Singer Hussain Al Jassmi is scheduled to be both the first Emirati and the first Arab to perform at the Vatican's annual Christmas concert this year, the 26th edition of the event.

Al Jassmi is one of the Middle East’s top-selling artists and featured as a judge on season three of the X Factor Arabia. He is also both an Extraordinary UN Goodwill Ambassador and the Ambassador of Creativity and Ambassador for Arab Culture in the UAE.

بالتسامح والتعايش السلمي في العالم نعزّز رؤية #زايد قيادة وشعب،ومنهاجي السعي في تطبيقها للتقارب بين الأديان والشعوب ويشرّفني تلبية دعوة الفاتيكان بالمشاركةكأوّل فنان عربي في حفل "عيد الميلاد" السنوي الخيري والذي يعود ريعه للاجئين في "أربيل" بالعراق و"أوغندا" #ConcertoDiNatalepic.twitter.com/E1xQO3in76 — Aljassmi حسين الجسمي (@7sainaljassmi) December 9, 2018

“I have always been pleased to contribute to charitable work in order to create an environment conducive to a dignified life, respect, equality and peace, the values that we have grown on and inherited from the late Shaikh Zayed,” Al Jassmi said of the announcement.

He will perform alongside Italian pop/soul singer Alessandra Amoroso, American pop star Anastacia, Puerto Rican musician Jose Feliciano, and American jazz legend Dee Dee Bridgewater among others at the concert in the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall on Saturday December 15, all will be accompanied by the Grand Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Renato Serio.

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Proceeds from the concert will go towards charitable and humanitarian causes that help refugees from Kurdistan’s capital Erbil in Iraq to those seeking shelter in Uganda through Scholas Occurrentes, a charitable foundation that was founded by Pope Francis.

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