MUMBAI: Renowned sitar player and composer Anoushka Shankar will perform at the Abu Dhabi Festival to commence from 11 March till 6 April 2012.
Shankar will be performing music from her latest album â€?Traveller’ offering an evening of Raga-Flamenco music featuring pieces from the world-renowned artists’ first CD on Deutsche Grammophon. Having learned the sitar from the world music legend, her father Ravi Shankar, she is now one of the most respected players of the Indian instrument.
With a focus on classical music, theatre, performing arts, jazz, ballet and fine arts, the ninth edition of the festival will be held under the banner ‘Connecting Cultures’ with 18 countries participating in 168 events at 34 venues across all Emirates.
The other line-up of world-leading artistic talent includes Natalie Cole (daughter of legendary American jazz singer Nat King Cole), and solo violinist Maxim Vengerov alongside the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by internationally acclaimed Maestro Yuri Temirkanov. From Germany, the ballet La Bayadere will be performed by SemperOper, having first been brought to stage in 1877 by the Imperial Ballet, Russia.
Also joining Shankar and Cole in the main programme is Lebanese pop singer Fadel Shaker, performing a tribute to Arabic music legends from Umm Kalthoum and Najat to Sabah and Farid Al Attrash. �Nasser Shamma & talented ensemble of musicians from Italy, Spain, USA, Greece and Colombia will perform a repertoire specially commissioned for the Abu Dhabi Festival.
The BBC Philharmonic Maestro will offer a unique interactive musical experience for children while the sensory show, Oily Cart – â€?Drum’, is specifically designed for babies and toddlers.
The Royal Opera House, London will host the Arab world premiere of ‘Beloved Friend’ telling the story of the Russian composer Tchaikovsky and his patron Nadezdha von Meck.
The fest will also host topical issues in culture and the arts through â€?Riwaq Al Fikr/The Festival Debates’. Riwaq Al Fikr will also commemorate and explore the legacy of the late Walid Gholmieh, the eminent composer and conductor. In recognition of his lifetimes work and tireless support of ADMAF and its initiatives over the last 15 years, in addition to his contribution to the cultural and artistic landscape of the region, Gholmieh will receive the 2012 Abu Dhabi Festival Award.
The Abu Dhabi Festival is organised by the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF).
Speaking at the launch of the Festival’s latest edition, Abu Dhabi Festival founder and artistic director Hoda I Al Khamis Kanoo said, The Abu Dhabi Festival 2012, under the theme of â€?Connecting Cultures’, marks the ninth edition. What makes this edition of the Abu Dhabi Festival particularly special is that it will not only enable us to look forward to a future filled with unlimited creative possibilities, but it will also help us look back and learn from the lessons of the past. The Festival this year consolidates its determination to realise the vision of the UAE; that being bilateral relations and cultural understanding that embraces the world….