Meet Ihab Darwish, the UAE’s man at the Grammy Awards.
The composer is the first Emirati to become a voting member of the Recording Academy, the administering body of the annual music awards show. The distinction means the Abu Dhabi musician will be able to cast his vote for a number of categories as part of the US ceremony next year, which will take place in Las Vegas.
The news was announced on Thursday by the Recording Academy, with Darwish part of 2,000 music professionals invited to become a voting member.
The move also comes as the organisation strives to diversify its membership in the wake of growing criticism regarding its racial and professional composition and voting practices.
In an accompanying video released on its social media channels, the Recording Academy's director of member and outreach systems, Ashley Thomas, said 56 per cent of the 2,700 invitees (700 of whom are non-voting members) come from "underrepresented communities".
“I think this is a very important move and I applaud the academy for what they are doing,” Darwish tells The National.
“We do need more representation from the Arab world and to be the first Emirati to be part of it is an honour but also a responsibility at the same time.
“I do hope I can use my position to shed more light on some of the great artists and works coming from the region.”
How did it happen?
Darwish joins a number of existing members from Mena, including Moroccan and Egyptian producers Nadir “RedOne” Khayat and Fathy Salama.
While those two were automatically eligible for a membership having been nominated (and in both cases winning a Grammy), Darwish received his initial invite in February through the recommendation from an anonymous member.
“It was really surprising because the invite just arrived in my email,” Darwish recalled.
That being said, the official offer was the beginning of an intensive application process.
Darwish had to send a dossier documenting his career achievements and output, including the release of 2018 debut album Waves of My Life and a gala performance at the Abu Dhabi Festival that same year, in addition to recording with international groups such as Poland's Beethoven Academy Orchestra.
He will also collaborate with US composers David Shire and John Debney for the Abrahamic Symphony: Unity of Three, an Abu Dhabi Festival commissioned performance that will feature four movements, three choirs, 10 soloists and three vocalists from Muslim, Christian and Jewish backgrounds.
The concert will be part of the planned opening of Abu Dhabi's interfaith complex, the Abrahamic Family House, on Saadiyat Island. Darwish confirms the piece will be released later in the year or early next year.
He will also be the first one to make a case for its Grammy consideration in the appropriate categories.
A voice in the room
In the meantime, he plans to take part in many of the music and industry workshops afforded to Recording Academy members.
“By being involved in these things and sharing your view point, it will help open people’s mind to music from the region,” he says.
"And it is very important to do that now because Arabic music is becoming increasingly well recognised within classical music and curriculums so I feel more Arab artists have to be part of this and share our perspectives.”
Darwish says his career achievements of blending Arabic instruments and melodies with western classical music arrangements will bolster his case when arguing for the importance of Arabic music within the Recording Academy.
"We need to have a bigger voice to direct attention to our music world," he says.
"For some people, we will have to introduce them and for others we can show the deep impact it has within many genres. It is a challenge that I really plan to embrace."
Darwish says he plans to listen closely, and widely, to the rich creative work coming from the region’s musicians.
As with the great composers and industry figures now accessible because of his membership, it may not be too long until fellow members one day cast Darwish's name on the Grammy winner’s ballet.
If that moment ever comes, he already has parts of his speech ready.
“It will have to include Abu Dhabi Festival artistic director Huda AlKhamis-Kanoo for her support, my manager Zosia Jeziorna and brother Gehad Darwish,” he says.
“No matter what happens, they are all my solid pillars behind any success and achievements I attained.”
Scroll the gallery below for images of winners of the 2022 Grammy Awards.
New UK refugee system
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Three-day coronation
Royal purification
The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.
The crown
Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.
The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.
The audience
On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.
The procession
The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.
Meet the people
On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.
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