By Joseph Varghese/Staff Reporter


Katara - the Cultural Village will host the second edition of the Katara European Jazz Festival from October 28 to November 1.
Seven European countries will participate in the festival that will take place at the courtyard of Katara, Al Mizan behind building No5.  
The participating countries are Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Switzerland.
The details of the event were announced at a press conference held at Katara yesterday. Ambassadors of the participating countries along with Dr Kahlid bin Ibrahim al-Sulaiti, general manager of Katara, were present at the event.
Dr al-Sulaiti said: “The goal behind the Katara European Jazz Festival is to cement the presence of this annual international jazz festival and make Doha a hub that serves as a forum for international jazz artistic exchange between European and Arabic music traditions.”
Al-Sulaiti said this year’s event will be more entertaining than the previous one. He also said Spain and the Netherlands are the two new countries participating this year. The Paris-based Defense Conseil is the official partner of the French embassy and the Goethe Institut Gulf Region of Abu Dhabi is the official partner of the German embassy.
Charge d’Affaires at the Austrian embassy in Qatar, Sieglinde Fedele di Catrano, said “the festival will begin with the performance of an Austrian band on the 28th of this month. We encourage the public, especially the youth to come out in large numbers and enjoy the music. The opening programme will be followed by the performance of various jazz artists from all the participating countries.”
The festival is being held with the support of Qatar Music Academy (QMA). Workshops will be held for the QMA students during the event. The initiative, according to the organisers, will promote and encourage exchange of new techniques in an exciting multicultural environment.
The participating countries have displayed the ability to present some of the finest representatives of European Jazz music. They include Falb Fiction from Austria, Red & Black Light, Ibrahim Maalouf from France, Matthias Schriefl, Shreepunk Reloaded from Germany, Francesco Bearzatti Tinissima 4et from Italy, Michiel Borstlap from The Netherlands, Biel Ballester Trio from Spain and Albin Brun Alpin Ensemble from Switzerland.