The 12th edition of Abu Dhabi Festival (ADF), organised by Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (Admaf), will run from 3rd March to 2nd April, offering a series of concerts, theatre performances, art exhibitions and community events.
Among the highlights of the programme is a performance on 20th March by the Brazilian jazz player Sérgio Mendes, who will debut in the Middle East by playing his greatest hits accompanied by the hip hop rapper H2O in a mix of soul, funk, jazz and pop.
Italy is the country of honour for the 2015 edition, and on 25th March conductor Riccardo Muti will lead the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra from Piacenza and Ravenna, Italy, as well as the German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter in a performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto.
On 3rd March the South Korean pianist Ah Reum Ahn will perform, while pianist Julien Libeer will play on 13th March and the Dominican violinist Aisha Syed Castro on 17th March – all headliners in a series of recitals by young classical music laureates.
On 23rd March Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez will perform ‘A Night at the Opera’ with the Grammy-nominated Budapest Festival Orchestra, conducted by Gábor Takács-Nagy from Hungary.
The Budapest Festival Orchestra, conducted by Iván Fischer, will perform on three additional nights. On 26th March it will perform with the Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 5, and on 28th and 30th March it will stage Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute’.
On 24th March, pianist Jan Lisiecki will perform one of Chopin’s études – a short, difficult instrumental composition – while Lebanese-American singer Mayssa Karaa – with British singer songwriter Marcus Nand as a special guest – will perform at the final concert on 2nd April.
The festival’s programme also includes visual art displays at Emirates Palace Gallery, such as two new commissions by Emirati painters Fatma Lootah and Noor Al Suqaidi, and a photography exhibition called ‘View From Inside’, a debut for the region.
Proceedings from the festival will support the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The main body of the art and music festival is held at Emirates Palace but a performance entitled ‘Othello: The Remix’ by the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre on 5th March is at Abu Dhabi Theatre on the breakwater.
Tickets for the various events range from AED 37 to AED 455.
For more information contact: 02 333 6400 [email protected]
www.abudhabifestival.ae
