If you do not speak Arabic and have tried in the past years to get information about the annual festival and conference of Arab music, you must, like me, have felt helpless. Snaps of information from Egyptian friends, the majority of which are not interested in "this kind of music" and do not phatom why should a westerner be, was all I got. Well, this year the people at the Cairo Opera House have done a great job and put online at their website a full schedule of the festival IN ENGLISH as well as Arabic.
Though featuring, apparently, only Egyptian musicians, or Egypt based ones as in the case of Nasseer Shamma (and this seems to be a major departure from previous years), the festival showcases what is arguably the best of the genre on the Egyptian scene.
Whether you like Arab classic music or do not know a lot about it, this is a major event worth spending an evening at.
The 18th Festival & Conference of Arab Music will take place at the Cairo Opera House and at the Gomhouria Theatre between Friday October 30 and Sunday, November 8, 2009.
See full schedule of the event (in English) here.
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I'm really upset from the standard of the festival (2009) deteriorating year after the other , Innovation should be the target of 2010
ReplyDeleteGet Al-Andalus Ensemble in there (www.Andalus.com). They are top notch!
ReplyDeleteAnyone know how much the evening performances cost or where to get tickets?
ReplyDeleteTickets can be purchased at the ticket office of Cairo Opera House between 10:00 AM and 8:30 PM. Tickets price depends on the performance, ranging from 15 to 150 EGP
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