Her death marks the loss of more than just a unique artist, as it also represents the passing of an era.
In recent years, we have seen the steady departure of an entire generation of artists who shaped Egypt’s cultural landscape. These were individuals who, educated at the hands of great masters and foreign teachers working in Egypt, laid the foundations for the artistic scene we know today.
The contributions of artists like Moushira Issa are immeasurable, and perhaps, just like for her own generation, her most lasting impact will be in the knowledge and wisdom she passed on to the younger generation of musicians.
Issa was born into a family that deeply valued music education. In one interview, she shared how her father, Dr Saleh Issa, a renowned physician specialising in obstetrics and gynaecology, greatly admired the musical talents of her mother, whose family embraced a variety of creative expressions. Her mother, Amal Al-Sabili and her twin sister, both the youngest members of their families, showed an interest in the piano from a very young age, which prompted their parents to buy them an instrument. Both sisters obtained a diploma from the UK Royal School of Music.
Naturally, Moushira Issa believed she had been influenced by the sound of the piano even while still in her mother’s womb, as the latter would continue working with her music teacher when pregnant. Moushira would then sit on her mother’s lap when she was playing, and soon she started her own musical explorations.
Amal Al-Sabili was her first teacher, yet soon her mother made sure to hand-pick other pianists to support her daughter’s development, such as professors Ignaz Tiegerman and Vsevolod Demidov, among the many other foreign pianists who taught at the Cairo Conservatory at the time and were invited to offer private lessons at Issa’s home. She was 12 when she received her first award for piano performance from the Association of Music for Youth in Cairo.
She completed her secondary education at the prestigious Port Said School in Zamalek in Cairo, scoring seventh place in the national ranking of best students in the high school final exams.
Already a skilled pianist, she was at first not sure which trajectory she should follow, and she was accepted at both the American University in Cairo and the Cairo Conservatory.
She chose to enter the latter, graduating with honours from the conservatory and going on to obtain a Diploma of Piano Performance Art from Vienna, Austria, in 1984. As she worked on her skills, she benefited from the expertise of several international pianists, such as Noel Flores and Alexander Jenner in Vienna, Stanislav Neuhaus in Moscow, Vitaly Margulis in Freiburg, and Melita Lorković in the former Yugoslavia.
In those years, she won the Stephanov Prize in Vienna in 1982, among other honours. Her academic journey culminated in a PhD in 1987, at a time when she was already performing extensively while teaching in Vienna and later on at the Arabic Music Institute in Cairo and other institutions, creating a strong generation of young pianists in Egypt.
Issa’s students include, among others, Petra Shawki, Talia Ziada, Tamara Ziada, Talia Kandil, Selim Fikri, Mourad Refaat, Nadia Al-Gammal, Maya Elzorba, Omar Tawfik, Hamdy Wagih, and Youmna Ashraf. She often reiterated how much she enjoyed teaching, creating her own approach to the technique of playing piano for children and young people. “Hundred per cent is not enough,” she would tell her students, expecting them to master the music to perfection and infuse it with their own individuality.
Issa performed extensively in Egypt and internationally, giving solo recitals or accompanied by an orchestra. Audiences had numerous chances to listen to her vast repertoire that spanned music by Baroque masters and modern composers. She took to the stages of halls on five continents, including in countries such as Morocco, Kuwait, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Yugoslavia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Mexico, and Guatemala. She also performed at the European Union offices in Lisbon in Portugal.
Though Issa’s music took her to many international venues and she was accompanied by numerous orchestras, in many interviews she always underscored the joy she felt when playing with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, her home country’s national ensemble. She often spoke of it as “our international orchestra,” pointing to its great musical values. Equally, she always expressed her gratitude to her colleagues and fellow musicians who accompanied her in many concerts.
Besides her frequent appearances at the Cairo Opera House, Issa also participated in numerous festivals, such as the Cervantes International Festival in Mexico and the Sofia International Music Weeks Festival in Italy.
In 2000, she received a UNESCO prize for best performance at the International Festival for Creative Arab Women in Thessaloniki, Greece, a recognition that she held very close to her heart. In 2017, the Academy of Arts honoured her at the closing ceremony of the Third Arab Scientific Forum. In 2019, the BBC chose Issa as among the 100 most influential women in the world. The Egyptian Women’s Council honoured her in the presence of President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi.
Issa fell ill a few years ago, and she was very open about her struggle with cancer, talking about it in televised interviews, as if wanting to de-stigmatise the disease and encourage other patients to remain brave and positive. Never broken, she would always address her health issues in a cheerful manner, even at times when she was facing many difficult obstacles.
She continued to work, teach, and perform until the very last days of her life. One of her most recent recitals was in May 2024 at the Cairo Opera House. The Opera also included a performance by her in this season’s schedule that was supposed to take place on 8 February.
Moushira Issa’s passing is a poignant reminder that time moves relentlessly forward, and the voices of those who helped cultivate Egypt’s music scene are gradually fading. The skills, depth, and mastery they brought to their art cannot easily be replicated. As each of them leaves us, we are reminded not only of the tremendous loss we face, but also of the impermanence of time itself.
The great artists who paved the way for so many now stand as part of history, their legacies etched in the music they created, the students they mentored, and the cultural fabric they helped weave. Their departure marks the closing of a chapter, one that can never be written in the same way again.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 13 February, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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