AMMAN — The year 2021 will see the creation of an academy that aims to train the opera talents of the future, encouraging intercultural exchange between different countries by promoting the Arabic tradition in the region, and throughout the rest of the world, according to Opera statement. 

 

Opera for Peace, the world’s largest network for young singers, will act as an umbrella organisation uniting cultural and educational institutions and artists. 

 

Founding partners come from Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia and the UAE, as well as from outside the region, said the statement. 

 

This is “the first collaborative initiative of its kind”, and will change the way the world sees Arabic art and its global influence. Changing, creating, always innovating, and exchanging ideas will enrich understanding and dialogue between people from different backgrounds. 

 

This academy is established as part of our Opera for Peace Global Connections Programme, which gives an in-depth focus to different strategic regions, offering local support, new artistic and educational initiatives, and most importantly a way to connect to the wider global cultural community, while in touch with the specific needs of each area in collaboration with our partners, read the statement.

 

The project serves as a worldwide celebration of Arab opera, providing access for all nations to the Arab culture through the development of opera in the Arabic language. The origin of Arabic music is not derived from mode and tonality, but according to the rhythm of the Arabic poem. 

 

The mode and tonality (maqamat), known today as Oriental Arabic music, comes as a result of several influences. “Every time the art of opera is sung in a new language it brings people together through an understanding of their culture and art. Therefore, opera in the Arabic language reflects the face of the Arab culture and a distinct notion of peace and unity,” concluded the statement.