# 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.

- Canonical URL: https://newsverum.com/en/news/abu-dhabi-festival-opens-with-national-orchestra-2026
- Publisher: Newsverum
- Section: Culture
- Country: United Arab Emirates
- Published: 2026-10-11T23:19:28+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-11T23:19:28+00:00
- Event / data period: 2026-10-10
- Other editions: [Türkçe](https://newsverum.com/tr/news/abu-dhabi-festival-opens-with-national-orchestra-2026.md), [العربية](https://newsverum.com/ar/news/abu-dhabi-festival-opens-with-national-orchestra-2026.md), [Français](https://newsverum.com/fr/news/abu-dhabi-festival-opens-with-national-orchestra-2026.md), [Español](https://newsverum.com/es/news/abu-dhabi-festival-opens-with-national-orchestra-2026.md), [Deutsch](https://newsverum.com/de/news/abu-dhabi-festival-opens-with-national-orchestra-2026.md), [Português](https://newsverum.com/pt/news/abu-dhabi-festival-opens-with-national-orchestra-2026.md)

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.

Methodology: The Media Office report says the opening night comprised three works. The count covers only the performances listed in that report.

| Works performed |
|---|
| 3 |

Sources: <https://www.mediaoffice.abudhabi/en/arts-culture/nahyan-bin-mubarak-attends-23rd-abu-dhabi-festival-opening-night-with-musical-evening-by-uae-national-orchestra/> · Download data: [JSON](https://newsverum.com/api/v1/articles/abu-dhabi-festival-opens-with-national-orchestra-2026/data/opening-programme?lang=en&format=json) · [CSV](https://newsverum.com/api/v1/articles/abu-dhabi-festival-opens-with-national-orchestra-2026/data/opening-programme?lang=en&format=csv)

## Sources

- [Abu Dhabi Media Office](<https://www.mediaoffice.abudhabi/en/arts-culture/nahyan-bin-mubarak-attends-23rd-abu-dhabi-festival-opening-night-with-musical-evening-by-uae-national-orchestra/>) (Source checked: 2026-10-12; Published: 2026-10-11)
- [Abu Dhabi Media Office](<https://www.mediaoffice.abudhabi/en/arts-culture/abu-dhabi-festival-2026-to-celebrate-wisdom-of-culture-in-uae-with-season-of-performances/>) (Source checked: 2026-10-12; Published: 2026-07-22)

---

Cite the canonical URL above. [Editorial standards and corrections](https://newsverum.com/en/editorial)