Hiba Tawaji and Ibrahim Maalouf: À La Française 2026 in Dubai

Hiba Tawaji and Ibrahim Maalouf: À La Française 2026 in Dubai is a one-night concert at Dubai Opera on Friday 27 November, with an 8:30pm start and a running time of about two hours. Presented by Live Nation Middle East and performed in French, it brings together the Lebanese singer and the Lebanese-French trumpeter, who are also husband and wife, for an evening of French chanson reimagined through classical, jazz and contemporary arrangements.

A love letter to French song

À La Française is also the name of the couple’s album, in which Tawaji sings classic French songs and Maalouf accompanies her on trumpet. In interviews around its release, Maalouf described it as a very tender record born of their love, with a deliberately gentle trumpet sound that supports the voice rather than leading it. Tawaji has compared the project to a film script, with the songs chosen to tell a coherent story as well as for personal favourites.

The repertoire draws on the great names of French popular song. Charles Aznavour’s “La Bohème” is part of it, and the album honours writers and singers including Francis Cabrel, Christophe, Michel Berger, Daniel Balavoine, Michel Polnareff and Jean-Jacques Goldman, along with a version of Henri Salvador’s “Jardin d’hiver”. The live show has been touring French and Francophone stages, and Dubai Opera is one of its stops outside Europe, giving UAE audiences a rare chance to hear the programme live.

Who is Ibrahim Maalouf?

Ibrahim Maalouf was born in Beirut and grew up in France, and he is known for playing the quarter-tone trumpet, an instrument developed by his father, trumpeter Nassim Maalouf, that can play the microtones of Arabic music. He has released more than twenty albums, composed numerous film scores and won a César Award as well as several Victoires de la Musique honours. He was nominated for Grammy Awards in 2023 and 2024, has played sold-out concerts at Lincoln Center in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington and Paris’s Bercy arena, and has collaborated with artists as different as Sting, Wynton Marsalis, J Balvin and Angélique Kidjo. Music and letters run in the family: his uncle is the novelist Amin Maalouf, winner of the Prix Goncourt and a member of the Académie française, which makes a French songbook project feel like a natural meeting of his two cultures.

Who is Hiba Tawaji?

Hiba Tawaji has been one of the Arab world’s leading singers since 2008, performing in Arabic, French and English. In France she is known for voicing Princess Jasmine in the French version of Disney’s Aladdin and for starring as Esmeralda in the musical Notre Dame de Paris. In 2024 she sang with the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra under Gustavo Dudamel at the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris, and in 2017 she became the first female artist to perform in Saudi Arabia. Her collaborators include Andrea Bocelli, Lara Fabian, Florent Pagny, Luis Fonsi and Pentatonix.

The venue: Dubai Opera

Dubai Opera, the dhow-inspired glass building in Downtown Dubai’s Opera District, opened in 2016 and seats around 2,000 people. This concert is a venue hire by Live Nation Middle East rather than a Dubai Opera production. The building opens two hours before the show, around 6:30pm, and the auditorium doors open 30 minutes before, around 8pm.

By car, leave Sheikh Zayed Road at the exit for Financial Centre Road and follow signs for Burj Khalifa and Downtown Dubai, then continue along Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard. By Metro, take the Red Line to Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall station and walk about ten minutes, or take a short taxi.

House rules

• Age: suitable for ages 6 and up. Children under 6 are not permitted, everyone aged 6 and over needs a ticket, and guests aged 6 to 18 must be with an adult.
• Latecomers: admitted only at a suitable break or interval, at management’s discretion, with no refund for late arrival. Aim to be seated 30 minutes before the start.
• Dress code: overly casual or provocative clothing, such as shorts or flip-flops, is discouraged, and guests who do not comply may be refused entry.
• Phones and recording: phones must be switched off or silenced, and photography and recording are not allowed in the auditorium.
• Food and drink: no outside food or drink, and no eating or drinking inside the auditorium.

Who it suits

This is a natural choice for Dubai’s French-speaking and Lebanese communities, for lovers of chanson who grew up on Aznavour and Goldman, and for jazz fans curious to hear Maalouf in a softer, more intimate setting. Because the show is suitable from age 6, it can also work as a family night for children who already enjoy music in French.

For more live music, see our concerts in Dubai, the shows and theatre guide, or things to do this weekend.