DOHA: The Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra (QPO) will feature in 64 public performances including 58 unique programmes for the 2012-2013 season.
Highlights include the complete cycle of symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven conducted by James Gaffigan, Mahler’s massive Second Symphony and the complete cycle of symphonies of Johannes Brahms conducted by Michalis Economou.
On November 2 a one-day music festival will offer no fewer than nine separate performances. The Philharmonic will perform the world premieres of Marcel Khalife’s Kanoun Concerto, H Tura’s Clarinet Concerto and Jean-Charles Gandrille’s Double Concerto for Organ, Piano and Orchestra.
Music director Michalis Economou will share the podium with such conductors as Marc Minkowski, Dmitri Kitajenko, James Gaffigan and Han-Na Chang.
The Philharmonic will also perform a dozen concerts for schoolchildren, in both Arabic and English. The new season opens tonight with Egyptian composer Gamal Abdel-Rahim’s Jubilant Dance, then continues with soloist Dmitris Sgouros in Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto. Music director Michalis Economou conducts the programme, which concludes with Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony.
In the following week the orchestra performs Khachatur Avetisyan’s Concerto for Oud. Compositions by Doha-based composers MAias Alyamani and Issa Boulos will be performed, as well as Charara’s Oud Concerto. Saxophonist Vincent Daoud and soprano Oumeima El Khalil will also be guest artists.
Last year the Qatar Philharmonic expanded its chamber music series, and this year it extends its activity to a free series at the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA).
Starting October 4, every first Thursday of the month at 6pm a Philharmonic ensemble will play in the atrium of MIA. Violinist MAias Alyamani and his MAqam Ensemble will open the series with their contemporary take on Arabic musical idioms.
Executive director Kurt Meister says, “We’re delighted to join with the Museum of Islamic Arts. We build bridges between Arabic and western musical culture in our mission to Qatar and the world. Here we’re building a bridge between music and art.”
The complete programme for the season is available at qatarphilharmonicorchestra.org.
The Peninsula
