programme & tickets

Abu Dhabi Festival, together with the Emirates Youth Symphony Orchestra, brings to life Vivaldi’s masterpiece, The Four Seasons, for the occasion of COP 28. This wonderful concert offers gems of baroque music, and showcases the composer’s extraordinary ability to illustrate moods as diverse and contrary as violent winds, birdsong, fox hunts, harvest celebration, and joy. The evening also features one of the most beautiful pieces composed for violin and viola, Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante. It takes the audience on a journey to the heights of musical magnificence. The stunning piece celebrates the virtuosity of the violin in all its forms, with the young Mariam Abouzahra on violin, and Amira Abouzahra on viola, conducted by Riad Kudsi and Jakub Waldmann.

Following his acclaimed 2019 performances as Alberich in the Ring cycle, bass-baritone Tomasz Konieczny stars as the accursed Dutchman in Wagner’s eerie drama, alongside incandescent soprano Elza van den Heever as the woman determined to redeem his soul. Maestro Thomas Guggeis conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra with tenor Eric Cutler as Erik and bass Dmitry Belosselskiy as Daland in stage director François Girard’s ghostly setting.

This is a summary of the event

Sixteen-year-old violin prodigy, Leia Zhu performs a beautiful repertoire of Mozart, Strauss, Debussy, Wieniawski and Sarasate accompanied by versatile Swiss musician Benjamin Engeli on piano. The British virtuoso, whose solo career includes performing with the London Symphony Orchestra, displays her renowned talent and impressive technical ability in this special recital.

Emirati Writer Maitha Al Khayat and Emirati Composer Eman Al Hashimi join forces with American contemporary dance Company E for the longest continuous augmented reality experience ever created. In a tale of family, tradition, and the perils of the diver and the wonders of the sea, The Pearl Diver’s Daughter blends cutting edge technology with choreography, music and narrative to take audiences of all ages on a dive beneath the waves of the Gulf.

Grammy and Academy Award-winning composer Tan Dun, renowned for his ability to span the boundaries of classical music and Eastern and Western traditions, is considered one of the most prominent figures of “world classical” music. His Buddha Passion, which can also be staged as an opera, is a 95-minute oratorio illustrating six Buddha parables and stories, with the sixth being the Buddha’s ascension into Nirvana. Structured in six acts, Buddha Passion captures the ancient narratives of the Buddha’s teachings and the timeless, universal concepts of love, forgiveness and sacrifice, summarising the stories portrayed on the walls of the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang in an exceptionally unique musical work.

Academy Award-winning composer Tan Dun conducts the Orchestra of Teatro Comunale di Modena Pavarotti-Freni joined by world-famous Chinese cellist Jian Wang in an unforgettable musical journey from West to East featuring an iconic repertoire of Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky followed by the UAE premiere of his original Pipa Concerto. The unique concert traces humankind’s great cultural cross-pollinations in an epic performance by two of the most renowned figures of contemporary classical music.

Upon winning the gold medal at the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009, Haochen Zhang has become an international star captivating audiences around the world. The acclaimed pianist from Shanghai performs in a unique recital showcasing the fearless imagination and spectacular musical mastery for which he is known.

Winner of the 2021 International Chopin Piano Competition, the star pianist presents for his Abu Dhabi Festival debut recital, a thrilling programme that astounds and captivates with its breath-taking technical complexity. Capturing with skillful grace the drama of Mozart’s Don Giovanni opera in a short yet intense piano piece, Liu opens his recital with a selection of elegant yet vivid character pieces by Rameau, and the delicacy and tenderness of Chopin’s own witty reimagining’s of a Mozart aria and concludes with a masterful performance of Réminiscences de Don Juan by Liszt.

Abu Dhabi Festival’s annual Festival in the Park returns with two days of exciting shows, workshops and musical performances at Umm Al Emarate Park. Join us on 12 & 13 March at Abu Dhabi’s Umm Al Emarat Park Amphitheatre as we celebrate culture and creativity with a series of entertaining and educational activities for the whole family.

Two-time Grammy Award-winning Jazz musician Gregory Porter makes his UAE debut performing a set of his smooth original tracks from his albums Liquid Spirit (2014) and Take Me to the Alley (2017) as well as captivating renditions of the classics joined by Chip Crawford on piano, Emanuel Harrold on drums, Tivon Pennicott on Saxaphone/Horns and Jahmal Nichols on bass.

Hailed all over the world as one of the finest contemporary flamenco shows, Vanguard flamenco dancer and choreographer María Pagés transcends two legendary female characters— Carmen, the gypsy cigarette girl from Mérimée’s novella made famous by the Bizet opera and the quick-witted storyteller of the Arabian Nights in this vibrant ode to femininity.

Juan Diego Flórez joins some of his most renowned colleagues in a spectacular gala concert for the special 20th-anniversary edition of Abu Dhabi Festival. Acclaimed for his command of the high tenor range, the Peruvian opera star will sing a captivating repertoire of operatic arias in the first part of the concert accompanied by Italian maestro Vincenzo Scalera on the piano.