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ITHRA
The grand opening of the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, Ithra, was a milestone event, designed to showcase Saudi Arabia’s transformation from an oil-reliant economy into a global hub for knowledge and innovation. Officially inaugurated on 1 December 2016 by King Salman bin Abdulaziz alongside the leadership of Saudi Aramco, the ceremony was developed by creative agency Filmmaster around a single idea: a stream of energy transforming into a stream of knowledge. The original music came from WithFeeling, composed by Lee Turner, one of the many composers in our inner circle.
THE CHALLENGE
A ceremony on this scale leaves no room for a soundtrack that simply plays along. The event broke world records with 360-degree projection mapping across the stainless-steel exterior tubes of the Snøhetta-designed building and what was then the world’s largest freehold hologram screen, all broadcast live across six locations in Saudi Arabia. The score had to carry the energy-into-knowledge narrative, hold a vast technological spectacle together, and rise to the emotional weight of a historic, nationally watched inauguration.
THE APPROACH
Lee Turner composed the music to move exactly as the story did, from raw energy to enlightenment, cueing every projection, reveal and crescendo across the show. Tuned to the magnitude of the building itself, a cultural beacon rendered in light, the score gave the spectacle its emotional through-line, turning a sequence of world-first effects into a single, building, deeply felt experience.
THE RESULT
The inauguration became a landmark moment for the Kingdom, watched across the country and beyond. Ithra opened its doors to the public in 2018 and has welcomed millions of global visitors since, a living cultural hub whose opening note the wider team at WithFeeling was proud to write. Original music by Lee Turner.
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