About this concert
Two choirs, one repertoire: the Cairo Celebration Choir joined the Bibliotheca Alexandrina Choir, conducted by Rodica Ocheseanu, in the Great Hall of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina for songs by Sayed Darwish, Gamal Abdel Reheim and Awatef Abdel Kerim in Nayer Nagui’s arrangements.
Programme
- Work
- Sayed Darwish, Gamal Abdel Reheim, Awatef Abdel Kerim, arr. Nagui
About the music
Sayed Darwish (1892–1923)
- Born in Alexandria in 1892, he died there in 1923, aged 31, and is called the father of Egyptian popular music.
- In barely a decade he wrote some 260 songs and 26 operettas.
- He set “Biladi, Biladi, Biladi”, now Egypt’s national anthem; his songs include “Salma Ya Salama”, “Ahu Da Illi Sar” and “El Helwa Di”.
Source (opens in a new tab) Gamal Abdel-Rahim (1924–1988)
- Studied composition in Germany with Harald Genzmer (1952–57).
- Founded the composition department of the Cairo Conservatory in 1971, the first in the Arab world.
- His music fuses traditional Egyptian elements with contemporary European writing.
Source (opens in a new tab) Awatef Abdel Karim (1931–2021)
- The first Egyptian woman to formally study composition.
- Led the composition and conducting department of the Cairo Conservatoire (1991–97), succeeding Gamal Abdel-Rahim, and received the State Merit Award in 2006.
Source (opens in a new tab) 