Acclaimed composer and pianist Jose Antonio Molina will conduct the Dominican Symphony Orchestra and the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra in two performances at the Damascus Opera House (22 February) and the Emirates Palace Auditorium in Abu Dhabi (27 February). This is an unprecedented collaboration of musical cultures and histories.
Under the patronage of Sheikha Shamsa Bint Hamdan Bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, the Embassy of the Dominican Republic and Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation are presenting Caribbean Gems. The classical merengue music concert will perform at the Emirates Palace on the occasion of the 167th anniversary of the Dominican Republic’s independence on 27 February.
During the concerts, Maestro Molina will also present some of the most representative Dominican music compositions written by himself and several other renowned Dominican musician composers – Bienvenido Bustamante, Luis Rivera, Salvador Sturla, Juan Lockward, Manuel Sanchez Acosta and Antonio Abreu.
“This will be the first time Dominican symphony music is around those parts of the world,” he told Listin Diario in an interview. He said the tour is an initiative by the Dominican Ambassador in Abu Dhabi, Clara Martinez Thedy. 15 musicians from the Dominican Symphony Orchestra will travel for the event.
Molina expects the events to set a precedent for more performances abroad. He is looking forward to seeing how people will react when they first hear the sounds of the “perico ripiao” at the Opera House of Damascus and the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. He feels new doors will be opened for Dominican music.
Maestro Molina will be accompanied by the acclaimed vibrant conductor and director of the Syrian National Symphony Orchestra, Missak Baghboudarian.
www.admaf.org/en/event/caribbean-gems
For more on Dominican-related events, see http://www.dr1.com/calendar