A choir of Cairo
Founded by Nayer Nagui in 2000, the Cairo Celebration Choir brings together more than 120 amateur singers from different professions and more than seven nations. It performs the great choral works of the West and the music of Egypt’s own composers, often in the same season.
Our story
- 1999
The ideaNayer Nagui, who grew up singing in church choirs, sets out to bring this music to a wider audience. He later names Bulgarian maestro Ivan Filev as his musical mentor.
- 2000
First Christmas concertAt the invitation of the Cairo Opera House, about 70 amateur singers join soloists of the Cairo Opera Company and the Cairo Opera Orchestra in Nagui’s carol arrangements. The Christmas concert is still given every year.
- 2003
Fauré, RequiemAt the Basilique, Heliopolis.
- 2007
Rossini, Petite Messe Solennelle
- 2008
The first Aghani bel ArabiSongs by Sayed Darwish, Gamal Abdel Reheim and Awatef Abdel Kerim, in Nagui’s arrangements.
- 2009
Schubert, Stabat MaterAt the Basilica of Our Lady of Heliopolis.
- 2010
Choral-Percussion CelebrationWith French conductor Michel Piquemal and Ensemble Symblema.
- 2012
Silver award, Prague VoicesFor stylish interpretation of Arabic music.
- 2015
Mozart, Great Mass in C minorThe first performance in Egypt.
- 2016
Silver diploma, World Choir Games, Sochi
- 2022
Dvořák, Stabat MaterBibliotheca Alexandrina, with the Embassy of the Czech Republic.
- 2023
Elgar, The Light of LifeAt the Basilique Notre-Dame d’Héliopolis.
- 2025
Bradshaw, Requiem “For those left behind”World première, with the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and the Australian Embassy.
- 2026
Pharos, Potsdam and Werder (Havel)With Havelkonsort and Canzoneo, Germany.
“I like to see different people working and creating something together.”
Nayer Nagui
Founder and musical director · Principal Conductor, Bibliotheca Alexandrina Orchestra · former Artistic Director and Principal Conductor, Cairo Opera Orchestra
Born in Alexandria in 1970, Nayer Nagui studied piano at the Alexandria Conservatoire with Herta Pappo, earned the advanced certificate of the Royal Schools of Music in piano performance and theory in 1996, and took his conducting diploma with Dominique Rouits at the École Normale de Musique de Paris in 2001.
His repertoire spans opera, ballet, oratorio and musicals. He conducted Lee Bradshaw’s Zarqa Al Yamama, the first Saudi Arabian opera in Arabic, alongside Dame Sarah Connolly, and led the inauguration ceremony of the Grand Egyptian Museum with 250 artists from 80 nationalities.
His arrangements of Sayed Darwish for choir won the silver award at Prague Voices in 2012 and a silver diploma at the World Choir Games in Sochi in 2016. He is also musical director of Disney’s Arabic dubbing.
Has conducted, among others- BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
- Dresdner Sinfoniker
- Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra
- Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra
- Moroccan Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
- Lecce Symphony Orchestra
- Brno Philharmonic Choir
- Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra