ChoirFest Middle East 2017

Designed to bring together and help develop vocal talents across the UAE and the Middle East, the annual ChoirFest Middle East 2017 will take place from 26 Feb - 04 March in Dubai British School. ChoirFest ­Middle East is the region’s biggest and best showcase for a cappella music – and, after all, how many cities in the world can even claim to host a festival of choirs?

ChoirFest is as much about community as entertainment, about showcasing the beauty of the human voice for a local audience and strengthening the wider regional community by inviting far flung and marginalised groups in to perform and compete. Not that it is really about competition, either. Music fans will get a chance to admire the diverse vocal styles of choirs — ranging from school to those comprising amateur and professional choral singers.

The foundations for ChoirFest were laid in 2013 when promoters 'The Fridge' co-hosted The Score Choir of the Year competition, a new event for UAE vocal ensembles. The contest proved so successful, that the following year the event was expanded to welcome regional performers and renamed ­ChoirFest Middle East. Last year, more than 2,000 singers took part in the festival, of whom 1,400 are pupils from primary and secondary schools. Visitors to the Choirfest 2016 were benefited by various workshops with leading Swedish a cappella quintet, The Real Group, as well as the UK’s leading baritone Phillip Smith and conductor Sarah Tenant-Flowers. There were also a series of concerts by Al Fayha Choir, which featured cappella singers, aged 16 to 40, from Lebanon. Fayha Choir also performed two concerts, alongside Sharjah’s Nassim Al Saba, at the 'The Fridge'. Moreover, Palestinian student choir Banat Al-Quds – one of the Arab world’s few all- female groups – made their international debut at last year’s ChoirFest.

Meanwhile, Choirfest 2017 shines the limelight on organized group singing. The region’s top-tier choirs and choral experts congregate to showcase their skills across seven days of competitions, workshops and concerts. Junior and senior schools will compete in their own categories from 28 Feb onwards. Don’t miss this opportunity to see Ghani Fil Bayt as well as ‘Choir of The Year’ and ‘Gospel on The Grass’ performances for an evening of extraordinary choral music.

For more information and to register for the workshops or purchase tickets for the ChoirFest Middle East, visit www.choirfestme.com