CHICAGO: Emiraticellist Elham Al-Marzooqiwill perform at Carnegie Hall on Thursday with world-renowned violinist Renaud Capucon, acclaimed conductor Andres Orozco-Estrada, and the Reina Sofía School of Music Symphony Orchestra.
The performance is in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Festival, the flagship initiative of the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation.
The performance of“A Journey to the New World”will be in the presence of Spain’s Queen Sofía and Huda Alkhamis-Kanoo, founder of ADMAF and the festival.
Al-Marzooqi, a regular guest of the festival who has performed in several of its commissioned productions and with leading international orchestras, will be the only Emirati musician performing at the Carnegie Hall concert.
Crediting the UAE and the Gulf with creating an environment that supports the professional ambitions of women, she also has a law degree and is performing as an actress in a feature film to be released later this year.
She told Arab News that her musical journey began when she was 5 years old, at a studio in Abu Dhabi founded by her mother in the 1980s.
“I really wanted to be a part of an orchestra, and I always loved the cello. My teacher at the time asked why I don’t join the community orchestra, which I did,” said Al-Marzooqi, who has since performed as a cellist worldwide.
She is the only Emirati musician to perform with the Firdaus Orchestra at Dubai Expo, an all-female pioneering orchestra under the mentorship of Grammy and Academy Award-winning composer A.R. Rahman.
“I feel that with an orchestra, there are a set of rules and set of protocols. I love the structure. I love the fact that people get together and work together,” Al-Marzooqi said.
She also performed with the Filharmonica del Teatri Communal del Moderno under Grammy Award-winning composer and conductor Tan Dun, the Puccini Opera Gala in Abu Dhabi with the Puccini Festival Orchestra, and China’s National Symphony Orchestra.
In 2023, Al-Marzooqi received a prestigious music grant from the UAE Ministry of Culture and Youth as part of its National Grant Program for Culture and Creativity.
It enabled her to travel to Poland for the 2024 Krakow Film Festival to perform the first European presentation of Disney’s “The Lion King” at Tauron Arena with the Beethoven Academy Orchestra.
She is the first Emirati cellist to have performed twice in the UAE and ֱ with renowned Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.
“Orchestra is my focus, but I also delved into other genres of music, including jazz,” Al-Marzooqi said. “I was on stage at International Jazz Day held every April 30 in Abu Dhabi, with Herbie Hancock.”
She became a fulltime lawyer practicing in the UK, with an interest in the music industry. She is a qualified solicitor of the Senior Courts of England & Wales, and senior legal counsel at Ethara, an event, entertainment and venue management powerhouse in Abu Dhabi.
