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
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