Queen Rania meets with Dozan wa Awtar choir members

AMMAN — Her Majesty Queen Rania on Tuesday met with members of the Dozan wa Awtar choir which is participating in the 8th World Choir Games next month.

The troupe, made up of 40 to 60 members representing different professions, age groups and nationalities, is the first Jordanian choir to participate in this competition, which will take place in Riga, Latvia, according to a statement released by the Queen’s office.

During the meeting which was also attended by Dozan wa Awtar’s executive committee, Her Majesty told choir members that she was proud of the work they do to support talented young people, and for promoting Arabic choral music and representing Jordan in this field.

Dozan wa Awtar Choir is a music establishment founded by Shireen Abu-Khader in 2002 to promote Arab composers and to create unique performing art projects through teaching, composing, recording, publishing, and performing music as well as making theatrical productions in collaboration with local and international professional artists and talented youth, the statement said.

The choir is comprised of three main groups: Dozan wa Awtar Singers, which is the main adult choir; Dozan, a smaller Arabic language choir; and Atfal Dozan wa Awtar, a children’s choir formed in 2011.

Dozan wa Awtar will be among 460 international choirs competing at the 8th World Choir Games, which features 29 different competition categories. 

A total of 27,000 participants are expected to come from 73 countries for the games, according to the event’s official website.

Seventy-three jurors from around the world will be evaluating performances to decide the winners.

The World Choir Games, formerly known as “Choir Olympics”, are held every two years on different continents. 

After Shaoxing in China (2010), the seventh World Choir Games in 2012 were held in Cincinnati, the US.