UAE National Orchestra - A Festival Evening with Orchestra in Dubai

This Christmas-season concert at Dubai Opera brings the UAE National Orchestra together with three choirs for an evening of orchestral music, seasonal classics and Arabic favourites. It is presented in partnership with Dubai Opera and runs under the title Winter Concert. Guest conductor Nayer Nagui leads the orchestra and its choir, joined by Dubai Singers and The Stage House Choir.

The programme opens with Leroy Anderson's Sleigh Ride and moves through Silent Night, White Christmas and Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!, with the Arabic song Thalj Thalj also in the first half. After the interval, Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers leads into Der weisse Schnee, Gloria, What Child Is This and O Holy Night. The Arabic songs Ya Mariam and Laylat Eid follow, and Feliz Navidad and We Wish You a Merry Christmas close the evening. The music shifts between quiet moments and the full force of orchestra and choirs.

Chorus master Howard Wong prepares the three choirs. Soprano Dina Iskander and baritone Elhamy Amin appear as soloists, and Samuel Nebyu is the concertmaster. The concert draws together different languages, traditions and generations, built around the shared memories of the season.

Dubai Opera is the city's purpose-built performing arts theatre, set in Downtown Dubai close to Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mall. The area is one of the busiest in the city, with plenty of restaurants and walks nearby, so it is easy to pair a concert with dinner beforehand.

As a seated classical concert with an interval, it suits families, couples and friends looking for a festive evening that is musical rather than party-driven. The programme is described as suitable for audiences of all ages, and its mix of Western carols and Arabic songs gives it a distinctly local character.