Thursday 27 February 2020, 9.30pm – Venue: Etihad Garden Stage
Bachar Mar-Khalifé appears on stage with his father Marcel Khalifé, the renowned Lebanese composer, oudist and singer, in a musical tribute to his friend the great Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. It was by singing Darwish's poetry at the beginning of his career that Marcel Khalifé reached international acclaim, far beyond the Arab world.

Marcel Khalifé is a virtuoso of the oud. He studied and taught at Beirut Higher Conservatory of Music. He performed on the world’s greatest stages and with the world’s great orchestras. In 2005, he was named UNESCO Artist for Peace. With the Al Mayadine ensemble, which he founded in Lebanon in 1976, he combined Arabic and Western instruments, performing instrumental compositions and sung poetry. Darwish’s poems remain the most famous works in Khalifé’s repertoire. Mixing Arab music traditions with jazz and electro, Bachar Mar-Khalifé invites his illustrious father and an instrumental ensemble to revisit this unique collaboration between poet and musician.

Marcel Khalifé – oud & vocal; Bachar Mar-Khalifé – conception, piano and vocal; Maxime Delpierre – electric guitar; Anthony Millet – accordion; Sary Khalifé – cello; Aleksander Angelov – bass; Dogan Poyraz – percussion.

Arabic