UAE National Orchestra sets date for first public show of debut season

Concerts will run across all seven emirates, featuring Emirati works, regional programmes and international collaborations

The UAE National Orchestra’s 70 full-time musicians and 30 choir members were selected from more than 3,200 applicants during a global audition process. Photo: UAE National Orchestra

The UAE National Orchestra will give its first public performance on January 15, marking the debut of the country’s new 100-member ensemble.

The concert venue is to be announced soon, with the show opening a programme of 14 concerts staged across 10 venues in all seven emirates throughout 2026. Next year’s schedule runs from January to June, before the orchestra adopts a regular September to June season from 2027.

The programme line-up reflects the institution’s aim to blend Emirati musical heritage with global repertoire, a direction shaped by a team led by managing director Sheikha Alia bint Khalid Al Qassimi and artistic director and conductor Amine Kouider.

“Today, we have established a national orchestra that resembles us – rooted in its heritage and authenticity, yet deeply confident and forward-looking,” said Sheikha Alia at a press conference in the orchestra's current performance space at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Creative Hub. “The sound you will hear is something you know, but also something completely new to the Emirati musical landscape.”

The programme

Iraqi oud virtuoso Naseer Shamma will appear with the UAE National Orchestra as part of its Harmony programme. Victor Besa / The National

French-Algerian maestro Kouider, who has spent 30 years conducting in Paris where he founded the International Philharmonic Orchestra, previously led the Algerian National Symphony Orchestra and was the founding conductor of the Saudi National Orchestra and Choir.

He is excited by the prospect of melding the region’s musical influences with classic European repertoire.

“This season presents a musical dialogue between East and West,” Kouider said. “We will perform Emirati melodies in a new orchestral spirit, and we will return to global masterpieces with an approach that carries our distinct Arab imprint. The result is a sound that brings together the familiar and the new – a sound that reflects the diversity of the United Arab Emirates, its development and its confidence.”

The opening public performance on January 15, The Beginning, introduces the season’s themes and includes the premiere of Emirati Symphony composed by Nadim Tarabay.

With other dates to be announced soon, the opening night will be followed by Faces of Love, inspired in part by the poetry of UAE Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

Emirati composers Eid Al Faraj and Ibrahim Juma will be honoured in the event Composed in the Emirates, while Echoes of Time: Ibn Arabi will feature works drawing from the 12th century’s Sufi poet’s writing. Family audiences are served through Once Upon a Tune, which features Carnival of the Animals and Emirati folk songs.

International repertoire appears throughout the season. Vivaldi: A Journey East reimagines the popular Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi’s work through the timbre of Arab musical instruments, and Harmony is a more modern affair as it brings together Swiss-French composer Richard Dubugnon and Iraqi oud virtuoso Naseer Shamma. The schedule also includes Russian Classics, A Night in Vienna, Carmen in Concert and a guest evening with Chinese conductor and pianist Xu Zhong.

Regional heritage takes centre stage in Rhythms of the Gulf, while From Screen to Stage revisits music from the UAE’s golden era of television and film as part of cine-concert. The season closes with Three Rhapsodies, One World, an eclectic programme that moves between Western classical forms, American jazz and contemporary Emirati music.

A national ensemble with more than 30 nationalities

The debut season follows months of work in assembling the new orchestra. Since being first announced in December 2024, more than 3,200 musicians from 90 countries applied, with auditions carried out in two phases before a jury of eight.

The final group includes 70 full-time musicians and 30 part-time choral singers, representing 30 nationalities and 40 instruments. According to Kouider, the average age of the performers is 35, with approximately 60 per cent men and 40 per cent women.

As part of an intensive induction programme held in October at Yas Creative Hub, the musicians took part in cultural workshops, heritage sessions, rehearsals and a values workshop that set the principles guiding the ensemble.

Sheikha Alia said the workshop was designed to make sure the musicians understood the institution they were joining and the responsibilities they carry as its representatives.

“We set our values as an organisation, and we don’t want to pass them down to the musicians. We want to create our values alongside our musicians,” she said. “So, the values we came out with – respect, innovation, excellence, creativity – there are many values that we prize today as an organisation. And they were worked on collectively with our musicians.”

Next generation

Alongside the season announcement, the orchestra detailed a new talent initiative designed to prepare Emiratis for future entry into the ensemble. The Emirati Capacity Building Programme is a 12-month paid part-time track running from April 2026 to April 2027, combining one-on-one instrumental instruction, ensemble workshops, theory sessions and participation in orchestra rehearsals.

The first cohort of 10 to 12 musicians will be announced in April. “We designed a set of capacity-building programmes to ensure that we support young Emirati musicians with the training they need and invest in their talent, so they have the opportunity to join the orchestra in the future,” Sheikha Alia said. “We want to make sure we have a strong pool of Emirati musicians for the years ahead.”