl, was the choice of venue for the choicest of audience — a long list of dignitaries and Doha’s upper crest. For top Qatari composer and songwriter Dana Alfardan, debuting her latest album, Sandstorm, had to be done in fine style and finer grace. Enter The Doha String Quartet & Friends featuring maverick Syrian solo violinist MAias Alyamani, delivering a tour de force of an instrumental concert on Monday evening, much to the cheering audience’s delight.
All 11 songs from Sandstorm have been composed by Dana Alfardan, who was understandably thrilled by the performance. Right after the show, Dana told Community, “I spent the past two years compiling this material; all the songs and arrangements. My entire life I have wanted to get into classical music, but I have never been classically trained. So, obviously, for me to be able to showcase the entire content of my upcoming classical crossover album, and to actually see the joy on the people responding to it is mind-blowing.”
The 11 tracks that the ensemble played were The Beginning, River Dance, Pride of a Nation, Sandstorm, Music Box, Spirit of Thunder, Tango Swing, Etat D’Ame, Layla, Distance, and Lustre, featuring MAias Aylamani. Standout tracks on the album include Pride of a Nation, a musical tribute to Qatar, which is a great source of pride for Dana; and Music Box, which is inspired by the magical, haunting and nostalgic quality of music boxes, and successfully translates both the simplicity and purity of that sound.
Then there’s Spirit of Thunder, a song that “captures the emotional storm before the calm” and is characterised by light, hope and growth; and Layla, Dana’s musical ode to her adorable little daughter, who she regards as her greatest inspiration. 
“Sandstorm is a very personal album with every single one of the songs being of significance to me. I am thrilled with the results and the overwhelmingly positive reaction from this evening’s audience,” Dana said, “Since the band has spent the past week recording this album, which is set to release around a month from now, and rehearsing the material and tightening it up, the show worked out wonderfully.” While Dana is the composer of the record, Tim Baxter is the musical director.
It’s the collective verve of The Doha String Quartet & Friends that brought out the essence of Sandstorm in all its soothing tonal glory. Dana said she knew the show would be a success as she has worked with the Quartet on a lot of occasions. 
“Since I did the show with QPO in February, they have been a part of our journey. Now they understand exactly where the vibe is at and they bring their own character to it. Like with Tango Swing, I was completely taken aback by how the lead violinst took the lead, sped up the tempo, and brought a new spirit and character to the piece,” Dana pointed out.
The Doha String Quartet was founded by Nina Heidenreich, violin; Dmitri Torchinsky, violin; Andrea Mereutza, viola; and Christoph Schmitz, cello — all are part of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra. The group was quick to establish itself as one of the premium quality groups in GCC, and has performed at nearly every stage and venue in Qatar as well as further afield. The Quartet’s repertoire ranges from early baroque through to compositions of the modern day, and the group frequently collaborates with other musicians on projects that include the full range of activities from CD recordings and Opera House recital evenings through to corporate entertainment bookings, company dinners and product launches.
Aylamani said, “Dana composed Lustre and I arranged it. It’s our first collaboration and it was a fantastic experience. I hope to do more of such collaborations in the future because we share good work chemistry. As for the concert, it was great to have an involved audience such as this, as we musicians feed off their energy during a performance and vice versa.”
Ignacio Escobar, Ambassador of Spain to Qatar, who was one of the guests at the show, said, “Attending a concert by Dana in this environment is actually like being transported to some other place. You don’t think you are in Qatar anymore. Besides, the combination of music and modern art is impressive.”
Escobar finds originality to be the most admirable trait in Alfardan. “It’s very rare to have a person with so many different artistic qualities. I appreciate the value of what Dana is doing as at the end of the day, she is representing her country, Qatar,” Escobar said, “The music she has composed has a lot of local Arabic flavour and when it blended with classical music performers from the Quartet, who are part of one of the best orchestras in the world, and Aylamani’s violions, the result was incredible.” For Escobar, the music was reminiscent “of tango with local flavours, and swing, blues and jazz played with classical instruments”.
Dana, who is also the CEO of DNA Records, the first Qatari record label, admits that her music belongs to a difficult genre when it comes to promoting it. “How many people are really into classical music? So I try to make my music as listener-friendly as possible. I have succeeded in that,” she said. Meanwhile, Sandstorm will be available for download towards the end of May.
Of all the post-show compliments Dana was heaped with, she found the one likening her music to a movie score the most. “I have always wanted to have my music in films,” she says, smiling, “And a lot of people told me that this music took them to a different place. ‘I can imagine this in a film’, they said. I was really thrilled to hear that.”