An enchanting evening awaits Dubai music lovers with Gregorian performing tonight at Madinat Arena.
The seven-piece, robe-clad German group transforms modern pop and rocks songs into ethereal and elegiac Gregorian chants.
The vocalist Amelia Brightman explains that the covers approach is not a cynical cash grab but acts a bridge for audiences to the centuries-old art form: "It is taking something very familiar and putting it in a new and interesting place.
"People report spiritual experiences when they come to the concerts because there is that familiarity with that sacred environment that comes from the voices but at the same time you are hearing songs that are familiar. So there are two things that you are comfortable with and you feel good about it melded together."
Examples of the rock staples taken to another dimension include Gregorian's takes on Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven and Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb.
Where the latter had Roger Waters sounding angry and despondent, Gregorian's version is uplifting and hymnlike.
According to Brightman, songs are picked according to how vocally flexible they are. "There are certain musical necessities because of the seven-tone element of Gregorian chanting," she says.
Brightman says there is more to the Gregorian live experience than seven ashen-faced monks crowded together. There is a fair element of theatre woven in, enhancing the otherworldly feel of it all.
"There is a lot of fire, including a fire-breathing drummer. The choreography is amazing and there are effects all over the place," she says.
Thursday night at Madinat Arena, Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai. Doors open at 7.30pm. Tickets start from Dh295, available from www.timeouttickets.com
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The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 582bhp
Torque: 730Nm
Price: Dh649,000
On sale: now
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
EMERGENCY PHONE NUMBERS
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
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Company profile
Date started: January, 2014
Founders: Mike Dawson, Varuna Singh, and Benita Rowe
Based: Dubai
Sector: Education technology
Size: Five employees
Investment: $100,000 from the ExpoLive Innovation Grant programme in 2018 and an initial $30,000 pre-seed investment from the Turn8 Accelerator in 2014. Most of the projects are government funded.
Partners/incubators: Turn8 Accelerator; In5 Innovation Centre; Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant Programme; Dubai Future Accelerators; FHI 360; VSO and Consult and Coach for a Cause (C3)
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Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
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Uefa Champions League, quarter-final, second leg
Where: Etihad Stadium
When: Tuesday, 10.45pm
Live on beIN Sports HD