Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra (QPO) has announced that is set to perform two new “large-scale” compositions this week. They include Rami Khalife’s ‘Stories’ for piano and orchestra, and Marcel Khalife’s third concerto for oud. 
David Niemann will conduct the performances, with Rami on piano and Kenan Adnawi on oud.
The concert will be performed on April 15 and 16 at Qatar National Convention Centre.  
Born in 1981 in Beirut, Rami has been called “a musician of extreme calibre and pure expression…a welcome experimental detour from the norm of today and in the relatively conformist world of classical composition.” Rami calls the seven tracks from ‘Stories’ “a series of soundscapes”. 
“Resistance blends techno with contemporary and a dash of romanticism…’Pulse, Life and Goose Bumps’ emerges as the pop song of the series…and ‘Steps on the Dance Floor’ is a DJ spinning turntables,” he said.
Unesco Artiste for Peace Marcel has renewed the character of the Arabic song, reformulating it in more than 30 albums, as well as writing music for both film and dance. In these concerts, he will sing two of his songs, ‘Ya Nassim el Rih’ and ‘Ya Bahriyyeh’, in new orchestral arrangements. 
Marcel is also set to perform his third oud concerto as another world premiere. Through his long career full of masterpieces for the oud, he has tried to set the instrument free from the strict techniques that traditionally governed it, greatly expanding its possibilities. 
Marcel has played a fundamental role in the establishment and development of QPO. The Arabian Concerto, which he composed specifically for its inaugural concert, was performed during the orchestra’s first international tours.  
“Due to extraordinary demand, no tickets remain available for either performance,” QPO said in a press statement yesterday. QPO is a member of Qatar Foundation.
More information about this and other concerts is available at qatarphilharmonicorchestra.org