Ad Diriyah: UNESCO Inauguration Event

Produced by Executive Visions

  1. Gate 1 - Wadi Hanifah 2:51
  2. Gate 1 Interstitial 1:00
  3. Gate 3 - Mani Al Muraidi 2:38
  4. Gate 3 Interstitial 0:30
  5. Gate 4 - Imam Mohammad Bin Saud 1:50
  6. Gate 5 - Samhan 1:57
  7. Gate 6 - Salman 2:15
  8. Ardah Dance (With Chant) 4:06
  9. Gate 7 - Mohammad 2:12
  10. Embrace 0:43
  11. Walk Up 0:28
  12. Fanfare For The King 1:07
  13. Finale (Contains excerpts from the score to The Bible, composed by Hans Zimmer & Lorne Balfe and Rush composed by Hans Zimmer) 6:03
  14. Ardah Dance (Orchestra Only) 4:07

It’s not often that someone calls you to ask if you’ll write music for a giant live ceremony, on the scale of an Olympics opening ceremony.

This was an intimidating job at first, but once I got my head around the idea that this was music for the people who would want to visit the ancient site Ad Diriyah it became less of a scary endeavor and more a way to engage multiple cultures and bring them together so they can marvel at what great things humankind can do.

There’s just something so positive about writing music like this. I always say music knows no boundaries and doesn’t care about politics or borders, and this was one way I could put my mind to actually living that idea rather than just talking about it.

This was for a live performance at the The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site at Ad Diriyah, to commemorate opening the site to tourism. It included a spectacular fireworks show, lasers, more than a hundred dancers and puppeteers, lighting effects and drone effects all set to a live performance by the Prague Symphony Orchestra.

The broadcast reached millions of people in the Middle East.