Iraqi oud virtuoso Naseer Shamma took the stage at The Arts Centre at NYU Abu Dhabi on Friday, October 16, at 8pm, opening his second season of collaboration with the UAE National Orchestra. This time he performed four of his own compositions in new orchestral arrangements, including a concerto for oud and orchestra written specifically for the programme.
Shamma's first concert with the orchestra took place nine months ago, in January this year, and since then the ensemble has given more than 24 performances. Describing how the partnership has evolved, Shamma said the first concert was different, more of a celebration, while now there is a concrete and much deeper programme behind the music.
Shamma, who led a 70-member Eastern Orchestra back in 2008, founded the Bait Al Oud conservatory in Cairo in 1998 and later opened branches in Abu Dhabi, Alexandria and Baghdad. Several Emirati musicians who trained at the Abu Dhabi branch now perform with the National Orchestra themselves, a detail Shamma pointed to as proof the conservatory's mission is paying off.
Shamma said his goal is to build a lasting oud repertoire, and he plans to compose one new concerto every year so future generations of musicians have fresh material to draw on, while making sure the instrument's distinctive voice is not lost inside a full symphonic sound. Tickets for Friday's concert started at Dh100, offering audiences in Abu Dhabi a rare chance to hear Eastern and classical orchestral traditions blended on the same stage.