Abu Dhabi Festival opens its 23rd edition with UAE National Orchestra
The UAE National Orchestra, conducted by François López-Ferrer, performed with pianist David Khrikuli at the festival’s opening concert.
Event / data period: 2026-10-10
Published: · Updated:
Abu Dhabi Festival opened its 23rd edition on October 10 with a concert by the UAE National Orchestra at Etihad Arena. The Abu Dhabi Media Office reported on October 11 that Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, the UAE minister of tolerance and coexistence, attended the opening.
The orchestra was conducted by François López-Ferrer, with pianist David Khrikuli as soloist. The programme included Franz von Suppé’s Light Cavalry Overture, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8, launching the festival’s 2026 season.
Data
Opening concert programme
Number of works the Abu Dhabi Media Office said were performed at the opening concert.
| 3 |
Methodology
The Media Office report says the opening night comprised three works. The count covers only the performances listed in that report.
Updated:
Subjects and places
Subject proposals
- Arts, culture, entertainment and mediaSuggested
- Preserved editorial category/topic; broad candidate onlywww.mediaoffice.abudhabi ↗www.mediaoffice.abudhabi ↗
Geographic references
Only source-provided geographic references are shown. Opening an external map is optional. Optional story maps use OpenStreetMap. Opening a map sends your IP address and this site’s address to the map provider; location data remains readable as text without loading the map.
- United Arab Emirates · Place role: Coverage · Place type: Country or area · Location precision: RegionalEvidence
- Explicit preserved editorial country/region; no city or national centroid inferredwww.mediaoffice.abudhabi ↗www.mediaoffice.abudhabi ↗
- Abu Dhabi · Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates · Place role: Place mentioned by source · Place type: City · Location precision: Approximate
54.3860893525, 24.4396362329 (longitude, latitude)
EvidenceOpen this point in OpenStreetMap ↗- Explicit article mention: Abu Dhabi. Country agrees with the preserved article scope. Gazetteer reference only; event location is unconfirmed.www.mediaoffice.abudhabi ↗www.mediaoffice.abudhabi ↗ungegn.un.org ↗ungegn-api.azurewebsites.net ↗