Qatar Primary School Choir competition announces Dana al-Fardan as ambassador

Qatar Primary School Choir of the Year (QPSCoY) has announced Qatari composer Dana al-Fardan as its ambassador. Dana al-Fardan is also the founder and CEO of DNA Records, the first record label to be established in Qatar. DNA Records is now one of the major sponsors of this competition, which has been created by Doha College to celebrate music amongst primary children across Qatar.
QPSCoY has also said that Dana has agreed to compose a short piece especially for this year’s competition, which will be sung by all choirs competing in the final.
The Qatar Primary School Choir of the Year competition was officially launched at the Shangri-La Hotel Doha in December 2016. Shangri-La Hotel is the official hotel partner for the competition and will host many of the heats and the final.
The committee of Qatar’s inaugural primary school singing competition met with Dana al-Fardan last week to discuss her new role as ambassador and were “thrilled with her positivity and commitment to the cause”.
Al-Fardan said: “I want children to grow up in an environment where they are taught about music. It means so much to me… We have so much talent in Qatar… Qatar should be a hub, a producer of talent which then radiates worldwide. I will do anything at all to help the competition.”
When speaking about the opportunity that the competition presents to school children in Qatar, she also reflected on choral events she attended as a child in Doha: “They were the highlight of our year, we all absolutely loved performing at them and were so excited to go.”
2016 saw Dana and DNA records release her latest album Sandstorm, available to buy on iTunes, and also one of her compositions, The Beginning, being performed by members of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra for Hamad International Airport.
Dana’s previous albums, also available on iTunes, are Paint and Layla. DNA Records also released Ryan O’Reilly’s Northern Line, which debuted at number 22 on iTunes’ ‘Germany Folk’ category. Dana currently has a number of tantalising projects in the pipeline, including short film scores.
Alison Keane, Head of Primary Music at Doha College, said at the competition’s launch in December: “Many schools organise choirs as an after-school activity. Singing in a group offers many benefits enhancing children’s confidence, listening skills, develops a team spirit, and above all is great fun.”
Speaking about the competition, she added: “Participation is key, schools need not worry about whether their choir is established or newly formed to compete in the event. It’s about the children having fun singing, meeting children from other schools who also love to sing, and learning from the experience.”
Doha College is inviting primary schools from a breadth of nationalities to enter the competition, which will hold heats in March, with the final in May 2017 at Shangri-La, Doha.
The closing date is January 26.
Schools should apply via the Doha College website: dohacollege.com/primary-choir where further information on the competition is available.