Ludovico Einaudi and UAE National Orchestra 2027 in Abu Dhabi

Ludovico Einaudi returns to Abu Dhabi on Sunday 24 January 2027 for a concert with the UAE National Orchestra at Etihad Arena on Yas Island. Doors open at 8pm and the music begins at 9pm, as the Italian pianist and composer leads the country’s new national ensemble through his own pieces in a full orchestral setting.

The night follows strong demand from his UAE audience. Einaudi played Etihad Arena on 19 January 2025 and appeared at Saadiyat Nights in January 2026, and this third visit in as many winters pairs his piano with the country’s own national orchestra.

Ludovico Einaudi: the composer behind the music

Born in Turin in 1955, Einaudi trained at the Conservatorio Verdi in Milan and began his career writing classical works before drawing in pop, rock, folk and world music. His grandfather, Luigi Einaudi, served as President of Italy between 1948 and 1955. Today he records for Decca, is published by Chester Music and is best known for spare, repeating piano lines that build slowly into something deeply emotional.

Many people know his music before they know his name. Nuvole Bianche, meaning “white clouds”, first appeared on his 2004 album Una Mattina and has since been used in film and television, including the 2010 horror film Insidious and Ricky Gervais’s series Derek. In 2016 he performed Elegy for the Arctic for Greenpeace on a floating platform in front of the Wahlenbergbreen glacier in Svalbard as part of a campaign to protect the Arctic, with the sound of breaking ice audible in the recording. His artist listing on the ticket page also highlights Experience, featuring Daniel Hope, which is a good piece to revisit before the night.

The UAE National Orchestra on stage

The UAE National Orchestra is the newest major ensemble in the country. Founded in 2025 and based in Abu Dhabi, it is a 100-member company of around 70 full-time musicians and a 30-strong part-time choir, led by conductor Amine Kouider. More than 3,200 people from over 90 countries applied in its auditions, and the orchestra gave its first public concert, The Beginning, on 15 January 2026, before an inaugural season of performances across all seven emirates.

For this concert Einaudi leads and the orchestra supports. Hearing his compositions with strings, winds and brass around the piano is a very different experience from listening on headphones, giving the familiar melodies far more depth and scale in a large arena.

An Einaudi concert in Abu Dhabi: who it suits

This is a night for anyone who has been moved by Einaudi’s music, whether you have followed him for decades or found him through a single track on a study playlist or a film soundtrack. It also suits people curious to hear the UAE National Orchestra in its second winter, in a programme built around a composer with a very wide audience.

There is no age restriction, so it can be a family outing, but every guest needs a valid ticket and children aged 16 and under must be accompanied by an adult. With a 9pm start on a Sunday, the concert finishes late, which is worth weighing if you are bringing younger children or travelling back to Dubai the same night.

Etihad Arena rules worth knowing

Etihad Arena sits on Yas Drive on Yas Island. The nearest bus stop is Al Matar Al Qadeem, about 800 metres away, and by car you can follow Sheikh Zayed Road towards Yas Island from central Abu Dhabi.

The arena has no storage or cloakroom, and bags larger than 30 x 30 x 15 cm are not permitted, so travel light. Payments inside are contactless only, so bring a card or phone that can pay that way. Photography and video recording are not allowed at any time during the concert, including on phones, which keeps the hall focused on the music.

Keep your e-ticket with you, along with photo ID and the card used for the purchase, as staff may ask to see them. Entry is one time only, with no readmission, and tickets are non-refundable, non-transferable and non-exchangeable.

Tickets and more classical nights

Tickets are sold through Platinumlist via the link on this page, and the listing has been marked as selling quickly. If you are planning a weekend of music, the Yuja Wang piano recital at Dubai Opera takes place later the same week. For more live music, browse our concerts guide, see what else is happening in the capital in things to do in Abu Dhabi, and plan the rest of the month with things to do in January.

A composer whose pieces have travelled from a Turin conservatory to an Arctic glacier, together with an orchestra that only played its first concert a year earlier: it is an unusual pairing, and a meaningful one for Abu Dhabi’s growing classical calendar.