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