In a charming evening, a talented choir of Siwar performed in Doha in an annual music programme organised by the Katara Cultural Village, under the patronage of the Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage H E Dr Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al Kuwari.
Siwar – Arabic for bracelet – is Qatar’s leading youth choir established by Al Jazeera Children’s Channel (JCC). Siwar provides the opportunity for talented youngsters to express themselves through singing and to explore the rich Arabic heritage through its diverse musical repertoire, which has been revived with a modern musical arrangement.
Siwar is the gate to our musical culture.
The Siwar Choir comprised of 30 musicians led by Maestro Nabih Al Khatib one of the leading Arab singers, who mesmerised the audience with his songs full of sweet melodies. The choir also performed classics of legendary Arab singers like Fairouz.
The choir dazzled the audience with performances of English, French and Turkish songs, re-enforcing the global perception that music is a universal language.
The Turkish songs were also part of the celebrations of the Qatar-Turkish 2015 cultural year celebrations. A Turkish band performed at the event with three guitarists, who performed the traditional Turkish musical styles that have a lot of similarities with Arab music.
Saad bin Saleh Al Hudaifi, the Acting director of Al Jazeera Children’s Channel (JCC), said that what distinguishes this year’s performance was the fact that it was being conducted under the patronage of the Minister of Culture, who has been keen at facilitating and ensuring the success of the event which falls under the cultural events for the Qatar-Turkish 2015 cultural year.
“The Siwar Choir has had wonderful performances in Arabic and other languages like English, French, and Turkish which demonstrate their versatility,” he said. “Al Jazeera is committed to supporting the Arab children to develop their music talents and become successful musicians.”
Al Khatib, who led the choir, said that the performance of Siwar was as good as any professional musical performance, adding that all the choir members were having extra ordinary capabilities to succeed as professional musicians.
He also said that Siwar intended to preserve the Eastern lyrics heritage and this had been well demonstrated in the way the Turkish trio performed with guitarists and other musical instruments winning the admiration of the audience.
Al-Jazeera Children’s Channel has launched the initiative of Siwar Choir with the aim of supporting talented Arab children from the age of 9 to 16 and developing their singing abilities under the supervision of professional musicians. Through joining Siwar, children get the chance to discover the value of the rich Arabic music legacy through re-arranging some of its popular songs in a modern attractive way.The Peninsula
