With all the political upheaval that Egypt has been going through since 2011, many sectors of life are having problems; and these include all the venues and companies operating under the umbrella of the Cairo Opera House. Among many other activities, the Cairo Opera House aims at developing young talents, with the Talents Development Centre that operates under its umbrella established in 1992, four years after the opening of the new Opera. Classes take place throughout the school year as an extracurricular activity, with auditions at the beginning of each school year to give schoolchildren and interested young people the opportunity to join classes. At the time of its establishment, the centre had only a few classes — ballet, violin and singing — and it operated only in Cairo, and it was directed by soprano Ratiba Al-Hefni. As the centre grew over the past two decades, it spread to Alexandria and Damanhour, and more classes were added. The centre became even more dynamic after 2010 when Abdel-Wahab Al-Sayed, bass baritone at the Cairo Opera Company, took over the it's management. Today, the Talents Development Centre offers a wider scope of music and dance education in Cairo with classes in ballet, piano, flute, oud, kanoun, guitar, opera singing and Oriental singing, as well as a children's choir and much else besides. Lessons are conducted by highly accomplished Egyptian artists: opera singing is taught by tenor Sobhi Bedeir, Suzuki classes in Cairo by Othman Al-Mahdi, classical guitar by Emad Hamdi, and so on. Among the more recent additions to the centre are classes by the jazz musician Fathi Salama. Responding to the demands of many students and parents, Al-Sayed decided to introduce Oriental violin classes, but children begin with regular basic techniques which involve the world repertoire, before they are ready to take on the Oriental repertoire and the techniques it requires. In Alexandria and Damanhour, however, the centre has a significantly more limited range of classes. Al-Sayed is looking forward to including a broader scope of activities to these two venues; he also hopes to expand into other governorates. “Outside Cairo, and not only Alexandria and Damanhour,” Al-Sayed remarks, “are important locations for spreading music and arts education. We have to move to other governorates and to smaller cities and villages. Children and young people in Egypt outside the major cities are deprived of the values that art can offer to them; we need to change that.” He hopes next season will afford the opportunity to present the gems of the centre across Egypt, inviting local enthusiasts to follow suit. Al-Sayed recalls the recent protests involving the occupation of the Ministry of Culture — 5-30 June — weeks during which every night offered artistic events to an audience of all ages and social backgrounds that gathered before the stage built up on the street. “Egyptians are very responsive to music and arts. As artists we need to make the effort to give those values to everyone and educate the younger generation. The Talents Development Centre can play a crucial role in spreading art education.” Al-Sayed's hopes chime with the plans of the head of the Cairo Opera House, Ines Abdel-Dayem, who — in an interview published on this page on 1 August — said, “today we have to start thinking about how to reach out to all social strata and all generations.” Al-Sayed emphasises how arts and music education carries a multitude of values: “Apart from gaining musical skills, the students acquire important knowledge and culture. They are better able to appreciate the fine arts and will be always drawn to performances at the Cairo Opera House as well as other stages, regardless of the profession they choose in the future.” The professors teaching at the centre do their best to discover the artistic potential of the students and bring to light their talents. Some of the students take their music education further and continue by enrolling in the music conservatory, becoming professional musicians or dancers. Occasionally classes create joint-performances. Emad Hamdi, who is responsible for the young guitarists, particularly enjoys experimenting with a variety of artistic combinations. “We try all kinds of performances,” he says, “solos and large groups. If one of our soloists has a vocal talent, I try to use that in the concert.” In 2012, Al-Sayed launched the Talents Development Centre Festival, which involves performances by all classes on each consecutive day, giving a sense of accomplishment to the young students as well as showcasing their talents to a large audience. To date, two successful editions of the festival were held on the Cairo Opera's stages. Occasionally children from the vocal classes or from the Children's Choir of the Talents Development Centre are also invited to join the artists in opera and concert performances. The centre's work is ongoing despite the challenges that the professors and students have been facing during the past two-and-a-half years. Classes are held within the Opera compound, near Tahrir Square, where the tension taking hold of Egypt's cities reverberates on many occasions. It is understood that political instability and lack of security took its toll on the classes. Though the professors usually try to hold the activities, taking responsibility for dozens of children and young people who must arrive and leave safely, they have sometimes had to postpone or cancel classes. “No doubt, the whole situation affects the mood and progress of the students,” Othman Al-Mahdi, who is in charge of the Suzuki violin classes, explains. “But all children and young musicians are very determined and continue their practice as best they can. It is tougher of course when — after a month of intense preparation — their performance on stage is cancelled,” Al-Mahdi says. The Suzuki class end-of-the-year performance scheduled for 4 July this year had to be postponed due to events taking place in the city following the removal of Mohamed Morsi from power by Egypt's military on 3 July. Though Hamdi's guitar class was never cancelled, it fell prey to the general postponement of this year's Summer Festival which was supposed to take place at the Cairo Opera from 15 August to 4 September and which included two days for the Talents Development Centre. Today, the Talents Development Centre has a few hundred children — from five-year-olds to university students, in addition to a number of adults who wish to explore musical riches — enrolled in numerous classes. The coming days and weeks will be dedicated to auditions for newcomers. It seems that despite sporadic postponements or a few cancellations resulting from the political situation in the country, students and professors are determined to make the best of the circumstances. While the centre offers a multitude of music education programmes, for the most talented, dedicated and ambitious, it definitely opens doors to further self-realisation, providing an important window on culture as it does so.
