Abu Dhabi Festival has announced a new programme of events for the 18th edition of the annual arts and cultural event.
Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation, the festival will be held in 2021 under the theme of The Future Starts Now.
For the first time ever, the festival will consist of both digital and live events, bringing together leading performers, musicians, composers and artists from across the world.
Across the festival, there will be 16 world premieres, 12 festival productions, eight global-co-productions and four creative commissions, bringing together more than 500 artists from more than 50 countries.
Highlights at this year’s festival include Emirati composer Mohammed Fairouz’s Fifth Symphony performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, Opera L’Apocalypse Arabe a world premiere in co-production with Festival Aix-en-Provence and the LUMA Foundation in France and Hekayat: Symphonic Tales by Emirati composer Ihab Darwish performed by Beethoven Academy Orchestra.
Other notable performances and events include The Global Oud Forum 2021, Tarek Yamani and the Spektral Quartet performing a virtual world premiere, The Moons Symphony virtual performance by Amanda Lee Falkenberg and The Story of the Violin with Nicola Benedetti.
For the first time Al Ain Film Festival will also collaborate with the festival to showcase young filmmakers in the UAE and spread the culture of cinema in the UAE.
“This 18th edition of the Abu Dhabi Festival comes at a time of exceptional circumstances, said Huda I. Alkhamis-Kanoo, founder of the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation.
“The pandemic has changed our lives, and now, more than ever, the community must come together to cultivate hope, spark creativity and nurture innovation through culture and the arts.
“Under the theme ‘The Future Starts Now’, this edition will reaffirm the role the arts play in bringing humanity together in challenging times.
“Right now, virtual events play a vital role in helping humanity through this challenging time, yet we believe in the importance of gathering under one roof to share an experience.
“In 2021, Abu Dhabi Festival will feature a hybrid programme of innovative digital broadcasts and in-person events.
“The UAE is blessed with a forward-thinking, wise leadership that recognises the value of art and culture and sees it not as a luxury but as a necessity.
“It is a time-tested wisdom — art serves as a beacon of hope in the face of great strife, it cultivates resilience and solidarity, it inspires us to invent and innovate for a better tomorrow.
“Now, when the world is navigating an unprecedented crisis, it is more important than ever for the community to band together and invest in culture and the arts.”
Dates and timings have not yet been released. For more information visit www.abudhabifestival.ae.
