The Palestine Youth Orchestra in Amman for a unique performance

AMMAN — The Palestine Youth Orchestra with a full set of 75 musicians, along with 12 young women singers from the Palestine Choir, will play at a unique concert on the March 22 at Al Hussein Cultural Centre in Amman (Ras Al Ain) at 7pm.

The event is presented by the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music (ESNCM) in cooperation with Friends of Jordan Festivals. The orchestra will perform under the baton of French conductor Nicolas Simon.

Speaking to The Jordan Times, Professor Suhail Khoury, the director of the Conservatory said that the orchestra will play the entire Symphony No. 2 by Tchaikovsky. The composition is one of the great master’s joyful works, though it is essentially in C minor. It consists of four movements: andante sostenuto allegro vivo, andantino marziale quasi moderato, scherzo allegro molto vivace and finally moderato assai allegro vivo. The fourth and last movement is in C major. The orchestra will also play King Lear, an overture by French romantic composer Hector Berlioz.

Last but not least, the 12 female singers accompanied by the orchestra will interpret three songs in Arabic, of which one is “A Salute to Gaza”, an original piece which music was composed by Professor Suhair Khoury himself and the lyrics written by the renowned, inspired poet Fuad Srouji. They will also sing “Zahrat Al Mada’en” (Flower of the Cities), a poignant, popular hymn to Jerusalem, made famous by the celebrated Lebanese singer Fairuz and composed by the Rahbani Brothers.

Khoury also explained that the musicians arrived in Jordan on March 18, staying at a hotel in Jerash, where they found a pleasant place for all the rehearsals that went particularly well given the very pleasant atmosphere of the city. He added that the same programme (except for the songs in Arabic) was presented by the orchestra in France last summer and was warmly received by audiences there.

The Conservatory was first established in Ramallah and was initially named the National Conservatory of Music. In 2004, so as to honour “the invaluable intellectual and cultural contributions to humanity of the late Edward Said” it was renamed the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music. Its motto speaks for itself: “Making Music Happen in Palestine.”