https://arab.news/b74hd
ROME: Residents of Rome attended the first concert in Italy of the Saudi National Music Band on Saturday night as part of the 12th edition of “Musei in Musica” (“Museums in Music”) at one of the capital’s oldest museums.
At the concert, attended by Arab News, the band was represented by Emad Lufti Zari, Reaab Ahmed Bukhari, Abdulaziz Abdullah bin Shannan and Saud Abdulaziz Al-Khulaif.
The Saudi artists performed in the Sala della Protomoteca, one of the biggest and most prestigious halls of the Musei Capitolini, where priceless masterpieces from ancient Roman and baroque art have been preserved and kept on display for centuries.
The Saudi National Music Band was founded in 2019 on the initiative of the Ministry of Culture, with the aim of representing the Kingdom in regional and international events, as well as promoting its musical heritage worldwide, in line with the Vision 2030 reform program.
Twenty-six members make up the band, which is also engaged in the training of over 200 young musicians.
RIYADH: Public, private and international Schools in Jeddah, Rabigh, and Khulais will close Thursday due to expected rainy conditions throughout Makkah region, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Wednesday.
The decision was made to ensure students’ safety and was based on reports from the National Center of Meteorology.
King Abdulaziz University and University of Jeddah have also taken the same measures.
Schools’ first semester’s final exams for Thursday have been postponed, and will be held on the first Thursday of the second semester.
King Abdulaziz University said that alternative dates for postponed exams will be announced later.
The Saudi Civil Defense said that light to heavy rain and strong wind are expected.
It called on all to exercise caution and steer clear from stagnant rainwater and valleys.
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia reported 51 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Health. As a result, the total number of cases in the Kingdom over the course of the pandemic grew to 825,290.
The authorities also confirmed two new COVID-19-related deaths, raising the total number of fatalities to 9,451.
Of the new infections, 16 were recorded in Riyadh and 9 in Jeddah. Several other cities recorded fewer than 5 new cases each.
The ministry also announced that 62 patients had recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total number of recoveries in the Kingdom over the course of the pandemic to 812,591.
It said that 3,248 COVID-19 cases were still active, adding that 5,625 PCR tests were conducted in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number to almost 45 million.
The ministry said that of the current cases, 64 patients were in critical condition.
More than 69 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered since the Kingdom’s immunization campaign began, with more than 25 million people fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile, testing hubs and treatment centers set up throughout the Kingdom have helped millions of people since the outbreak of the pandemic.
Taakad centers provide COVID-19 testing for those who show no or mild symptoms or believe they have come into contact with an infected individual, while Tetamman clinics offer treatment and advice to those with virus symptoms such as fever, loss of taste and smell, and breathing difficulties.
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s largest gaming and e-sports event RUSH is back in the Kingdom’s capital for Riyadh Season 2022.
The five-day festival will be held at Riyadh Front from Nov. 26 to 30 and will include contests in some of the world’s most famous games at various zones.
Visitors will be offered live entertainment shows, DJ performances, an augmented reality experience, and a cosplay competition with winners receiving prizes to the value of SR100,000 ($26,600).
With a focus on the whole of the gaming industry, from console and PC gaming to mobile and e-sports, the RUSH festival aims to give video game aficionados the opportunity to access and experience the latest tech and the chance to interact with each other in real life, and online.
Some of the world’s top content producers will be available to meet the public. Tickets can be booked via the link https://riyadhseason.sa/event-details-en.html?id=599/en_RUSH.
Meanwhile, the Fan Festival, one of the 15 entertainment zones of Riyadh Season, is also organizing several free e-sports competitions, and a virtual arena where FIFA, Fortnite and Tekken tournaments are held.
A World Cup quiz, the “Goal or no Goal” guessing game, and other entertaining football-related activities are available at one of the interactive booths.
The festival also has a virtual interactive stadium that provides a new experience for players by challenging their football skills.
Visitors can also enter the Play Zone that offers activities including bowling and billiards.
RIYADH: A leading international sound engineer is set to hold a three-day course “Music Production: From Zero to Hero,” in Riyadh from Nov. 28, aimed at developing budding talent in the country.
The course is being offered as part of the XP Music Futures conference. “I feel a huge sense of pride, it’s very rewarding and I know it is going to be extremely rewarding for me to be able to share this information with young talent in the region,” said Marcela Rada, who is also the organizer of the conference.
Rada said that with the right tools and education students would be able to fulfil their dreams. “I believe this is going to be huge in empowering artists in the areas (where they) may have not had the opportunity to access this kind of information and tools,” she added.
Rada will lead the six-session educational initiative course along with El Fuego, the DJ and artist. Rada said it would be the first time that she offers such a course in Saudi Arabia, which would cover basics including music production and audio engineering.
Students would be able to get enough knowledge to set up their own operations at home, where they can further develop their skills. “It’s designed for beginners so it’s designed to introduce the tools whether they are hardware or software for them to continue learning on their own afterward,” Rada explained.
The three-day course is divided into two sessions a day, with the first day focusing on “the art” of recording with an introduction to techniques, Rada said.
“We are going to go over a home studio environment and what you are going to need for hardware and software. We are going to touch upon the different types of microphones and microphone techniques,” she said.
The second session of day one will then take students through music production using digital instruments and creating beats.
The first session of the second day will take participants through technical ear training, audio processors, and how to approach mixing music and processing sound.
“That is a session that is going to provide them with the tools to know what to focus on, what to research and how to train their ears so that they can approach mixing in a creative and professional way,” she said.
“The session is designed to give them the basics of hardware and how to treat the analog signal.”
The second session on day two will delve deeper into the specific processors that are available to modify sound.
“The goal of those sessions is to help the students find ways of finding their signature sound. The tools are out there, we will talk about specific ones that they may be unfamiliar with, how to research them, which ones they can use, and which ones are free and available,” Rada said.
Session one of day three would go into depth on immersive audio. “I have been doing research on immersive, or special audio, for the past three years or so and I think we have all seen the boom regarding spatial audio in music production.”
The session would also show how a songwriter, producer, or content creator could take their music to the next level.
“The last session of the last day will be about collaboration. I want to leave them with an opportunity to collaborate with each other, to explore how different talents can collaborate with each other to create something good,” she said.
“They will be able to collaborate and produce a beat and then they will receive feedback from me and their classmates and we will be able to showcase something by the end of the course.”
During her visit last year to the XP music festival as a speaker, Rada said she was approached by several individuals who were eager to learn more about music production.
“This is what inspired the course, I saw the need and eagerness to learn in the area,” she said.
“I would describe it (the Saudi music industry) as (having) very, very talented individuals that are (using) their culture and what they know from their musical influences in the region, as well as what they have been exposed to with international talent. I think that there is a combination of this very local talent influenced by local customs and tradition,” she said.
JEDDAH: The King Salman bin Abdulaziz Royal Reserve Development Authority has been added to the World Database on Protected Areas.
It is the first Saudi reserve to be registered on the global website, the official source for data on protected lands with government agencies and international organizations.
The KSRNR tweeted: “This registration is an important step for the reserve toward joining the green list of globally managed reserves in the International Union for Conservation of Nature.”
The authority announced its commitment to joining the green list of the federation in October during a two-day symposium organized by KSRNR in Riyadh and called “Natural Reserves, International Principles, and Standards,” in cooperation with the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and with the participation of government agencies.
The symposium aimed at achieving the goals of the reserve in protecting nature and helping to restore environmental balance.
The Protected Planet website, the internet portal for WDPA, is the source for data on protected lands globally, and provides mechanisms for business planning and environmental conservation in natural reserves.
The website also provides the basis for monitoring and reporting on progress toward international environmental aims such as the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
KSRNR extends more than 130,000 sq. km and is characterized by its diverse topography, embracing 14 geographical formations of mountains, plains, and plateaus. It also includes six valuable minerals.
Animals within the area include 300 species, ranging from rare deer to birds, reptiles, and amphibians.