“I can translate any incident to music,” says Emirati composer Ihab Darwish, his baritone voice resounding with conviction.
The creator of the album, Waves of My Life: Every Story Begins with a Note, calls his transition from playing the piano at an early age to putting down melodies on paper a natural progression.
“Actually, to be honest, I only started composing professionally six years back, but the passion for music has been there since childhood. Since I was 10 I used to play piano. And seriously [then] I start putting all the melodies I have in my mind; together I orchestrate them into the final form,” he explains ahead of his show in the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi.
The musician is, naturally, thrilled about this forthcoming show. He says: “[It will be] an amazing performance for 155 international musicians [from the Beethoven Academy Orchestra and conducted by Stoyan Stoyanov] to perform a really amazing symphonic experience. The blend of East and West. [It] will portray different stories of my life, orchestrated in different melodies.”
Based geographically at the confluence of cultures, one wouldn’t be hard-pressed to think it a challenge to cater to both hemispheres, but Darwish finds the challenge fun. “It’s an interesting challenge, like when you do this kind of music, you are targeting the young and you are targeting the old — two generations, because you are actually putting classical beats in a contemporary style. And at the same time, you are blending East and West permutations.”
The album, which will be available post show — this is a like-it-buy-it-now commodity — is only the start for this artist.
As he puts it: “We’ve signed a contract with Universal Music… and we will be having of course [more] albums, future music [is on] the way, [and there’s] more in the movie industry. We’ve recently composed music for a documentary movie, for the director Philip Rashid, and definitely there will be more concerts coming.”
It’s only natural, after all, he says: “Like, I have this kind of talent [to] invent melodies.”
What: Waves of My Life: Emirati Composer Ihab Darwish
Where: Emirates Palace Auditorium
When: March 14
Cost: Admission to the concert that begins at 8pm is free, but requires registration
