Past event — This event ended 12 days ago.
To This Land, We Belong Emirati Creations: World Premiere
About the event
In Partnership with Dubai Opera
The Concert
Season Two, Symphony On… And The Journey Continues with three new Emirati compositions, heard in public for the first time.
To This Land, We Belong; invites audiences into a musical journey through the UAE: from its story and landscapes, to the traditions, memories and ideas that continue to shape the country today.
Each composer approaches that story differently. Together, they create an opening concert rooted in Emirati heritage, alive to the present and open to what comes next.
The Music
Khalid Nassir opens the programme with First Journey, a six-part movement & orchestral work, inspired by moments of passion, departure, discovery and return, as the music reflects on the experiences and ideas that shaped the nation’s beginnings.
Ali Kano turns to the landscapes and musical traditions of the Emirates, through ‘Homeland Melodies’, his concerto, bringing arabic instruments into conversation with the Orchestra. An Emirati sound heard afresh within a contemporary orchestral setting.
The final work, by composer Fayez Al Saeed, brings Orchestra, Choir and poetry together. Featuring Emirati poet Arif Al Khajah’s ‘Lightning, Thunder & Longing’, the piece moves between memory and the present, tracing how identity and belonging are carried forward through time.
Because the sound of belonging is never finished. It is something we inherit, something we make our own, and something we leave for the future. It is our sound, and it is always on.
The Performers
Conducted by Ahmed Farag, the UAE National Orchestra and Choir come together for the first performances of these three new Emirati works and the opening of Season Two.
With the full force of the Orchestra and Choir on stage, this is a chance to experience three Emirati world premieres at the moment they enter the repertoire: live, powerful and shared with the audience for the first time.
