City jazz concert to mark Francophonie days

A jazz concert by renowned French musician Jasser Haj Youssef today will mark the Francophonie days in Qatar, scheduled to take place at the Qatar National Theatre, it was announced.
The Francophonie week started on March 17 and runs until March 25 in France and around the world to celebrate the French language.
Youssef’s concert, which will start at 7.30pm, is organised by the French embassy in Doha and the French Institute in Qatar, supported by Fifty One East and FNAC (exclusive sponsors) and Qatar Airways (official airline). Admission is free but on a first- come, first-served basis.
Speaking to reporters at a press briefing yesterday at the French Institute in Qatar, Youssef said he plays viola d’amore and classical violin. He will be performing with three other musicians in Doha.
“I try to be deep and sincere in my performance because it is very important to do it by heart,” he stressed. “If I am in Doha, for example, I get more inspired if get to listen to a Holy Qur’an reading.”
Apart from sharing his passion to young audiences, Youssef also composes, directs and performs with numerous artists from all walks of life. From Barbara Hendricks to Youssou N’Dour or Sister Marie Keyrouz, stars of the opera world and the flamboyant diva Simone Kermes, he performs in different countries around the world.
The musician recently directed the Chamber Orchestra of Paris at the Philharmonie of Paris, in France. Graduated with a degree in Music, Musicology and Education, the Tunisian prodigy records his first album Sira with his jazz quartet, classic and baroque musicians. 
Youssef pointed out that he normally does not have any particular musical piece to play for a certain country where he performs. “It is important for other people to discover other things they don’t know,” he said. “I think people are intelligent to feel (what’s in) the music.”
Organisers said Sira music is inspired by the Arabic maqam and jazz, and through the musician’s latest album Resonance, “Youssef has opened a new way for the viola d’amore (a huge baroque violin with seven melodious strings and a variable number of nice strings), offering all modern oriental music liberties.”
“Played by him, the viola d’amore becomes the most ecstatic and confidential instrument in the history of music. Youssef surprises, upsets and transforms…poetic with a plural creation, which opens the horizon and liberates music,” organisers added.
Prior to the concert, students of the poetry workshop of the French Institute in Qatar will open the evening by introducing the audience to French poems on the theme of music, accompanied by the bewitching sound of the flute ney.