Global premiere of concerto by Khoury

Tatiana Primak Khoury will perform the world premiere of Lebanese composer Houtaf Khoury’s Angel of Light Piano Concerto with the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra tomorrow  at 7.30pm, in the Katara Cultural Village Opera House. Han-Na Chang will conduct the programme, which also includes Sergei Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony. Khoury Houtaf has composed four symphonies, 11 concertos, three trios, three string quartets and a quintet. After studies in Tripoli, Lebanon, he earned masters and PhD degrees in composition at the National Music Academy of Ukraine in Kiev. His music has been performed in Australia, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Lebanon, Mexico, Peru, Qatar, Russia, El Salvador, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States.In 2010 he was awarded a prize by the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture for his Third and Fourth Symphonies that allowed him to record his works with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine. Prokofiev composed his Fifth Symphony in 1944 and conducted its premiere in Moscow in early 1945. World War II was still intense, and Prokofiev composed the symphony in a safe refuge run by the Soviet Union. He gave out in a statement at the time that he intended it as “a hymn to free and happy Man, to his mighty powers, his pure and noble spirit”. He added: “I cannot say that I deliberately chose this theme. It was born in me and clamoured for expression. The music matured within me. It filled my soul.” The result was one of the greatest of 20th-century symphonies. From an early age Primak Khoury performed solo recitals in her native Ukraine. Later on as a professional artist she expanded the geography of her concerts to Europe, America and the Middle East.  Khoury holds a bachelor degree from Lysenko Special Music School and a masters degree from the Tchaikovsky National Academy of Music in Kiev. Her repertoire stretches from Baroque to contemporary music. Her collaboration with many living composers of Ukraine, Russia and Lebanon resulted in performing and recording their new works, many of which were world premieres. Those made in Lebanon, where she resides now, married to Lebanese composer Houtaf Khoury, marked a significant addition to the few commercial releases of Lebanese classical music. Since 2002 she has been serving as artist in residence at the University of Balamand (Lebanon). In addition Tatiana Primak Khoury is professor of piano at the Lebanese National Conservatory of Music. “This season we’ve been the first to perform more than 50 new pieces of music,” says Kurt Meister, executive director of the Qatar Philharmonic. “Houtaf Khoury’s piano concerto is one of a half-dozen large-scale works we’ve helped bring to life, fulfilling our mission as a bridge of Western and Arabic musical worlds.” The next three performances of the Qatar Philharmonic will be a Festival of Philharmonic soloists on July 7, 13 and 14. from gulf times.