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Ailyn Agonia
DOHA
Bridging cultures of the East and the West, Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra (QPO) performed a variety of Qatari and American compositions during a public concert held on Saturday at the Katara Opera House to start the rich line-up of programme for the Qatar-USA 2021 Year of Culture.
The concert was hosted by Qatar Museums (QM) and the US Embassy in Doha. It was led by Joo Young Oh, the recently appointed Concertmaster of the QPO, and featured the US Air Forces Central Band (AFCENT Band) with Airman First Class Julie Keough in the lead vocals.
As a fitting start to a tuneful evening, AFCENT Band performed John Denver’s widely recognised signature song ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ which had many in the audience singing and swaying along with the six-man band.
It was followed by the world premiere of the video collaboration between renowned Qatari singer and songwriter Dana Al Fardan, AFCENT Band and the Qatar Concert Choir featuring the song ‘Rising’. The production was esspecially made for the year-long cultural programme which will celebrate the longstanding ties and bonds of friendship between Qatar and the US.
QPO enthralled the crowd with a rich repertoire including the Aaron Copland composition ‘Fanfare for the Common Man’ which was commissioned after the Pearl Harbor attack and premiered by the Cincinnati Symphony and James Horner’s megahit musical score for the film Titanic, ‘My Heart Will Go On’.
Also in the line-up was ‘Lullaby’ and the English language opera ‘Porgy and Bess Suite’ by American composer George Gershwin and Samuel Barber’s ‘Adagio for Strings’.
A highlight of the concert was QPO’s rendition of the musical piece ‘Al Haneen’ by Nasser Sahim Nasseb. The mixture of Eastern and Western classical music, according to Nasseb, was inspired by QPO’s western music and in collaboration with the vision of Qatar Foundation to develop the community in Qatar through the QPO.
To cap the memorable evening off, the group performed ‘Tonight’ from the 1957 musical ‘West Side Story’ with music written by Leonard Bernstein, and the composition of Dana al Fardan titled ‘Spirit of Thunder’ which is charaterised by light, hope and growth.
The concert which had an encore show later in the day was held in strict compliance with health and safety protocols.
DOHA
Bridging cultures of the East and the West, Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra (QPO) performed a variety of Qatari and American compositions during a public concert held on Saturday at the Katara Opera House to start the rich line-up of programme for the Qatar-USA 2021 Year of Culture.
The concert was hosted by Qatar Museums (QM) and the US Embassy in Doha. It was led by Joo Young Oh, the recently appointed Concertmaster of the QPO, and featured the US Air Forces Central Band (AFCENT Band) with Airman First Class Julie Keough in the lead vocals.
As a fitting start to a tuneful evening, AFCENT Band performed John Denver’s widely recognised signature song ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’ which had many in the audience singing and swaying along with the six-man band.
It was followed by the world premiere of the video collaboration between renowned Qatari singer and songwriter Dana Al Fardan, AFCENT Band and the Qatar Concert Choir featuring the song ‘Rising’. The production was esspecially made for the year-long cultural programme which will celebrate the longstanding ties and bonds of friendship between Qatar and the US.
QPO enthralled the crowd with a rich repertoire including the Aaron Copland composition ‘Fanfare for the Common Man’ which was commissioned after the Pearl Harbor attack and premiered by the Cincinnati Symphony and James Horner’s megahit musical score for the film Titanic, ‘My Heart Will Go On’.
Also in the line-up was ‘Lullaby’ and the English language opera ‘Porgy and Bess Suite’ by American composer George Gershwin and Samuel Barber’s ‘Adagio for Strings’.
A highlight of the concert was QPO’s rendition of the musical piece ‘Al Haneen’ by Nasser Sahim Nasseb. The mixture of Eastern and Western classical music, according to Nasseb, was inspired by QPO’s western music and in collaboration with the vision of Qatar Foundation to develop the community in Qatar through the QPO.
To cap the memorable evening off, the group performed ‘Tonight’ from the 1957 musical ‘West Side Story’ with music written by Leonard Bernstein, and the composition of Dana al Fardan titled ‘Spirit of Thunder’ which is charaterised by light, hope and growth.
The concert which had an encore show later in the day was held in strict compliance with health and safety protocols.
