Celebrating the Abu Dhabi Festival with Natalie Cole

Ambassador Corbin with Natalie Cole

Abu Dhabi, April 3 – As part of the U.S. Embassy participation in the 2012 Abu Dhabi Festival, Ambassador Michael H. Corbin hosted a dinner in honor of leading American singer Natalie Cole on Monday, April 2.  Miss Cole is in the United Arab Emirates for an April 4 performance, her first in the Arab world, as part of this year’s Festival.  Joining the Ambassador to meet Miss Cole were members of the Festival’s Advisory Board and representatives of many of the UAE’s leading cultural and educational institutions and organizations, along with businesspeople, cultural leaders, and other friends of the Embassy.

The Abu Dhabi Festival is organized by the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation. Founded in 2004, the Festival brings together musicians, performers, and artists from around the world for concerts, performances, and extensive educational outreach programming. It seeks to reflect the determination of the UAE’s capital to take the lead in promoting cultural understanding.  American performers and institutions have long been a mainstay of Festival programming.  This year, in addition to Natalie Cole, American artists have been members of several of the international ensembles featured at the Festival, and Carnegie Hall has been a Festival partner in educational workshops in schools across Abu Dhabi.  Ambassador Corbin was a featured participant in one of the Festival’s Riwaq al Fikr debates, on the importance of cultural diplomacy.  Abu Dhabi audiences have also had the chance to see the new Metropolitan Opera production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, broadcast in HD. 

Working in cooperation with public and private partners across the UAE, the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi, along with the U.S. Consulate General in Dubai, supports a range of programs reflecting the depth and breadth of the U.S.-UAE cultural, educational, business, and diplomatic relationship.