The sound of music The Cairo Opera House celebrated World Music Day on 21 June at various venues with the participation of 500 children from the ballet and guitar classes. Celebrations also included performances by Egyptian folk dancers including whirling tannoura dancers and ballet troupes, the Cairo Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ahmed Al-Saaedi and the flamingo guitarist Emad Hamdi. The Symphony Orchestra featured solos from Brahms and Dvořák by cellist Hassan Moataz. Last Tuesday, the French Cultural Centre in Cairo celebrated the same event with two concerts featuring the Sharmoofers and Zebda bands at the Salaheddin Citadel. Lebanese singer Dolly Shahine rocked the stage on the Dead Sea beach in Jordan, accompanied by her Egyptian band, conducted by Ahmed Abdel-Aziz. In the framework of the Egyptian Cultural Season in Morocco (25-29 June), the Cairo Opera House National Arabic Music Ensemble will give a number of concerts at the King Mohamed V Theatre in Rabat. Cairo Opera House Director Ines Abdel-Dayem has announced that the concerts will be conducted by Hazem Al-Qasabgi, the grandson of the late legendry musician Mohamed Al-Qasabgi with the participation of singers Rehab Moutawe, Iman Abdel-Ghani, Hani Amer and Yasser Suliman. The internationally acclaimed Jordanian jewellery designer Lama Hourani gave her fifth exhibition of jewellery for the summer of 2014 at the famous Luzio Hall in Barcelona. Hourani showcases a unique line of diamond-studded gold jewellery in addition to the silver masterpieces for which she made her name. Collections on show, such as The Rock, Indigo and Winged are inspired by different cultures as she used precious stones together with the white and black diamond. For the first time in Egypt, the Moroccan quftan fashion show, Defile de la Gandoura by Ilham Rhazi will be held at the Katameya Heights Club House on 4 July, 9pm. In collaboration with the Arab News Network and the Industrial Investors Syndicate, the Arab Producers Union launched the first Media and Investment Forum. At the ceremony, the Head of the Media and Investment Forum Ibrahim Abu Zekri recalled the previous two rounds, held in Ismailia governorate. The forum honoured actresses Lebleba, Rania Youssef, Afaf Shoeib, Hala Sedki, Elham Shahine, Wafaa Amer, former football player and TV presenter Ahmed Shobeir, musician Hani Mehanna, Al-Ahram journalist Mona Ragab and singer Abul-Leif. Present were singer Mohamed Tharwat, actress Ola Rami and TV Presenter Poussy Shalabi. Canadian Ambassador David Drake gave a reception at his residence to celebrate Canadian National Day. Present were Assistant Foreign Minister Sherif Refaat, Jordanian Ambassador Bishr Al-Khasawena, Tunisian Ambassador Mahmoud Al-Khoumeri, Kuwaiti Ambassador Salem Al-Zamanan, Deputy Chief of Mission of the US Embassy Marc Sievers, Hungarian Ambassador Peter Kveck, South Korean Ambassador Yung-So Kim, South African Ambassador Noluthando Sibiya, Vatican Ambassador Jean-Paul Gobel, Indian Ambassador Navdeep Suri, Italian Ambassador Maurizio Massari and Japanese Ambassador Toshiro Suzuki. The 6th CARAVAN 15 day exhibition of visual art “Amen — A Prayer for the World” opened at the Modern Art Museum — Al-Bab Gallery, on the Cairo Opera House grounds. The exhibition — sponsored by Sodic, co-curated by CARAVAN founder, Rev. Paul-Gordon Chandler, an American author, interfaith advocate, arts activist and patron and participating Egyptian artist Reda Abdel-Rahman was organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and showcased the first 30 sculptures of a full collection of 48. An intercultural and inter-religious arts initiative with the objective of bringing the Middle East and West together, this year's CARAVAN invited 48 artists from different nationalities, cultures and monotheistic religions to work with 3D fiberglass statues in human form, decorating them through painting, sculpting and other forms of artistic expression. The opening was hosted by Sodic's Chairman Hani Sarieddin and Chandler and attended by a number of public and social figures including dignitaries Sheikh Ali Gomaa and Bishop Mounir H. Anis and Minister of Justice Adel Abdel-Hamid. (see Culture p.16 & Listings p.17)
