JORDAN-MUSIC Jordan's orchestra aims to promote classical music to the masses

Record ID: 150339

  • Title: JORDAN-MUSIC Jordan's orchestra aims to promote classical music to the masses
  • Date: 7th June 2015
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) CONDUCTOR, MOHAMMAD OTHMAN SIDDIQ, SAYING: "Classical music needs good-taste and an elite audience in every part of the world as not anyone can attend. We try through our programmes use musical pieces that are not too classical because we want to encourage the audience, so we use modern and Arabic pieces in a classical way and I think we were successfu
  • Embargoed: 22nd June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Jordan
  • Country: Jordan
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA1VBGV623J2V3SRZ69YQ3H0CVL
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Traditionally, a reserve of the elite, classical music is making inroads into middle class Jordanian society much to the delight of the Jordanian National Orchestra Association, who put on an exhilarating performance in downtown Amman on Saturday (June 6).
    Established in 2014 by the former senator Talal Abu Ghazaleh, the orchestra has 55 members, selected by the National Music Conservatory (NMC) Jordan's most prestigious institution for the development of talented local musicians and the promotion of music appreciation in Jordan.
    Eighty percent of the orchestra are Jordanian and it receives the patronage of Queen Noor Al Hussein.
    "Jordan deserves to have a musical band that is equal to the international groups, and I am happy that they have found an understanding and support as well as enthusiasm from the Jordanian citizen, and we hold various kinds of concerts in several locations that meet with all people's tastes, ranging from Arab music to classical music, to the traditional music and everything that boosts the soul. Music is the cure of the soul as it is the cure for the body," said the head of the Jordanian National Orchestra Association Talal Abu Ghazaleh.
    By mixing up musical styles throughout the performance and including instrumentals from popular musical culture, the orchestra's conductor, Mohammad Othman Siddiq, said he hoped to persuade more Jordanians to enjoy a more classical style of music.
    "Classical music needs good-taste and an elite audience in every part of the world as not anyone can attend. We try through our programmes to use musical pieces that are not too classical because we want to encourage the audience, so we use modern and Arabic pieces in a classical way and I think we were successful in this because most of our concerts have had a full audience," he said.
    Some of the pieces selected for the evening included a Cello Concerto by classical legend Bach, The Adagio in G minor attributed to the Venetian classical master Tomaso Albinoni, The Simple Symphony by Benjamin Britten and The Holberg suite by Edvard Greig.
    Organisers hoped that by playing a selection of music by maestros from a bygone era, together with references to more popular music, the audience could appreciate how classical music has influenced the music we listen to today.
    Many of the orchestra's members are not musical professionals by day - some are engineers and doctors who simply share a passion for the classical genre. Siddiq said he hoped Jordanians would not only take an interest in classical music, but would seriously consider a career in classical music, promoting Jordan at home and abroad.
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