03 May 2007
BEIRUT: A division of the Jeddah-based BMG Financial Advisors, the regional investment bank, announced on Wednesday plans for a performance of the Al-Farabi Concerto on June 19, an event organizers billed as the first international-Arab initiative aimed at giving Arab contemporary classical music the international exposure it deserves.
The concerto will include musical works of 25 "talented" composers from Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Kuwait, Morocco and Algeria, said Basil Ghalayini, head of the BMG Foundation, in a news conference at the Gefinor Rotana Hotel in Beirut.
"The series of concerts will be performed by the most acclaimed orchestras in the UK and Europe," Ghalayini said.
Antar Naqshbandy, head of the Al-Farabi program, said the concert was aimed at changing European and Western cultural concept about Arab countries.
"The concert is also aimed at creating networks between artists of the East and West," he said. Naqshbandy said the first concert will be held the night before the 2007 GCC Polo Cup in London's Plaisterer's Hall.
"Mozart will be performed in addition to classical musical pieces of Lebanese, Jordanian, Syrian and Egyptian musicians," he said.
The GCC Polo Cup is held every summer in Windsor, UK. Over the years, the event has helped raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for credible charities worldwide.
The event seeks to enhance the cultural, social and sporting links between Eastern and Western nations and to develop ties between business leaders.
The BMG Foundation is a non-profit organization devoted to putting on global charity events. - The Daily Star
