Lobna Abdel Aziz, an Egyptian actress and journalist with decades of publishing at Al Ahram Weekly, was honoured Monday at the Grand Musical Spectacle at the Gomhoreya Theatre in Cairo.

The event was organised by Soft Power Productions, an organisation founded and chaired by cultural activist Mona Zaki.

The evening was attended by U.S. ambassador Robert Stephen Beecroft and his wife; Romanian ambassador Mihai Ştefan Stuparu; Armenian ambassador Armen Melkonian; Slovenian ambassador Tatjana Miškova; vice president of Al Nour Wal Amal Association Amal Fikry; as well as Editor in Chief of Al Ahram Weekly and Ahram Online Ezzat Ibrahim and composer Ashraf Fouad, among other distinguished guests.

Zaki thanked the supporters and sponsors of Soft Power Productions, including CIB chairperson Ahmed Eissa and Edita Food Industries chairperson Samir Berzi, among others.

“At Soft Power Productions, we try to show how arts and culture have the strength to spread important values across the country and the world,” Zaki said.

The concert featured the Abydos Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Mohamed Saad Basha and five young singers: Dalia Farid, Adel Badawy, Lily Farid, Mohamed Hassan and Tarek Nassar.

The performers carried off a selection of Egyptian and international favorites, such as Moon River, Writings on the Wall, I Who Have Nothing, Ne Me Quittes Pas, Haga Ghareeba, La Vie En Rose, Copacabana, Sahar El Layali and others.

In the second half of the evening, Zaki presented Abdel Aziz as a great example of the soft power of art to reach people, through both her acting and writing.

“Lobna Abdel Aziz is a very influential artist in Egypt. Even after retiring from her acting career, she continues to give to audience through her articles,” Zaki said.

Born in 1935, Abdel Aziz graduated from the journalism department at the American University in Cairo, before embarking on a career as an actress in films and radio programmes.

Her notable films include El wessada El Khalia (1957), Gharam El Assiad (1961) and Edrab El Shahatin (1967).

Abdel Aziz left acting in the late 1960s when she married and moved to Texas, USA. She returned to Egypt in the early 2000s and appeared in The Yakoubian Bulding film (2007)