Australian singer brings rhythms of the season

Alison Jiear to perform at concert in Dubai. Dubai: You may have known her from Hollywood movies like Being Julia, The Corpse Bride, and Lion King, among many others. But now there is a chance to see and hear Alison Jiear live on stage at Centrepoint Theatre at Ductac with her musicians at her first concert in Dubai, Let it Snow. Gulf News met with the Olivier Award-nominated actress and singer at the Kempinski Hotel at Mall of the Emirates and found out more about her musical shows. "I am very glad that my first visit to Dubai is coinciding with the celebrations of the National Day, and I take this opportunity to congratulate the government and the people of the UAE and wish them continuous progress and prosperity," said Jiear. "Let it snow is carefully created to be a family-oriented sophisticated show. It is split into four sections such as New York Jazz Club, the celebration of music of 1940 and 1950 like the era of Barbra Streisand, the old movie musicals and the second half will have a whole Disney section, which I believe will be a very fantastic opportunity for kids. This will include holiday music such as Jingle Bells, Let it Snow and White Christmas in order to cheer up the audience and make them feel the warmth of the season," she said. Brilliant musicians Regarding the musicians who accompanied her to Dubai, she said: "The best thing in the show is that we have four brilliant musicians who are all of the highest standard." She said 14 musicians will perform with her. She has also worked with numerous orchestras including The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and the BBC Concert Orchestra, among others. As for the songs that will be performed on the stage she said, "We planned to perform 28 songs in total, all of which will be presented in eight shows." Asked if she was given a chance to shoot a video clip in Dubai what location she would choose, Jiear replied, referring to the fountain of Burj Khalifa: "I would definitely choose the big fountain to be a natural background for my song because it's a very poetic view." Asked about reports that 2011 will witness the release of her third CD, Live at Pizza on the Park, she said: "Indeed, I did six shows in London and the CD contains 17 songs and I hope it will be released by March." She has also released solo albums like, Embrace and Simply Alison Jiear. About her philosophy of life as a human being and as a professional singer, she said: "With life I think you get back what you put in and I think life is cruelly short and we have to take every moment and employ it in accomplishing something good and I try to treat everybody equally. I believe you have to treat other people as you would want to be treated yourself." Choice of material However, regarding her music she said, "I'm perhaps a little more indulgent with my choice of material and I choose music that is very personal to me, I like to be vulnerable and allow my tears to be seen in front of the audience, and I think audiences appreciate sharing the sincere moments with their singer. "However with Let it Snow, it has a beautiful balance of music that touches me and music that is accessible to the audience. There will be a lot of well-known materials in Dubai's show, but with a couple of little surprises such as a beautiful song that I really wanted to put on the show called Look to the Rainbow, which is very much a song of hope that I heard a couple of months ago and fell in love with." Event What: Musical concert Let it Snow Where: Ductac - Centrepoint Theatre at Mall of the Emirates When: December 3-11 From : Fatma Salem, Staff Reporter