Winners of the Ratiba El-Hefny Arab Music and Singing Competition, held as part of the 28th Arab Music Festival (2019). On stage also: Ines Abdel Dayem, Minister of Culture; Magdy Saber, chairman of the Cairo Opera House and Jihan Morsi, head of the Arab Music Festival.
The Cairo Opera House announced that they are accepting entries from contestants wishing to participate in the upcoming edition of the Ratiba El-Hefny Arab Music and Singing Competition, an event which is taking place as part of the 30th edition of the Arab Music Festival in November 2021.
Inviting children, young people and people with special needs, the competition will accept entries in several categories including new songs, Arab singing, instrumental and a competition for people with special needs.
The new song competition, accompanied by an instrumental performance, accepts contestants 45-years-old or younger. The competition will focus on the submission’s lyrics, composition, melody and arrangement. The winners will be granted awards with a total worth of 150,000 Egyptian pounds (just over $9,500).
The singing segment for people with special needs has an age limit 17-35, with prizes' total worth LE 90,000 (just over $5,700).
The segment for children require participants to be 6-14 years old. The awards are worth LE 60,000 in total (just over $3,800).
In the solo performance on an instrument competition – which can feature a flute, qanun, oud, violin, cello, percussion – the applicant must not be older than 35-years-old and the performance should not exceed 10 minutes.
Applications can be acquired at the Cairo Opera House grounds in the administrative building and submissions are accepted until 25 October 2021.
The competition was launched by the late-soprano Ratiba El-Hefny, in the early 1990s.
El-Hefny also assumed the position of the chairperson overlooking the opera’s opening and start-up of activities between 1988 and 1990. Under El-Hefny’s chairmanship, the Cairo Opera House saw the birth of new companies under its wings: the National Arab Music Ensemble and the Cairo Opera House Children’s Choir.
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