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Tribune News Network
Doha
Music lovers who relocate from their home country often wonder if they will be able to find the necessary inspiration and avenues to hone their talents abroad. Fortunately, when they arrive in Qatar, they are pleased to discover the array of music classes and concerts on offer across Doha, throughout the year.
Qatar’s music landscape – be it Arabic, Western or contemporary – has evolved over the last decade and Qatar Foundation’s (QF) efforts to enhance diversity by offering initiatives that benefit people from the community, such as music training or concerts, have contributed to this evolution.
In 2008, in order to establish the nation’s first official orchestra – Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra –QF invited some of the best musicians in the world to make Qatar their home.
QF followed this up in 2011 by establishing a state-of-the-art music school, Qatar Music Academy (QMA), to teach music to members of the community.
Since then, both QF members have played key roles in staging world-class performances and providing high-calibre music training right in Qatar.
With courses offering both one-to-one and group tutoring in 22 instruments and Arabic and Western vocal training, QMA attracts both schoolchildren and adults from different nationalities as its students.
Currently, the staff and student body at QMA collectively represents over 50 countries.
Dr Ozgur Mert Esen, head of Western Music at QMA, has been teaching piano since the academy started and believes diversity is crucial to the development of a country’s musical fabric, whether through training or performances.
“When students and staff from various nationalities get together to perform, each person brings their own unique touch, their individual interpretation to the way each instrument is played,” he said. “And yet, when we perform in a concert, there is perfect harmony and synchronisation. So, the more diverse the backgrounds of our musicians, the better the performance.”
As both Arabic and Western music classrooms are housed in the same facility at QMA at the heart of the Cultural Village Foundation (Katara), students are naturally immersed in both music traditions.
“Music’s capacity to bridge cultures in a way that no other art form can is reflected in the increasing number of students from non-Arab countries showing interest in Arabic music,” said Yassine Ayari, head of Arabic Music at QMA. “We have over 30 non-Arab students studying traditional Arabic music instruments, such as thenay, a reed flute and the oud, a string instrument that resembles the guitar.
“These students are carrying our message of music abroad. For instance, Nadir Abdul Salam, an Indian student who studied Arabic music at QMA for six years, recently performed at the opening ceremony of the 7th Muslim World Biz Conference in Malaysia.”
QF’s commitment to bringing the best in music education to the public goes beyond the classrooms of QMA. It provides aspiring musicians with access to world-class venues, such as Qatar National Convention Centre and the amphitheatre at Katara, giving them a taste of performing in public.
Besides, once in a year, the students get a chance to perform with musicians from Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra – 17 of whose musicians teach at QMA – at a concert where ensembles and soloists from QMA take centre stage.
The diversity of nationalities in Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra mirrors that of QMA and has contributed to its increasing popularity. It has staged an array of memorable performances, including concerts at prominent venues such as the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the US; the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in Paris, France; and the Royal Albert Hall in London, the UK, for the BBC Proms.
QPO’s high rate of retainment – around 80 percent of its 95 musicians have been part of it since it was first established – contributes to its success. It also evidences QF’s commitment towards providing people, irrespective of nationality or background, access to first-rate infrastructure and resources for their personal and professional development in Qatar.
Kurt Meister, QPO executive director, helped found the initiative at the behest of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, chairperson of Qatar Foundation.
He has personally seen the positive impact of QF’s initiatives to encourage diversity in all things music – performances, teaching and appreciation – extend from Qatar to the world.
Meister recalls how, a year after the blockade, when Qatar wanted to show the world that it was as inclusive and welcoming as ever to people from different cultures, it did so through music; in July 2018, at the VII Saint Petersburg International Cultural Forum, Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra held a concert titled ‘28’ – representing the 28 nationalities that make up the orchestra.
The concert, held in connection with the Russia Qatar 2018 Year of Culture, saw the orchestra’s musicians perform the national anthems of Russia and Qatar – with a twist. The two anthems were combined together, with the renowned Qatari singer Fahad al Kubaisi and a Russian soprano singing the Arabic and Russian lyrics respectively.
“For the past decade, Qatar Foundation has been using the plethora of music talent in Qatar to speak to the world without saying a word,” Meister said.
“It has reached a point where, after a Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra performance abroad, members of the audience approach me saying that they are amazed at the way Qatar has embraced diversity in music to the extent that the country now has a world-class orchestra in Doha. Each time, my response is the same – Qatar is capable of this and much more,” he said.
Doha
Music lovers who relocate from their home country often wonder if they will be able to find the necessary inspiration and avenues to hone their talents abroad. Fortunately, when they arrive in Qatar, they are pleased to discover the array of music classes and concerts on offer across Doha, throughout the year.
Qatar’s music landscape – be it Arabic, Western or contemporary – has evolved over the last decade and Qatar Foundation’s (QF) efforts to enhance diversity by offering initiatives that benefit people from the community, such as music training or concerts, have contributed to this evolution.
In 2008, in order to establish the nation’s first official orchestra – Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra –QF invited some of the best musicians in the world to make Qatar their home.
QF followed this up in 2011 by establishing a state-of-the-art music school, Qatar Music Academy (QMA), to teach music to members of the community.
Since then, both QF members have played key roles in staging world-class performances and providing high-calibre music training right in Qatar.
With courses offering both one-to-one and group tutoring in 22 instruments and Arabic and Western vocal training, QMA attracts both schoolchildren and adults from different nationalities as its students.
Currently, the staff and student body at QMA collectively represents over 50 countries.
Dr Ozgur Mert Esen, head of Western Music at QMA, has been teaching piano since the academy started and believes diversity is crucial to the development of a country’s musical fabric, whether through training or performances.
“When students and staff from various nationalities get together to perform, each person brings their own unique touch, their individual interpretation to the way each instrument is played,” he said. “And yet, when we perform in a concert, there is perfect harmony and synchronisation. So, the more diverse the backgrounds of our musicians, the better the performance.”
As both Arabic and Western music classrooms are housed in the same facility at QMA at the heart of the Cultural Village Foundation (Katara), students are naturally immersed in both music traditions.
“Music’s capacity to bridge cultures in a way that no other art form can is reflected in the increasing number of students from non-Arab countries showing interest in Arabic music,” said Yassine Ayari, head of Arabic Music at QMA. “We have over 30 non-Arab students studying traditional Arabic music instruments, such as thenay, a reed flute and the oud, a string instrument that resembles the guitar.
“These students are carrying our message of music abroad. For instance, Nadir Abdul Salam, an Indian student who studied Arabic music at QMA for six years, recently performed at the opening ceremony of the 7th Muslim World Biz Conference in Malaysia.”
QF’s commitment to bringing the best in music education to the public goes beyond the classrooms of QMA. It provides aspiring musicians with access to world-class venues, such as Qatar National Convention Centre and the amphitheatre at Katara, giving them a taste of performing in public.
Besides, once in a year, the students get a chance to perform with musicians from Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra – 17 of whose musicians teach at QMA – at a concert where ensembles and soloists from QMA take centre stage.
The diversity of nationalities in Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra mirrors that of QMA and has contributed to its increasing popularity. It has staged an array of memorable performances, including concerts at prominent venues such as the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the US; the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in Paris, France; and the Royal Albert Hall in London, the UK, for the BBC Proms.
QPO’s high rate of retainment – around 80 percent of its 95 musicians have been part of it since it was first established – contributes to its success. It also evidences QF’s commitment towards providing people, irrespective of nationality or background, access to first-rate infrastructure and resources for their personal and professional development in Qatar.
Kurt Meister, QPO executive director, helped found the initiative at the behest of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, chairperson of Qatar Foundation.
He has personally seen the positive impact of QF’s initiatives to encourage diversity in all things music – performances, teaching and appreciation – extend from Qatar to the world.
Meister recalls how, a year after the blockade, when Qatar wanted to show the world that it was as inclusive and welcoming as ever to people from different cultures, it did so through music; in July 2018, at the VII Saint Petersburg International Cultural Forum, Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra held a concert titled ‘28’ – representing the 28 nationalities that make up the orchestra.
The concert, held in connection with the Russia Qatar 2018 Year of Culture, saw the orchestra’s musicians perform the national anthems of Russia and Qatar – with a twist. The two anthems were combined together, with the renowned Qatari singer Fahad al Kubaisi and a Russian soprano singing the Arabic and Russian lyrics respectively.
“For the past decade, Qatar Foundation has been using the plethora of music talent in Qatar to speak to the world without saying a word,” Meister said.
“It has reached a point where, after a Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra performance abroad, members of the audience approach me saying that they are amazed at the way Qatar has embraced diversity in music to the extent that the country now has a world-class orchestra in Doha. Each time, my response is the same – Qatar is capable of this and much more,” he said.
