New film across cinemas starting 10 December
- Dust Bunny, starring Mads Mikkelsen, Amy Sloan, Sophie Sloan, Sigourney Weaver
- Wild Cat, starring Lewis Tan, Kate Beckinsale, Rasmus Hardiker
- Ella McCay, starring Woody Harrelson, Kumail Nanjiani, Emma Mackey
Christmas Concert
Wednesday 10 December, 8pm
Cairo Opera House, main hall, Zamalek, Cairo
The annual Christmas concert will be performed by the singers from the Cairo Opera Company, accompanied by the Cairo Opera Orchestra, conducted by its principal conductor and artistic director, Mohamed Saad Basha.
The concert will feature the best-known international Christmas carols and songs, including classics such as Silent Night, Jingle Bells, and O Holy Night, alongside festive orchestral pieces. The performance will also include choreographed segments performed by the Cairo Opera Ballet Company, under the supervision of artistic director Erminia Kamel.
Ayamna El Helwa - music
Thursday 11 December, 8pm
Theatro Arkan, Sheikh Zayed
Under the vision and leadership of Maestro Mohamed Othman, the musical ensemble Ayamna El Helwa (meaning Our Beautiful Days) functions as a vibrant tribute to the golden age of Egyptian and Arabic music.
The ensemble brings together talented vocalists and some of Egypt’s finest instrumental musicians to recreate the classic repertoire of mid-20th-century greats, such as Umm Kalthoum, Abdel Halim Hafez, and Mohamed Abdel Wahab.
El Moristan - theatre play
12, 13, 14, 15 December, 8pm
Falaki Theater, AUC Tahrir Square, 24 El Falaki Street, Downtown, Cairo
The play El Moristan is adapted from the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which was famously turned into an iconic film and several stage productions. This new Egyptian adaptation is set in a psychiatric hospital in Egypt in the year 2010.
The play stars Yosra El-Lozy, Mohamed Khaled, Youssef Othman, Ahmed Khaled, Mohamed Habib, Ebada Yasser, Omar Rashed, Reem Maghraby, Yehia Fouda, Pola Kamel, Ahmed Hany, Kareem Hosem, Amir Ezzat, Abdelrahman El-Qady, Omar El-Shenawy, Joseph Gamil, Ahlam Alaa El-Din, Maryam Hefny, and Mr. Orange.
Wael Jassar, Medhat Saleh, Bahaa Sultan - music
Friday 12 December, 7pm
Open Air Mall - Madinaty
This triple bill is part of the Winter Music Festival’s second edition, an event bringing the big names to Open Air Mall in Madinaty, a major satellite city in the east of the Cairo Governorate.
Wael Jassar is a renowned Lebanese singer known for his soulful voice and emotional style that blends classical Arabic music with modern romantic ballads. With a career spanning over two decades, Jassar has released numerous successful albums and performed across the Arab world. He is also known for his religious and spiritual songs, which earned him a special place among fans of heartfelt, meaningful music.
Medhat Saleh is one of Egypt's most popular singers with a wide collection of famous songs, such as Kawkab Tany (Another Planet), Wala Teswa Domoe (Not Worth the Tears), and El-Donia Alemetny (Life Taught Me), as well as dozens of film scores, including Mafia, El-Beliatsho (The Clown), and Amir El-Zalam (Prince of Darkness), to name but a few. He has released numerous albums and starred in several films, TV series, and plays.
Bahaa Sultan is often classified under pop and “shaabi” Egyptian music.
His style blends modern/pop sensibilities with elements of Egyptian/popular music, making his songs appealing to a broad audience. He rose to popularity in the late 1990s / early 2000s, a time when the Egyptian pop-music industry was booming, and many young singers emerged. His early success helped open doors for younger singers in the industry.
Brian McKnight - music
Friday 12 December, 9pm
Grand Egyptian Museum, Giza
Brian McKnight is a highly accomplished American singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist who has made a significant mark on contemporary R&B music.
He is widely recognized for his strong head voice, high belting range, and use of melisma, and is one of the most consistent and enduring artists in the R&B genre.
The Pygmalion Effect by Boris Eifman Ballet
Friday 12 and Saturday 13 December, 8.30pm
New Opera House, City of Arts and Culture - New Administrative Capital
Boris Eifman Ballet looks into the Pygmalion myth and the premise of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion (and its musical version, My Fair Lady) into the contemporary, competitive world of ballroom dancing.
The ballet is set primarily to the energetic and emotional music of Johann Strauss II (The Waltz King), alongside his brothers Josef and Eduard Strauss
The performance is characterized by a blend of classical ballet, contemporary dance, and true competitive ballroom movements. Eifman uses high-energy polkas, waltzes, and gallops to drive the action, reflecting the fast-paced, sometimes farcical, nature of the story.
The Boris Eifman Ballet (officially the St. Petersburg Eifman Ballet) is a renowned, contemporary ballet company founded and artistically directed by the Russian choreographer Boris Eifman.
Omar Khairat - music
Friday 12 and Saturday 13 December, 8pm
Cairo Opera House, main hall, Zamalek, Cairo
Born in 1947, the multi-award-winning Khairat is one of the top musicians of the Arab world with hundreds of memorized compositions in his repertoire.
Throughout his long and successful career, he has written scores for numerous films and television series, including The Sixth Day (1984), The Terrorist (1993), Mafia (2002), Girl’s Love (2003), The Embassy in the Building (2005), and Deer’s Blood (2006), to name but a few.
His concerts in Egypt and across the Arab world are usually fully booked weeks ahead of time, with his large fan base singing along and humming along to compositions like Heya Di El-Hayah, Fi Hawid El Leil, Arabian Rhapsody, Fiha Haga Helwa, Eadam Mayet, El-Khawaga Abdel-Kader, Giran El-Hana, Saber, Arfa, Qadeyet Am Ahmed, Khali Balak Men Aklak, and other classic hits of time-honoured TV and film themes.
AUC Alumni Folklore Group - music
Saturday 13 December, 8pm
Theatro Arkan, Sheikh Zayed
Founded by Pinky Selim in 2013, the troupe aims to preserve, revive, and promote Egyptian folklore dance, one of the most important Egyptian performing arts and an authentic part of Egyptian heritage and identity.
The group first started with different generations of the American University in Cairo (AUC) graduates and later grew to include non-AUC-graduate dancers as well. Due to the remarkable success of their performances and their distinctive choreographies, the group’s growing popularity captivated audiences from different age groups alongside their expanding online fanbase.
Gala El-Hadidi's Christmas concert
Wednesday 17 December, 8 pm
Cairo Opera House, small hall, Zamalek, Cairo
Mezzo-soprano Gala El-Hadidi returns with her annual Christmas concert.
The Germany-based Egyptian singer made her debut at the age of 17 on the main stage of the Cairo Opera House, one year before signing a contract with the Opera House to become the youngest soloist ever at the company.
El-Hadidi studied with tenor Sobhi Bidair, Tom Krause in Finland, and Marilyn Horne in the US. She also studied at the International Bach Academy in Stuttgart. She has worked with famous conductors, including Christian Thielemann, and with singers Juan-Diego Florez, Waltraud Meier, and Evelyn Herlitzius. She performed on stages, including the Berlin Philharmonic, Stuttgart Liederhalle, Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and Cadogan Hall in London.
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