Abu Dhabi's Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT Abu Dhabi) has unveiled plans for a free children's music academy in the Mina Zayed (MiZa) district, set to open in January 2027. The building has been designed by the late architect Frank Gehry, who is also behind two other major cultural projects nearby, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and Dar Al Funoon Abu Dhabi.
The academy will house a 600-seat concert hall alongside 18 rehearsal and practice rooms. In its first intake, 100 children aged between six and nine will be enrolled, with every music programme offered entirely free of charge. Students will be trained in both Western classical music and Arabic musical traditions, a dual curriculum intended to bridge the region's heritage with internationally recognised musical education.
Mohamed Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of DCT Abu Dhabi, described the academy as "an investment in our future and in our commitment to making culture and creativity accessible to all." Officials say the project's goal goes beyond music training alone: it aims to give families who might not otherwise afford private lessons equal access to serious artistic education from an early age.
The academy is the latest addition to Abu Dhabi's long-term cultural strategy for the MiZa district, which is being developed into one of the region's major arts and culture hubs, also home to the upcoming Guggenheim Abu Dhabi. Gehry's involvement in multiple flagship cultural buildings in the same district is unusual even by the standards of major global arts developments, and observers see the music academy as an early marker of a new cultural quarter that is expected to keep expanding over the coming years, with further details on the academy's curriculum and enrolment process likely closer to its 2027 opening.