Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra (QPO), in partnership with the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) and Qatar Music Academy (QMA), is all set to organise Children’s and Family Festival at Katara. The festival will feature a series of concerts starting from January 25. This was announced recently during a press conference that was held at Drama Theatre Building 16 Katara.
The press conference was attended by notable personalities, including Kurt Meister, Executive Director QPO; Dr Abdul Ghafour al-Heeti, Management Director QMA; Dr Ozgur Mert Esen, Management Head of Western Music; Dr Ameena Hussain, Curator and Director of Programmes at WISE; Farah Abel, Partnerships and Policy Development Officer; MAias Alyamani, Violin II Sub-Principal QPO; Giovanni Pasini, Viola Principal, QPQ; and ACTory, a theatrical duo of Svetlana Schmitz and Tamara Schaefer.
The press conference featured a discussion about the importance and impact of music and education in building communities and enriching lives, announcing a series of concerts for children’s and family.
The festival will also feature local Qatari stories that are sure to engage all ages and highlight the importance and impact of music and education in building communities and enriching lives. The festival will premier Nour, A Girl of Desert at 5pm on January 25 at Katara Drama Theatre. The concert will feature music by MAias Alyamani and the story by Svetlana Schmitz. The orchestra will be conducted by MAias Alyamani. Nour, A Girl of Desert is story of a girl named Nour who lived in a desert and loved the sound of the oud. Her grandfather taught her to play the instrument, showing Nour how music can tell stories about desert life. Though her parents did not encourage her, Nour practiced a lot. One day, the family moved to a big city. An exciting adventure in this new world began.
The next family concert is called Nour, Anna and the Wise Fools. The concert will also take place at the Drama Theatre on January 29. The musical tells the story further. After moving from the desert to the big city, Nour finds a new friend named Anna. One day Nour visits her to play hide and seek in her house. Suddenly, at the attic they find boxes full of toys, clothes, old stuff and books. The books tell the stories about wise fools from old times, including Djuha, Till Eulenspiegel and Nasreddin Hodja. One lives in the west and the other two in the east.
Another concert is named as Peter and the Wolf. The concert will also be held at Katara Drama Theatre at 5pm on February 1. After the concert, there will be a workshop by WISE. Every month WISE partners with a local organisation or a thought-leader to collaborate on organising education related activities for the community. The objective of this programme – WISE Happenings – is to deliver impactful sessions and keep the local community engaged in the conversation of education year round. As the current global conversation around education has been saturated with an emphasis on science and technology, WISE in collaboration with QPO and local art teachers, aims to highlight art as a learning tool for youth and to exercise their creative muscles, often neglected in traditional learning environments. Through the art workshop, young students between the ages of 8 to 12 will be exploring the story of Peter and the Wolf through visuals and illustrations. The art pieces that they will create during the workshop will later compliment the musical performance of Peter and the Wolf by QPO, merging music and art as a means of story-telling.
Qatar Youth Orchestra (QYO) will perform with QPO at Katara Opera House at 7:30pm on February 2. QMA soloists and orchestra musicians will get a chance to perform with QPO masters. For several years, QPO and QMA have collaborated on concerts with students and musicians playing professional music. They have also been playing Arab instruments such qanun, nay, Arab percussion, and oud. Both organisations are aiming to develop young talent from the region to be the next generation of world-class musicians.
DISCUSSION: The press conference featured a discussion about the importance and impact of music and education in building communities and enriching lives, announcing a series of concerts for children and family. Photo by Jayan Orma
