100 Women: Qatar who composed symphonic music and performed in international plays

Dana is connected to music through an ancient and rooted relationship, which created her awareness at an early age because she only remembers reading the keyboard, and she says she created conversations between toys through musical sounds. She is not yet five years old playing on the keyboard.

But her life in the music world was neither traditional nor direct, Dana studied international relations at the American University of Sharjah and then studied gemology in London. A jewelry industry .. but he says his music debut changed everything and was a “rediscovery” of himself.

Dana Al Furton says it was an opportunity to reflect on the long hours she spent every day in the lab with gems, during which she realized her real interest was in music.

“I used to sit and listen to music on my iPod, and it gave me time to listen to my inner voice. And it directed the feeling of expressing myself through music.

Dana Al-Ferton was born and raised in Doha, the capital of Qatar, and is the eldest of five sisters. , He has represented his country on many international occasions.

But she did not travel this path on her own, but rather, as she affirms, received support from all spectrum of her family, her country and her community. Qatar’s support for it comes from “special appreciation for the culture of this country, which is located in cultural buildings such as the Islamic Museum, the venue where I performed my first concert, and the infrastructure (art and music) that supports this trend was ready there.”

“Really! Composer of Qatari music and traditional music! Are you sure?” Faced with such reactions, she did not deny that at first she had some doubts or surprises. She had the opportunity to present her work as tell us.

Dana’s international debut began in 2015 at the “Kadokan Hall” in London, the first concert by Lebanese musician and composer Kai Ma Nokian in the British capital.

“The producer of the concert, Ali Mather, contacted me and suggested that Kai Manukian open the concert. This is the first time the audience has known my music outside of Qatar,” says Dana.

Nadim’s first encounter with us was the result of that concert, and Nadim later starred as Raoul in the popular musical “The Phantom of the Opera”, set to music by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

“My daughter and I were very impressed with the work of Andrew Lloyd Webber and the Phantom of the Opera, and still are.

In fact, that meeting was the beginning of a continuous collaboration between the two, the first fruit of which was the song play “Broken Wings”, which was presented in 2018 at the “Royal Homemarket” Theater in the West End region. Zibran was inspired by a short novel written by Khalil Zibran, which married his literary work. Excerpts from his biography.

“Music is not an external component of my life, but a part of it,” Dana said. .It’s natural for me, there’s no division between us. ”

Pregnancy and motherhood played a role in Dana’s musical inspiration, and she released her first album after her daughter’s birth, and the connection between her motherhood and her musical work continued in balance and mutual enrichment.

She knows that there is a challenge that every mother with a career faces, and the important thing in this case, as she sees it, is “understanding the importance of setting priorities, doing all that needs to be done and maintaining balance, and not focusing on one aspect at the expense of another.”

According to Dana, the key to combining the love of motherhood and career is that the mother spends enough time with her children and the desire to participate and interact with them. “For me, it’s not quantity, it’s quality,” he says. “Every mother has her own style, but I’m determined to share my life with my daughter. She’s my best friend, not just my baby I’m raising. She goes to workouts with me, which is part of everything I do, for example I told her.” About Broken Wings and Kahlil Gibran.

“It’s been easy for me because it’s my professional music, and it’s one of the easiest things to share. Music has given me the opportunity to strengthen my relationship with my daughter, and allowed more topics to be discussed with her, and more information to share. Even with her.”

In November of this year, the second musical by Dana Al Ferton and Nadim Naman was screened at the prestigious London Coliseum. Named “Rumi”, it is a masterpiece inspired by the life of the philosopher and poet Jalal al-Din al-Vin. Rumi and his strong relationship with Shams al-Din al-Tabrizi, who lived in the thirteenth century and its impact on his thought and poetry.

Dana says that through this work Rumi wants to present the man outside of the brief public view of the world. “I wanted to give it the space and dimensions it deserves culturally and globally,” he adds.

He wanted to present “the most rich tradition we have”, which prompted Zibran Khalil Zibran to appear in the film “Broken Wings” earlier.

Dana Al-Ferton and her music also took part in the “Qatar-America 2021 Year” celebrations, and the main goal of the idea of ​​cultural exchange was to “emphasize our unity, as well as respect the aesthetics of our differences, and the role of culture in general.”

Dana believes that music is a universal language and that his works are characterized by a structure with Arabic influences, but they have different influences, and it allows everyone to taste, interact with it and find themselves in it.

Last summer, Dana released her fourth album, “Indigo,” in which she wrote the lyrics and sang them herself.

“During the epidemic, I wanted to create a space that would allow me to practice my true inner self, which would allow me to make a journey towards my roots and my own essence,” says Dana. “We all needed something so badly. We were isolated, we could not control anything outside of us. We could control it and grow within ourselves.

“Is that the time you’re thinking about what’s going on? What’s my skill? What’s the size with them? Where am I going?

Dana Al-Fardan believes the stereotype is ubiquitous, and the way to change it is to “tell our own stories and retrieve our own stories and tales, and this is what I am introducing to Zibran Khalil Zibran and Al-Rumi.” We need to regain control over the way we present and, whenever we have the opportunity to tell, use our story and present it in a global arena.

His next project for Dana is to present Eliza, also known as Tito, Queen of Carthage, in a world-class musical.

Commenting on the choice of this famous female figure in the history of the Middle East, Dana says, “Dido was a wonderful historian who founded the Kingdom of Carthage, but unfortunately it was not the only treatment for his story. It was an opera by Henry Purcell based on a play by Christopher Marlowe. It’s time to dump her and move on. ”