The Abu Dhabi Festival (ADF), organised by the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation (ADMAF), today announced the ground-breaking programme for its 12th edition to be held in 2015.

Affirming its position as one of the Middle East’s leading cultural festivals, ADF 2015 will welcome main programme performances by Brazilian music legend Sergio Mendes; maestro Riccardo Muti conducting violin virtuoso Anne-Sophie Mutter and the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra; the acclaimed Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez; pianists Jan Lisiecki and Leif Ove Andsnes; the Budapest Festival Orchestra conducted by Ivan Fischer; two performances of a concert staging of Mozart's The Magic Flute; and the Lebanese American singer Mayssa Karaa making her international debut.

In addition, the main programme features a broad visual arts component featuring two new commissions by Fatma Lootah and Noor Al Suwaidi and, for the first time in the Middle East, the acclaimed FotoFest exhibition View From Inside. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will be the charity beneficiary of the 2015 Festival.

The details of the festival were announced today at a press conference by Hoda Al Khamis-Kanoo, ADMAF Founder and Artistic Director of the Abu Dhabi Festival, in the presence of Giorgio Starace, Italian Ambassador to the UAE; Mayssa Karaa, Singer-Songwriter; Wendy Watriss, Artistic Director and Co-Founder of FotoFest; Nabil Othman, Acting Regional Representative to the GCC Countries for UNHCR and Amal Al Agroobi, award-winning film-maker were also present on the occasion.

Hoda Al Khamis-Kanoo told: "As each year passes, the Abu Dhabi Festival embeds itself in the very fabric of society. It is not simply an event. It is a creative experience that is anticipated and embraced by the people of the UAE. The myriad platforms upon which we invite the nation’s most creative minds and the world’s greatest artists to perform, exhibit and exchange are unrivalled incubators of great ideas; sowing the seeds of invention across our beloved nation and beyond, so that tomorrow we may reap the benefits.

"In a world that has never been as complex and diverse as it is today, the ability of the Arab World in general and Abu Dhabi in particular to generate new ideas, to be the place of invention, is one of paramount importance. The Liberal Arts including the humanities and sciences together can best equip us to shape our future world; to seize the opportunities and overcome the challenges we face.

"From the Abu Dhabi Festival to its grants scheme, community programmes and year-round education work, ADMAF sees its role as that of literally cultivating the desert ­ of creating the perfect conditions for every citizen in the UAE to nurture their ideas until they take root and blossom. After all, the only limitless resource on this planet is creativity." Enhancing its long-standing commitment to youth music, this year the Abu Dhabi Festival will introduce a brand new series of recitals by award-winning young laureates of classical music.

Fatma Al Muhairi, winner of The ADMAF Comic Arts Award 2014, addressed the audience at the event.
 

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