Muscat: Oman will play host to the biggest international musical concert ever staged on its soil, when the world famous musician, composer and pianist Yanni (Yanni Chrysomallis) and his troupe perform here, as part of a Black & White magazine charity initiative for the blind, on October 26.
Yanni will be performing for the first time ever in the Middle East.
The ‘Yanni Live in Concert’ in Oman is part of Yanni’s ‘Truth of Touch’ musical tour. The concert is a first of its kind in Oman and will place Oman on the musical world map.
It is aimed at raising funds for the blind and also raising much needed awareness of the plight of the visually challenged in Oman, Mohamed Issa Al Zadjali, editor in chief of Black & White, said.
Al Noor Association for the Blind
In Oman, Al Noor Association for the Blind is the only nongovernmental organisation (NGO) catering for the visually challenged.
In the absence of any institution that specialises in the training of the blind in both the private and public sectors, Al Noor Association took the initiative to build one in Nizwa, because, as Al Noor members noted, “it (Nizwa) is central to Oman in many ways and its strategic location and the fact that most of the blind come from the interiors of Oman made it the automatic choice to build the training centre there”.
Most of the blind in the country graduate without specific job training thus the centre in Nizwa is aimed to fill that gap.
“The total cost of the building is 375,000 Omani riyals. We have collected almost 200,000 riyals as donations from the private sector and the construction has now reached up to the roof. The contactor will soon embark on the construction of the remaining part of the building,” informed Barka Al Bakry, vice chairperson of Al Noor Association.
“We hope to raise the remaining part of the required funds to build the centre from the private sector,” she added.
The ‘Yanni Live in Concert’ is aimed to raise some funds for the training centre building, as well as shed light on the visually challenged in Oman.
Yanni, who has performed live at the Acropolis in Athens, Greece; at the Royal Albert Hall, London; Taj Mahal in India; Forbidden City in China and a host of other world-renowned locales, looks set to make a breakthrough in the annals of music performances with his live concert in Muscat.
