About this concert
Prague Voices is an international choir festival and competition in the Czech capital. The choir was the first from Egypt to take part officially, travelling with 18 singers and two percussionists to sing Sayed Darwish, Gamal Abdel Reheim and Awatef Abdel Kerim in Nayer Nagui’s arrangements, and won a silver diploma for its stylish interpretation of Arabic music.
Programme
- Work
- Sayed Darwish arrangements
- Work
- Gamal Abdel Reheim
- Work
- Awatef Abdel Kerim
About the music
Sayed Darwish (1892–1923)
- Born in Alexandria in 1892, he died there in 1923, aged 31, and is called the father of Egyptian popular music.
- In barely a decade he wrote some 260 songs and 26 operettas.
- He set “Biladi, Biladi, Biladi”, now Egypt’s national anthem; his songs include “Salma Ya Salama”, “Ahu Da Illi Sar” and “El Helwa Di”.
Source (opens in a new tab) Gamal Abdel-Rahim (1924–1988)
- Studied composition in Germany with Harald Genzmer (1952–57).
- Founded the composition department of the Cairo Conservatory in 1971, the first in the Arab world.
- His music fuses traditional Egyptian elements with contemporary European writing.
Source (opens in a new tab) Awatef Abdel Karim (1931–2021)
- The first Egyptian woman to formally study composition.
- Led the composition and conducting department of the Cairo Conservatoire (1991–97), succeeding Gamal Abdel-Rahim, and received the State Merit Award in 2006.
Source (opens in a new tab) Photographs
Photography: Miriam Benyamein
