The Youth Orchestra is a brand-new platform for young musicians in the capital to express their talent in music, through educational programmes, rehearsals, and concerts throughout the year.
The Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi is collaborating with the International Music Institute one of the oldest institutes in the country, founded in 1994 to organise a programme open to all music students in the United Arab Emirates. The students who take part are selected through an audition process.
The selected students become members of the Abu Dhabi Youth Orchestra and join a programme consisting of free-of-charge weekly rehearsals and workshops led by highly qualified instructors. In addition, students have the opportunity to perform in concerts at prestigious venues. The first round of auditions opened in May 2022. Further auditions will be held in April and September 2023 to select more students to join the orchestra and the choir. Four performances by the Youth Orchestra are scheduled for 2023.
Date: 16 May 2023
Time: 7 PM
Venue: Cultural Foundation Auditorium, Abu Dhabi
PROGRAMME:
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1. Mascagni: Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana
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2. Bizet: 'Toreador Song' from Carmen
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3. Bizet: 'Children's Chorus' from Carmen
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4. Bizet: 'Habanera' from Carmen
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5. Scarborough Canticle for choir
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6. Morley: Now is the Month of Maying
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7. Williams: For the Love of a Princess from Braveheart
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8. Stanford: The BlueBird
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9. Elgar: The Dance
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10. Grieg: Peer Gynt
Biography
The International Music institute (IMI) was founded in 1994 by the piano teacher Juli Zhu. Following excellent results in early student examinations, the institute soon became the Abu Dhabi representative of the Associated Board of the Royal Academy of Music (ABRSM).
Since its foundation, the IMI has been home to thousands of young music students in Abu Dhabi, shaping music education in the United Arab Emirates' capital. In 2014, IMI organised the Abu Dhabi International Wind Band and several performances in Abu Dhabi featuring brass instruments. At the time of writing, the IMI has three branches in Abu Dhabi and over a thousand students, as well as active collaborations with many schools and government institutions.
During 2022 the Youth Orchestra and Choir performed concerts at the Cultural Foundation with programmes featuring masterworks from the classical repertoire written by Bach, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Piazzolla and many others. On the occasion of the Abu Dhabi NBA Games, the young musicians performed the UAE National Anthem accompanying the singer Ahmed Al Hosani, and they were also featured in a video to celebrate UAE National Day 2022.
