Abu Dhabi Festival Dedicates Multiple Platforms To Educating And Inspiring The Next Generation
The Abu Dhabi Festival will continue its deep and long-standing tradition of investing in innovative, world-class educational outreach initiatives to inspire and nurture the next generation of artists across UAE during its landmark 10th edition, to take place from March 3-31, 2013. As the Festival’s youth outreach arm, the Education Programme provides multiple opportunities for children, young people and adults to deepen their knowledge and appreciation of the arts, ignite their creativity and expand their horizons.
With the participation of over 21 schools across the seven Emirates, thousands of children and young people will take part in interactive workshops, lectures, exhibitions, concerts and performances ranging from the traditional crafts to contemporary art. Such experiences enhance personal development, creative thinking, motivation and self-confidence as well as nurturing artistic talent and supporting academic studies. In essence, the Festival seeks to embed a strong sense of cultural identity among today’s learners and tomorrow’s leaders by enabling them and their teachers to work with some of the world’s leading arts education practitioners.
Highlights of the 2013 Abu Dhabi Festival Education Programme include ‘Back to School with Mubadala,’ - school visits by stars of the Festival Main programme to give master classes to help develop pupils’ musical abilities in a dynamic learning environment. Festival in Focus with Mubadala will give hundreds of students the chance to delve behind the scenes and witness the rehearsals by the Mariinsky Ballet & Orchestra, Joshua Bell & the Czech Philharmonic, Gilberto Gil, and Bryn Terfel & the Czech Philharmonic.. Globe Education at Shakespeare’s Globe returns for the third year with a special adaptation of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ for young people, while Carnegie Hall’s Declassified Ensemble residency with the UAE capital’s young musicians will culminate in the annual ‘Young Artists’ Day’. The fourth edition of Riwaq Al Fikr / The Festival Debates is held this year in partnership with New York University Abu Dhabi and Zayed University, and will bring together leading academics, diplomats, artists and cultural leaders including the directors of Carnegie Hall, Edinburgh International Festival and the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Finally, main programme ticket holders can gain insight into the exciting world of opera, music and ballet straight from the stars themselves in a series of exclusive pre and post-concert talks.
“Education has been a core component of the Festival since its inception in 2004,” explained Her Excellency Mrs. Hoda I. Al Khamis Kanoo, Founder and Artistic Director of the Abu Dhabi Festival. “We take pride in providing young people across the country with opportunities to meet and be inspired by the world’s top artists, recognizing talented young people who live in the UAE, and igniting a passion for the arts among young people who may not otherwise have realized that they possess great talent. We are sewing the seeds for a love of art that will keep on growing as they progress through their studies. The Festival welcomes learners of all ages to approach the Education Programme offerings with a spirit of inquiry and openness. Art is about participation and engagement, and our education platform ensures that the performances and events are not merely absorbed as passive entertainment, but rather experienced, with potentially life-changing results.”
Students can also inform themselves about careers in the cultural industries thanks to The Artists’ Studio, an ever-growing online library of learning material and teaching resources, including interviews with Abu Dhabi Festival artists on their careers. The latest subtitled footage is available on the ADMAF website, including interviews with artists such as American jazz legend Al Jarreau, Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey, and the Russian violinist Maxim Vengerov.
For the third consecutive year, Abu Dhabi’s young student musicians will benefit from ADMAF’s long-term partnership with Carnegie Hall. This year, professional musicians from the Declassified Ensemble will run interactive school performances, as well as a week-long residency for talented young Abu Dhabi musicians, throughout the first week of the Festival. Abu Dhabi audiences will also be treated to Young Artists’ Day on March 9, where select youngsters from secondary schools across the UAE will come together to perform an original composition with the Ensemble—an excellent showcase of the next generation of UAE musicians. The Declassified is a chamber music society dedicated to maintaining a role for classical music in communities around the world, and was established by graduates of The Academy, a programme held in partnership with Carnegie Hall, the prestigious Julliard School of Music, and the Weill Music Institute.
Arts education can never start too young, and from March 16 to 21, even infants and toddlers can get into the Festival spirit, with ‘Sensory O,’ a unique production by Scottish Opera, one of the UK’s leading opera companies, designed to encourage very young children and toddlers to engage with opera on a sensory level that they will understand. In addition to public performances at Les Fanfans Nursery, a specially adapted version will be presented at the Autism Centre and Early Invention Unit of the Zayed Higher Organisation for Humanitarian Care & Special Needs. ‘Sensory O’ is rich in sound, rhythm and music and will help to develop linguistic skills. It also uses smells, textures, actions and visuals to inspire the imagination and bring the musical adventure to life.
On the theatre side, the Festival is delighted to welcome Globe Education at Shakespeare’s Globe, also for the third consecutive year, to participate in the 2013 activities. Following on their massively successful productions of Macbeth (2011) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2012), the company will present a specially commissioned production of Shakespeare’s best-known work, Romeo and Juliet, on March 3 and 4. The performance is especially geared toward and adapted for young people, aimed at giving them a first experience of live theatre and the first delicious taste of the Bard’s work. In support of the performances, Globe Education will also offer in-school and university workshops that will explore Shakespeare’s work and its continuing resonance with audiences today.
Ticket sales
Purchase points include http://www.timeouttickets.com/abudhabifestival, the Abu Dhabi Festival Box Office at the Emirates Palace is open from 1pm – 7pm daily. For further details, call the Abu Dhabi Festival info hotline number +971 50 907 6158.
Emirate: Abu Dhabi
Date: Feb 27, 2013
Back