KMA officially opens with gala concert
Kuwait Music Academy bids to enrich people’s lives
Chopin,
Mozart and Schubert’s music reverberated amid the cool breeze casting a melancholic mood and eliciting an upsurge of emotions from the audience that ushered in the official opening of the Kuwait Music Academy (KMA) at the Al Dana Bilingual School on Friday.
Kuwait Music Academy Founders Fajer Al Mazidi and Prof Cezary Owerkowicz warmly welcomed everyone to the concert that featured talented students as well as musical virtuosos from KMA. Spotted among the audience were US Ambassador to Kuwait Matthew H Tueller, KGL Group of Companies Chairman Saeed E. Dashti and other distinguished guests as well as students and parents.
For the opening salvo, Polish power couple Kinga and Karol Masternak played beautiful music together. Kinga crooned mellifluously C. Loewe’s ‘Die Mutter an der Wiege’ while Karol sat on the piano to accompany the angelic voice. Kinga who has been into music since eight years old, graduated from the Academy of Music in Poland. She expressed happiness to be a part of the KMA, teaching piano and vocals to students while her husband Karol teaches the piano.
Kinga’s song was followed by Karol’s rendition of W.A. Mozart ‘Un moto di gioja’ that earned the couple a thunderous applause.
The audience was treated to a wonderful musical surprise with the performance of the five-year-old Tejia Wang on the piano, playing A. Loschhorn — Study in D Minor and Reindeer Rock. The youngest performer for the night, Tejia who has been studying piano for a year now, showed the audience her passion for music.
Talented
Following Tejia’s performance was the equally talented Abhishek Brindhaban with his rendition of G. Gershwin — Theme from ‘Porgy and Bess.’
Music must run in the family, following Tejia’s well-applauded performance, her 12-year-old sister Teji Wang, this time, entertained the audience with her rendition of E Grieg - Anitra’s Dance on the piano. She also performed S Barber- Canzone on the flute while Karol accompanied her on the piano, to the delight of the audience.
Kinga came back to showcase her mastery on the piano with her rendition of F 2Schubert - Impromptu Op. 90 No 2 followed by Jason Chen who performed F Chopin - Study in C minor Op 10 No. 12, earning the admiration of the audience.
Next to take centre stage was Heui Sung Kim on the piano as he played A. Scriabin - Study in D sharp minor.
Karol came back on stage as he played with much gusto on the piano F Chopin - Scherzo in C sharp Minor Op. 39 followed by the closing salvo of another KMAmusic teacher, Piotr Podemski on the piano with his fantastic rendition of Schubert-Liszt ‘Soirees de Vienne.’
“It’s a great opportunity to see young people in Kuwait who are getting the opportunity to study music. It’s wonderful to see the talent and to see what education can do to enrich people’s lives,” stated Ambassador Tueller who enjoyed the gala concert.
Al Mazidi who is also a pianist thanked everyone who attended the event. “We want musicians in Kuwait to have a place somewhere to go, where they can find lessons for piano, lessons for other special musical instruments and vocals. For now, it’s a humble start, we’re teaching piano and vocals. But in the future, we’ll bring in violin, guitar, oud and other instruments. We’ll try to cover everything,” quipped Al Mazidi who has been also a student of Prof Owerkowicz.
Al-Mazidi and Prof Owerkowicz presented plaques of appreciation KGL Group of Companies Chairman Saeed E. Dashti and prolific theatre actor Hassan Rawas for their support to the Kuwait Music Academy.