Three concerts bring Egypt's 28th Arab Music Festival to a close
Ahram Online, , Tuesday 12 Nov 2019
Assala, Hanan Mady, Ali El-Haggar and Reham Abdelhakim will conclude a rich edition of the Arab Music Festival


The 28th Arab Music Festival is wrapping-up a rich programme on Tuesday with concerts by famous singers in both Cairo and Alexandria.

Assala will be the main performance at the closing ceremony at Cairo Opera House, while Hanan Mady will perform at the Arab Music Institute, and Ali El-Haggar and Reham Abdelhakim will share the stage of the Alexandria Opera House.

Assala at the Cairo Opera House

Conducted by Hani Farahat, Syrian star Assalawill be the main performer at the closing ceremony, where the winners of the various contests of the festival will be announced.

Born in 1969 in Damascus, Assala's 30-year career has brought her recognition and a large fan base across the Arab world.

She started by singing religious and patriotic songs, and her career took a significant turn in 1991 when she released an album which included four Egyptian songs - including her hit Law Taarafou - performed in classical Egyptian tarab style. Since then, she has released over 20 albums.

Assala has also hosted dozens of the best known Arab musicians to play live on her successful TV show Sola.

In 2019, in collaboration with Ryan Tedder, Avril Lavigne, Luis Fonsi, Hussain Al Jassmi and Tamer Hosny, Assala performed Right Where I'm Supposed to Be, the official song of Abu Dhabi's Special Olympics.

At this year’s Arab Music Festival, the Talents Development Centre competitions have seen 220 participants.

Cello player Yusuf El-Abdallah won the big prize for instrument performance, Kinzy Turk was named best young singer, Yusuf Hassan Saad won the best singer in the children’s contest, and Mariam Tarek was named best in the special needs category.

Students of the Talents Development Centre also gave performances at the opening of the festival.

Hanan Mady at Arab Music Institute

Egyptian singer Hanan Mady, who is widely known for many 1990s TV series themes, will give a concert at Cairo’s Arab Music Institute on Tuesday.

Mady was the voice of many Egyptian series in the 1990s, making an unforgettable debut with Omar Khairat on the theme to El-Leqaa El-Thany, and singing on Yasser Abdel-Rahman's theme for El-Mal Wal-Banon.

The Conservatoire Music Institute graduate has released four albums and is known for a number of tracks, including Leilet Eshq, El-Bahr, Sheddy El-Dafayer, Asfour and Kan Wa-Kan.

Ali El-Haggar and Reham Abdelhakim in Alexandria

In Alexandria, Egyptian star Ali El-Haggar will perform at the Sayed Darwich Theater of the Alexandria Opera House in a concert conducted by Ahmed Amer that will open withEgyptian singer Reham Abdelhakim.

One of the most famous Egyptian singers in recent decades, Ali El-Haggar, who has been releasing new singles recently, will be introducing some of his famous TV series themes.

El-Haggar who has released almost 20 albums over a career of four decades, and has appeared in various films, TV series and plays, has also released new music lately.

Born in 1982, Abdelhakim is a well-established Egyptian singer, who came to the limelight with her portrayal of Oum Kalthoum in a 1999 TV mini-series in which she played the famed star in her youth. Directed by Inaam Mohamed Ali, the series also starred Sabreen, Ahmed Rateb and Samir Sabri.

She has also performed many tribute concerts to Oum Kalthoum in Egypt and in the region. Her repertoire includes many well-known compositions from Arabic musical heritage, and she has also sung the themes of numerous films and television series.

The 28th Arab Music Festival

The twelve-day festival, which began on 1 November, included concerts by 81 singers and 11 soloists from seven Arab countries (Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Syria, and Oman).

Venues included the Cairo Opera House, El-Gomhoreya Theatre, the Arab Music Institute, Alexandria Opera House, and Damanhour Opera House.

The singers included Egyptian star Mohamed Mounir, who performed at the opening ceremony, as well as Rehab Motawa, Medhat Saleh, Mai Farouk, Hani Shaker, Angham, Riham Abdel Hakim, Marwa Naji, Carmen Soliman, and Mohamed El Sharnoby.

Saad Ramadan, Marwan Khoury and Wael Jassar from Lebanon, Syrian singers Faya Younan and Waad Bahri, and Iraqi Hammam Ibrahim all performed at the festival.

The 11 soloists who performed included pianists Amr Selim and Omar Khairat from Egypt, guitarist Wahid Mamdouh from Jordan, violinists Jihad Akl from Lebanon and Majed Sorour and Hassan Sharara from Egypt, qanun player Furat Qaddouri from Iraq, oud players Mamdouh Al-Jabali, Afaf Shoukry and Majed Sorour from Egypt, cellist Imad Ashour from Egypt, and lute player Walid Salama from Egypt.

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