Mahmoud El Tohamy and Tamtam to headline a series of Abu Dhabi Festival Ramadan performances

Organised by the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation, the events will be streamed on social media

Sheikh Mahmoud El Tohamy is a master practitioner of Sufi chants. Courtesy Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation

Abu Dhabi Festival has announced the return of its Ramadan series of online concerts.

Beginning from April 20, five concerts will stream throughout the holy month and features a regional line-up of fresh and seasoned talents.

Encompassing various styles, from Sufi chants to arias, all works performed will share the reflective spirit of Ramadan.

Concerts will be streamed from 9.30pm on the Abu Dhabi Festival social media channels including YouTube.

Here is a preview of what to expect:

1. Saudi Arabian tenor Marwan Fagi

Saudi Arabian tenor Marwan Fagi teams up with the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra for a concert titled Wajd (Devotion).

The Arabic operatic pieces and ballads in the programme touch upon various forms of human and spiritual connections and should serve as a fine showcase for an artist representing the next wave of Saudi music talent.

2. Debut performance by Mohammed Al-Zahrani

Marking his first international festival concert performance, Mohammed Al-Zahrani will blend Saudi folk traditions with classical music, while also being backed by the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra.

Look out for the first-time performance of new song Aala Wa Amjad (More and More Sublime) written by Lebanese composer and poet Hiba Al Kawas.

3. Tamtam merging classical traditional music

More vibrant Saudi talent is on offer with soulful singer-songwriter Tamtam performing a repertoire of spiritual songs with a classical music twist. Accompanied by piano and violin, these traditional pieces are grounded in its central message of gratitude that befits the holy month.

4. A moment of prayer with Mayssa Karaa

Grammy-nominated Lebanese-American singer and Berklee Abu Dhabi artistic director Mayssa Karaa will perform a programme dubbed Doua'a (Prayer).

Sharing the stage with Indian singer Javed Ali, the duo will perform pieces taking from the Sufi tradition with its chanting messages of tolerance, love for one another and the divine.

5. An evening of Arabic classics with Mahmoud El Tohamy

If you weren't able to attend 2020's Ramadan concert series, then you are in for a treat.

Egyptian devotional singer Mahmoud El Tohamy will close the series with a new programme of classical Arabic poems backed with traditional and western musical accompaniments.

It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand the words or the significance of the pieces, as El Tohamy’s aim has always been to simply move you.

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