Katara's "Fifth String" Oud festival opens in Qatar

DOHA, March 18 (KUNA) -- The Cultural Village Foundation (Katara) Saturday evening opened its Oud Festival themed "The Fifth String" which brings a host of the world's top lute musicians and makers.
The festival is part of a series of cultural events and projects Katara adopts in its unrelenting pursuit for developing communication between cultures, Katara General Manager of Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti told the opening ceremony.
Music, in particular, has a priority and a leading role in such communication, he added.
Al Sulaiti noted that Oud has always been the wooden stringed musical instrument favored by huge numbers of people who even belong to various cultures.
Just as Arabic books and manuscripts on science, medicine, astronomy and engineering found their way to Europe, the Oud found moved into the continent through Andalusia in the 14th century, he said.
Katara is highly keen on reviving interest in the genuine cultural aspect of the Arab musical heritage, opening up fresh prospects for the instrument to encourage the rising generations to use it in composition and singing.
The festival features a host of major lute players from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iraq, Egypt, Syria and Tunisia, as well as Oud makers, and music groups from France, Serbia, Kosovo and Tanzania.
Live shows will be performed over the four-day event, in addition to music seminars by renowned musicians. Oud lovers will have a chance to learn about the history and the evolvement of the instrument. (end) nnd.msa