News Date:Sunday, 08 April 2018

The Second Katara Oud Festival concluded today (Sunday) with a  special musical show by an ensemble of the artistes who participated in the four-day event.


The concluding ceremony at Katara's Opera House was named Samra Ma'al Oud (Gathering for Oud).

The show started at 8pm with performances by Jalsa Blasic Band from Indonesia who were later joined by famous Oud musicians Yoshika Matsuda (Japan), Mansour Al Mohannadi (Qatar), Saleh Al Jeraid (Kuwait) and other participating artistes. The Festival brought together more than 80 Oud players and Oud makers from 17 countries.

Indonesian singers Abdullah Taleb and Fahad bin Mnaif, along with Qatari performer Mansour Al Mohannadi supported the musicians with popular Arabic songs, leaving the audience thrilled. Dr Bassam Al Blooshi and young Oud player Amal Waqar presented the show.

Over the four days, the Festival drew a large number of visitors and music lovers cutting across cultures and nationalities.

" We received large number of visitors on all the days, including diplomats and a number of other dignitaries. The daily evening shows at Opera House were enjoyed by packed-to-the capacity audiences," said a member of the organizing committee.

The Indonesian Jalsa Blasic Band that gave several performances at Al Farabi open theatre in the Amphitheatre Boulevard struck a chord with the audience, through their Arabic origin and style.  The Zalkarnian Yousef Band from Malaysia and Mauritanian Oud player Sheikh Ould Ab also captivated the gathering with their special style of playing Oud.

The Festival this year was dedicated to Al Farabi, the great Muslim philosopher. His contributions to music and his concepts about the impact of music on human mind were recalled at lectures and presentations held on the sidelines of the Festival

Prominent speakers from Qatar and abroad spoke about the origin and history of Oud and the different styles of playing this stringed instrument. According to Dr Mohammed Al Majri, one of the speakers, the most prominent schools in playing Oud are the Iraqi, Egyptian and Syrian. Although Oud had its origin in the non-Arab lands, it was developed in the Middle East, especially Syria. Singing was more predominant in the golden era of Arab music and Oud was not as popular at that time as it is now, said Al Majri.

A major attraction of the Festival was the kiosks of famous Oud makers from Turkey, Iran, Syria, Kuwait, Iraq and Greece set up at the Amphitheatre Boulevard. A large variety of Oud instruments, with unique style and design were offered for sale and display. The kiosks attracted Oud enthusiasts and performers who had a rare opportunity to meet and interact with makers of the instruments that they have been playing.

The Festival also featured workshops on Oud making by experts including Ahmed Tung Buyruklar from Istanbul Technical University in Turkey.

At the concluding ceremony, Mohammed Marzouqi, manager of the Festival presented mementos to all Oud makers who were part of the Festival.  In return, Farouk Turunz, the world-renowned Oud maker from Turkey and Awtar Al Fan Oud makers from Kuwait presented their specially made Ouds to Marzouqi as a gesture of gratitude and appreciation to Katara.