08 October 2014
The 23rd Bahrain International Music Festival
The 23rd Annual Bahrain Music Festival celebrates diversity, beauty, and the joy of music and arts from cultures around the world this year in Bahrain. From Oct. 9-14, the mission of Bahrain’s International Music Festival is to experience, celebrate, and explore the diversity of the world’s cultures, through music and the arts. The acclaimed musical acts headlining this year’s festival represent diverse cultures and genres from the Arab world and beyond. The UK, Portugal, Austria, Germany, Morocco, Switzerland and Jordan will entertain the local audience with music interpretations ranging from classic orchestral compositions to modern pop music. The festival is sure to appeal to the music fan in all of us with such a mixed collection of musical genres.
Speaking on the occasion, H.E Shaikha Mai Bint Mohammad Al-Khalifa, Minister of Culture said “Bahrain is a destination for joy and happiness, reflected by the events and activities organized throughout the year. Our music season this year is an incarnation of the finest human expressions.” H.E added that “We concentrate all our efforts towards the beauty of mutual artistic discourse and we are inspired by the colors of the rainbow to make the world a magical place. A variety of musical festivals such as World Music Day, Our Year of Art, and Manama Asian Tourism City push us to present the most sensational and artistic manifestations of musical genres to all the countries of the world.”
The 23rd Bahrain International Music Festival kicks off with Leona Lewis’s unique and astonishing musical style debut at the National Theatre, to be held on 9th October 2014.
From the United Kingdom to Portugal, the audience will enjoy the beauty and charm of fado with a raw, unbridled passion that defines the essence of Carminho, Portugal's brightest new star. The 29-year-old singer's first album, Fado, was a burning statement of intent and a celebration of the powerfully emotive music of her homeland.
Coming from a family of musicians, she listened to her parents' records and witnessed the gathering of fado singers in her house from a very early age. Then, as a teenager, she began to sing in the Taverna do Embuçado - essential grounding for her eventual 2011 debut recording, named album of the year by Songlines magazine which said that she "has a voice both beautifully translucent and stunning in its emotional charge...it's impossible not to break when in the presence of this remarkable performer."
Bahrain’s 23rd International Music Festival promises its public a mesmerizing European style orchestral night with the smooth elegance and nobleness of the velvety string sounds of the Viennese, and the captivating and passionate brilliance of the Berliners wind soloists which combine to form the celebrated Chamber Orchestra Vienna - Berlin. This decade-long cooperation between the Vienna and Berlin philharmonic orchestras creates a unique refined classical sound that ranks among the very best in the world. Since its formation, the creative force of the Chamber Orchestra Vienna – Berlin has been directed by Rainer Honeck, a violinist and concert master of the Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera. The audience will enjoy masterpieces written by great world-famous musicians such as Mozart, Haydn, Dvorak and others.
The 4th day of the festival will showcase an Orient charm duo with Moroccan star Aicha Redouane and French –Lebanese Habib Yammine, who are especially known for their renditions of famous Sufi spiritual poems by such luminaries as Rabia Al-Adawiyya, Ibn Al-Farid, Ibn Arabi, Al-Hallaj, and Al-Buri, producing several critically acclaimed albums in this genre. Since the mid-1980’s, the pair have endeavored to revive and promote Middle Eastern maqam style of song and music through their group, Al-Adwar, touring extensively around the Middle East, Europe, and North America in various venues and festivals.
Back to Europe again, and more precisely with Switzerland this time, with artist Bastian Baker, who will perform pop and rock music. Over the past couple of years, Baker toured intensively, performing hundreds of concerts at prestigious venues such as the Montreux Jazz Festival, Paleo Festival, Franco follies de la Rochelle, and Olympia of Paris. He performed many concerts in Europe and North America and opened for such legends as Elton John, Bryan Adams, Johnny Hallyday and Mark Lanegan.
At the end of this season fans will be delighted to experience Macadi Nahhas. A champion of freedom and human dignity, Jordanian singer Macadi Nahhas occupies a unique status among singers in the Arab world with her blend of classical and traditional songs which revive the heritage of the golden era of Arab music. Genuine to her fine artistic interpretations of classical Arabic music masterpieces, Macadi ends the magic of the music evenings on 14th October 2014.
It should be mentioned that all of these music concerts, except Leona Lewis, will be free of charge and open to the public at the Cultural Hall in celebration of World Music Day. All concerts will start at 8:00 pm.
