Doha: The Qatar-MENASA 2022 Year of Culture announced yesterday the world premiere of The Desert Rose symphony will take place on Oct 30 as part of the 10-year anniversary celebration of the Years of Culture programme.
The commemorative symphony, commissioned by the Years of Culture, will be performed by the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra with Grammy-nominated guest conductor Alastair Willis, on the Baraha of the National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ).
The symphony, which celebrates Qatar’s culture and heritage, is composed by Malek Jandali, a prominent Syrian-American composer and pianist and Qatar Museum’s new honourary Composer-in-Residence. A public performance will be held on Oct 31 in the same location. Tickets for the performance are available at Qatar Creates website. The two concerts are part of Qatar Creates — the year-round national cultural movement that curates, promotes, and celebrates the diversity of cultural activities in Qatar; connecting resident and global audiences with Qatar’s creative industries.
The Desert Rose album features two world-class symphonies: Symphony No. 6 The Desert Rose and Symphony No. 4 for String Orchestra recorded under the helm of distinguished American conductor Marin Alsop with the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. It is now available on music streaming services and copies of the album are at all Qatar Museums gift shops.
The Desert Rose is inspired by nature’s desert rose, which form over millennia through the interaction of minerals, sand, and water in regions such as Qatar—a land of desert and sea. This wonder of nature is also the basis for Jean Nouvel’s spectacular design of NMoQ.
