Sunday, February 12, 2012

American soprano Taylor performs at embassy event

American soprano Nicole Taylor performed at the Qatar National Theatre on Wednesday evening at a US embassy sponsored event in celebration of February as Black History Month in the US.
 

Taylor’s powerful performance featured a genre of music known as African-American spiritual music - a fusion of African and European music used in the past as a form of socio-political protest.
Taylor performing with musicians from Qatar Music Academy

The US ambassador to Qatar, Susan L Ziadeh, who attended the performance said: “The unique genre of African-American spiritual music gives us a window into the souls of people who used music as a tool for communication during a time of tremendous adversity and hardship in our country. This performance shows that the history of American music is just as rich and diverse as its people.”
 

Taylor, a graduate of the Julliard School in New York and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, has performed in a number of operas and dramatic roles. Doha was Taylor’s second stop on her regional tour to share American folk music with Middle Eastern audiences.
 

Concert pianist and American diplomat Daniel Ernst accompanied Taylor. Ernst currently resides in Dubai, where he is the US State Department’s regional deputy spokesperson for the Middle East and North Africa.
At the end of her performance, Taylor invited musicians from the Qatar Music Academy on stage to perform the Arabic classic Biktub ismik ya bladi (“I write your name, my country”).
 

The US embassy thanked the Ministry of Culture, Arts, and Heritage, the Qatar National Theatre, and the musicians of the Qatar Music Academy for their support for the performance and visit of Taylor and Ernst.
Taylor and Ernst wrapped up their visit to Doha with a performance and master class for a number of local schoolchildren on Thursday.


Source From GulfTimes

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