Renowned Egyptian composer Gamal Salama died on Friday, days after he was admitted to a Cairo hospital due to COVID-19 infection. He was 75. Egypt's music syndicate in a statement mourned Salama, whose music and songs are in the memories of generations. Born in Alexandria on 5 October 1945, the son of symphonic composer Hafez Ahmed Salama had studied piano at the conservatory in early age before finishing his PhD at Moscow P. I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory. In Egypt, he established a prestigious academia career in addition to taking over a few positions at several national music ensembles and assemblies for decades. Salama composed dozens of soundtracks for some of the most important films, TV series and theater plays since the late 70s. He also composed a large number of memorized romantic, Islamic and patriotic songs for some iconic Arab singers, including Sabah, Majida El-Roumi, Samira Said and many other all-time first row stars. His films include classics like Afwah Wa Araneb, Habibi Da'eman, Al-Nemr El-Aswad and Laila Baka Fiha El-Qamar, while his TV classics include Ze'ab El-Gabal, Mohamed Rasoul Allah and Alf-Leila W Leilah. Sabah's Sa'at Sa'at, Samira Said's Mesh Hatnazel Annak and Ehky Ya Shahrazad, Yasmine El-Khayam's Mohamed Ya Rasoul Allah and Wolida El-Huda, and Shadia's Masr El-Youm Fi Eid are among his well-memorized and unique records. Egypt reported 1,125 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, bringing the total infection tally to 235,140 since the outbreak began, with the total number of deaths from the virus is 13,779. For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture
