To This Land, We Belong Emirati Creations: World Premiere

In Partnership with Dubai Opera

The Concert

Season Two, Symphony On… And The Journey Continues begins with three new Emirati compositions, heard in public for the first time.

To This Land, We Belong invites audiences into a musical journey through the UAE: from its founding story and landscapes to the traditions, memories and ideas that continue to shape the country today.

Each composer approaches that story differently. Together, they create an opening concert rooted in Emirati heritage, alive to the present and open to what comes next.

The Music

Khalid Nassir opens the programme with The Founder’s Journey, a six-part work inspired by the journey and philosophy of the UAE’s Founding Father. Moving through moments of passion, departure, discovery and return, the music reflects on the experiences and ideas that shaped the nation’s beginnings.

Ali Kano turns to the landscapes and musical traditions of the Emirates, through Homeland Melodies, his concerto, bringing oriental instruments into conversation with the Orchestra. An Emirati sound heard afresh within a contemporary orchestral setting.

The final work, by composer Fayez Al Saeed, brings Orchestra, Choir and poetry together. Featuring Emirati poet Arif Al Khajah’s Lightning, Thunder & Longing, the piece moves between memory and the present, tracing how identity and belonging are carried forward through time.

Because the sound of belonging is never finished. It is something we inherit, something we make our own, and something we leave for the future. It is our sound, and it is always on.

The Performers

Conducted by Ahmed Farag, the UAE National Orchestra and Choir come together for the first performances of these three new Emirati works and the opening of Season Two.

With the full force of the Orchestra and Choir on stage, this is a chance to experience three Emirati world premieres at the moment they enter the repertoire: live, powerful and shared with the audience for the first time.