Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra (QPO) is a permanent platform for people to send the message of peace. It has been a creative forum with a harmonious blend of diversity since 2008. QPO is comprised of 101 artists from thirty nations and is part of Qatar Foundation’s Community Development Activity.
Be it symphony, concertos, opera arias and film, music touches the hearts. It inspires and soothes. Sometimes it becomes a healing touch for a wounded heart. In loneliness music helps us to reach the fantasy world of peace and love.
The power and influence of music can cross the boundaries of region and cultures. Here, QPO realizes the pitch and rhythm of sublime music in all sections. It is the world of music in all its glory; composers, distributors, solo players and conductors join hands for spreading the power of music to peace and love.
QPO was created to enhance local community and culture within Qatar and throughout the region, while also bringing the message of peace to the world. Its medium is the union of eastern and western music.
Marcel Khalife
The concert master is Anton Taslia, who spent a year in the Leipzig Gwandhaus Orchestra in Germany. The musicians were selected during a series of auditions in nine European cities and Cairo in late 2007, using principle players of several major orchestras among ten jurors.
QPO performed “Arabian Concerto” for its inaugural gala concert at the Qatar National Theater in Doha on October 30, 2008.
It was a composition by Lebanese Oud Master Marcel Khalife, who joined QPO as Artistic Adviser and resident composer. To him, music is the sole common language of humanity; a message for peace and positive dialogues. Arabian Concerto delve deep to touch the sublime soul of musical mystery. The rhythm of Arabian Desert and the beauty of mountain songs rejuvenate the spirit of audience. An invigorating cool breeze of music is spread everywhere.
Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra Palermo 2009
Kurt Meister is the Managing Director of QPO. He has been a bassoonist and veteran orchestra administrator, worked extensively with Lorin Maazel, then Music Director of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Under the direction of Nader Abbassi, who became QPO’s Music Director in 2010, the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra celebrated their one-year anniversary on November 7th, 2009. It is by enhancing cultural awareness amongst its audiences that the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra seeks to promote greater understanding about classical, oriental and western music in Qatar and around the globe. Here, a musical journey marches towards the world with a vision for a harmonious existence.
Marcel Khalife, music is his message for peace and love
| Marcel Khalife was born on June 10, 1950 in Amchit, Lebanon. He studied the oud (the Arabic flute) at the Beirut National Conservatory of Music and graduated in 1971, and, ever since, has been infusing a new life into the oud. It is interesting to know how Marcel Khalife came to the world of music. | Marcel Khalife’s vision on Music: Music is the sole common language of humanity. It aids immensely in healing. It communicates the message of oneness and peace. |
At a very young age he exhibited a strong passion and love for sound and music. He expressed it by banging on household items from pots and pans and playing the strings of handmade chairs. His mother was the first person who realized his talent and gift of music. She talked to his father about buying him a musical instrument. This is when the oud entered his life for the first time. His grand father was a fisherman and he would sing songs of the sea. His songs also helped him to inherit a musical passion in him.
Oud playing had been strictly conservative. But Marcel applied new life and ideas to this music. The world of Oud was expanded. In 1972, Marcel Khalife created a musical group in his native village, Armchit, with the goal of reviving its musical heritage and Arabic chorale. From 1972 to 1975, Marcel Khalife taught at the Beirut National Conservatory of Music, public Universities and other local private music institutions. During that same period, he toured the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and the United States giving solo performances on the oud.
He has composed several purely instrumental works like The Symphony of Return, Sharq, Concerto Al Andalus- Suite for Oud and Orchestra, Mouda’aba (Caress), Diwan Al Oud, Jadal Oud duo, Oud Quartet, Al Samaa in the traditional Arabic forms and Taqasim, duo for oud and double bass which was awarded the Grand prize of the prestigious Charles Cros Academy in France in November 2007. His most recent work is Sharq, a choral symphonic composition which was performed by the Italian Philharmonic Orchestra and the Piacenza Choir.
Marcel Khalife’s compositions have been performed by several orchestras, notably the Kiev Symphony Orchestra, the Academy of Boulogne Billancourt Orchestra, The San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of the city of Tunis, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Italian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra and the “Absolute Ensemble”.
Since 1974, Marcel Khalife has been composing music for dance which gave rise to a new genre of dance, the popular Near Eastern ballet (Caracalla, Sarab Ensemble, Rimah, and Popular Art Ensemble). His compositions for dance include The Marvels of the Prodigy (1974), The Black Tents (1978), A shot of Glory (1980), The Taming of the Shrew (1981), Echoes (1981), Summer Night’s Dream (1992), Alissar, Queen Of Carthage (1997) and Andalusia (2000).
In June 2005 Marcel Khalife was named UNESCO Artist for Peace for his artistic achievement and humanitarian contributions. He has won many international awards for his musical excellence. He has written many books on music. He published Al Samaa, a collection of compositions for various traditional Arab musical instruments (1981).Marcel has received more than seventeen awards.
He has two sons who are musicians, Rami Khalife, pianist, and Bachar Khalife, percussionist
Can music influence the world despite of the barriers of boundaries, languages and cultures? Marcel Khalife has the real answer for this question. His vision for a harmonious world is evident as his inspiring words.
Can music influence the world despite of the barriers of boundaries, languages and cultures? Marcel Khalife has the real answer for this question. His vision for a harmonious world is evident as his inspiring words.
“Music has no homeland. It is the sole common language of humanity that has the potential to make up for the miscommunication that plagues communities of disparate tongues, sometimes bent upon mutual oppression. Ultimately, music does not lend itself to a division into Eastern and Western because it is a single language, enunciated with different accents. More aptly, one ought to speak of music’s East and music’s West, for music itself is space and time, and at the center is the heart of life’s experience.”
He believes in the positive aspects of human life. To him music has something to say to the vast ocean of humanity; that is the message of oneness and peace. This score envelops the local materials available in the Arab world, a tradition that protects history and culture from dissipation and banality. We harvest its expressive treasures upon which we overlay modern methods of musical composition.”
He says “My music is for the service of humanity and is intended to present a serious and sincere work for those tormented in the destructive war. My music was a sort of balm for those wounds.”
Nader Abbassi
