Beyond Words

Haere mai and ahlan wa sahlan to a very special concert to open the NZSO 2024 Season. To mark the 5th anniversary of the Christchurch Mosque attacks, we present a unique collaboration promoting unity and peace through music.

Conducted by Fawzi Haimor, featuring powerful Moroccan vocalist OUM and oud virtuoso Kyriakos Tapakis, the NZSO performs works from Valerie Coleman, Reza Val, Arvo Pärt, traditional song and the world premiere of a new work from Aotearoa New Zealand composer John Psathas.

Psathas’ Ahlan wa Sahlan, composed in collaboration with OUM and Tapakis, uses the Arabic welcome to let people know they are in a place where they belong. Finding inspiration in a quote promoting peace, love and forgiveness from Mosque attack survivor Farid Ahmed’s memoir Husna's Story, Psathas, OUM and Tapakis have fused together musical styles from Eastern and Western cultures in Ahlan wa Sahlan.

This work has been created with guidance from The Central Iqra Trust and Muslim communities from across Aotearoa New Zealand.

The Orchestra also plays the NZ premiere of a work by Reza Vali, whose artistry combines Western orchestration with Persian style, as well as African-American composer Valerie Coleman’s work Umoja, the Swahili word for ‘unity’ and Arvo Pärt’s spiritual and meditative work Silouan’s Song.

Vocalists Abdelilah Rharrabti and Esmail Fathi and setarist Liam Oliver from Christchurch’s Simurgh Music School also join the Orchestra to perform traditional music of the Middle East.

Beyond Words is a symphonic expression of solidarity and peace performed as a prelude to Unity Week and other activities across Aotearoa New Zealand – let the NZSO take you on this journey beyond borders, beyond words.

Prayer rooms will be avaliable at each concert venue.