Music Commission to Organize ‘Masterpieces of Saudi Music’ Concert in US

The Music Commission will organize a musical show next Sunday at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Square in New York City
The Music Commission will organize a musical show next Sunday at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Square in New York City
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Music Commission to Organize ‘Masterpieces of Saudi Music’ Concert in US

The Music Commission will organize a musical show next Sunday at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Square in New York City
The Music Commission will organize a musical show next Sunday at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Square in New York City

Under the patronage of Minister of Culture Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, the Music Commission, with the participation of the Theater and Performing Arts Commission, will organize a musical show next Sunday at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Square in New York City.

Eighty musicians from the National Orchestra and Choir (NOC) and the Saudi Performing Arts Band, accompanied by the American jazz band, Dizzy Gillespie, will perform at the concert as part of the “Masterpieces of Saudi Music," which includes a medley of Saudi folk songs in addition to individual performances. Dizzy Gillespie will present musical pieces in a joint performance with NOC.

The Theater and Performing Arts Commission will also present five shows that reflect the Kingdom's cultural diversity, including Al-Majrour, and Al-Samari.

The concert at the Metropolitan Opera House is the third destination of the "Masterpieces of Saudi Music" initiative after performances in Paris and the US state of New Mexico with the aim of introducing the world to Saudi music and performing arts.



UN Puts 4th Century Gaza Monastery on Endangered Site List

The Saint Hilarion complex dates back to the fourth century. Mahmud HAMS / AFP/File
The Saint Hilarion complex dates back to the fourth century. Mahmud HAMS / AFP/File
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UN Puts 4th Century Gaza Monastery on Endangered Site List

The Saint Hilarion complex dates back to the fourth century. Mahmud HAMS / AFP/File
The Saint Hilarion complex dates back to the fourth century. Mahmud HAMS / AFP/File

The Saint Hilarion complex, one of the oldest monasteries in the Middle East, has been put on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites in danger due to the war in Gaza, the body said Friday.
UNESCO said the site, which dates back to the fourth century, had been put on the endangered list at the demand of Palestinian authorities and cited the "imminent threats" it faced.
"It's the only recourse to protect the site from destruction in the current context," Lazare Eloundou Assomo, director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, told AFP, referring to the war sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel.
In December, the UNESCO Committee for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict decided to grant "provisional enhanced protection" -- the highest level of immunity established by the 1954 Hague Convention -- to the site.
UNESCO had then said it was "already concerned about the state of conservation of sites, before October 7, due to the lack of adequate policies to protect heritage and culture" in Gaza.
The Hamas attack on October 7 resulted in the deaths of 1,197 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
Israel's retaliatory offensive against Hamas has killed at least 39,175 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, which does not give details of civilian and militant deaths.