Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra celebrates Canada and Mexico through the 2026 Years of Culture concert series

Doha, Qatar The Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra (QPO) will celebrate the musical heritage of Mexico and Canada this season with two special concerts presented as part of the Qatar Canada and Mexico 2026 Year of Culture, bringing some of each country’s defining orchestral works to audiences in Doha.

The Years of Culture concert series will begin with Sounds of Mexico on September 18 led by acclaimed Mexican conductor Enrique Arturo Diemecke, followed by Sounds of Canada on November 7, conducted Charles Olivieri-Munroe. Both performances will take place at the Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC).

The two concerts reflect a longstanding collaboration between QPO and Years of Culture, using music as a shared language through which audiences can encounter the histories, identities and creative traditions of Qatar’s partner countries.

QPO Executive Director Kurt Meister said: “Music allows us to experience another culture in an immediate and emotional way. With Sounds of Mexico and Sounds of Canada, we’re bringing audiences in Qatar music they may not hear very often and giving them a chance to discover the composers and stories behind it. That’s what makes Years of Culture so valuable, it brings people and cultures together in a very natural way.”

Sounds of Mexico

Presented as part of Mexico’s Independence Day celebrations, Sounds of Mexico invites audiences in Doha to experience the country through its music, while offering Mexican audiences the chance to see their musical heritage celebrated through cultural exchange. 

The concert also marks the return to Qatar of Enrique Arturo Diemecke, Mexico’s most internationally recognised conductor and a lifelong champion of Latin American repertoire. Diemecke conducted QPO in Doha in September 2025 for A Musical Encounter: Sounds of Qatar and Argentina, before leading more than 70 QPO musicians in the orchestra’s historic debut at Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires as part of the Qatar Argentina and Chile 2025 Year of Culture.

Returning now to lead Qatar’s national orchestra through the music of his own country, the concert presents a journey through some of Mexico’s orchestral voices. The programme features Arturo Márquez’s Danzón No. 2, Carlos Chávez’s Chacona in E Minor, Blas Galindo’s Sones de Mariachi and Silvestre Revueltas’s Redes, Second Suite.

Sounds of Canada

On November 7, the series turns to Canada with Sounds of Canada, conducted by Charles Olivieri-Munroe. His own journey, born in the Czech Republic, raised and educated in Canada, and subsequently building an international career, reflects a theme running through the programme itself: the role of migration and cultural exchange in shaping Canadian classical music.

The concert will spotlight the music of Oskar Morawetz, the Czech-born composer who became one of Canada's most prominent 20th-century composers after fleeing Europe during WWII. Together, the programme introduces Doha audiences to a Canadian orchestral tradition shaped by the movement of people and ideas across borders.

Music as cultural exchange

The two concerts form part of the wider Qatar Canada and Mexico 2026 Year of Culture, a year-long programme connecting the three countries through exhibitions, design, film, sport, heritage, education and community exchange. The QPO series adds music to that conversation by pairing internationally recognised conductors with repertoire deeply connected to the countries they represent.Concert details

Sounds of Mexico (Tickets are on sale now through Platinumlist): September 18, 2026 | Qatar National Convention Centre, QNCC

Conductor: Enrique Arturo Diemecke

Programme:
Arturo Márquez – Danzón No. 2
Carlos Chávez – Chacona in E Minor
Blas Galindo – Sones de Mariachi
Silvestre Revueltas – Redes, Second Suite

Sounds of Canada: November 7, 2026 | Qatar National Convention Centre

Conductor: Charles Olivieri-Munroe

Programme:
Oskar Morawetz — Carnival Overture
Pierre Mercure — Kaleidoscope
Jacques Hétu — On the Banks of the Saint-Maurice River, Op. 78
Oskar Morawetz — Symphony No. 2