Arab Music Institute 22 Ramsis St, Tel 02 2574 3373 Sun 15, 8pm: The Abdel-Halim Noweira Arab Music Ensemble, conducted by Salah Ghoubashi,performs Um Kolthoum songs.
Beit Al-Sehemi Al-Gamaliya, Al-Darb Al-Asfar Alley, Al-Muaaz St, Tel 02 2591 3391 Every Sunday, 8.30pm: TheNile Troupe for Folk Instruments, conducted by Abdel-Rahman Al-Shafaai, performs dances and songs from Upper Egypt on mizmar, tabla and other traditional musical instruments. Every Friday, 8.30pm: “Al-Aragouz wa Khayal Al-Zel” (The Shadow Puppet), a free public performance by clowns in Al-Muiz Street, presented by Wamda and directed by Nabil Bahgat.
Cairo Opera House Gezira Exhibition Grounds, Tel 02 2737 0602/2736 0361, box office 02 2739 0132/0144 Main Hall Thurs 12 and Fri 13, 8pm: The Cairo Opera Ballet Company, supervised by Erminia Kamel, and theCairo Opera Orchestra, conducted by David Crescenzi, present Verdi's “Un Ballo in Maschera” opera.
Sat 14, 8pm: The Cairo Symphony Orchestra, conducted by maestro Hisham Gabr and featuring pianist Wael Farouk, performs Aziz Al-Shawan's “Intermezzo”, Rachmaninov's “Piano Concerto”and Dvorak's “Symphony No 1”. Mon 16, 8pm: Piano recital by Wael Farouk. Tues 17 and Wed 18, 8pm: Piano recital by Omar Khayrat and his orchestra. Small Hall Thurs 12, 8pm: Oriental jazz by Yehia Khalil and his band featuring a Canadian blues and jazz singer. Fri 13, 8pm: Violin recital by Yasser Al-Serafi and harp recital by Mona Wassif. Sat 14, 8pm: Chamber music concert with Sherif Salaheddin. Sun 15, 8pm: Tenor Sobhi Bedeir and The Friends band in a programme of international love songs. Mon 16, 8pm: The Wood Blowing Quintuple plays contemporary Egyptian and Swiss compositions. Tues 17, 8pm: The Cairo Symphony Orchestra's chamber music series “Viennese Flair” featuring soloists Amr Imam (clarinet), Anatoly Kiselev (bassoon), Amr Abul-Naga (horn) and Robert Ritner (violin) in a repertoire of works by Beethoven and Schubert. Thurs 19, 8pm: Violin recital by Mohamed Abu-Arab.
Cairo Jazz Club 197, 26th July St, Agouza, Tel 02 3345 9939 Thurs 12, 10.30pm: Screwdriverband is back with its funk pop dance groove, followed by Funk OFF covering hit songs. Fri 13, 10pm: DJsSync Tank,Aly Goedeand Hisham Zahran present a phenomenal live performance, mixing their coolest House tunes. Sat 14, 10pm: With a sound rooted in Arabic Dabke, 47 Soul bandwrites and performs to speak about freedom of movement, whether that's sparking new dance styles or singing about breaking down border checkpoints!
Al-Gumhouriya Theatre 12 Al-Gumhouriya St, Abdin, Tel 02 2390 7707 Thurs 12, 8pm: The Abdel-Halim Noweira Arab Music ensemble, conducted by Salah Ghoubashi, performs the songs of Mohamed Abdel-Wahab. Fri 13, 8pm: A gala concert by the Cairo Opera Company. Wed 18 and Thurs 19, 8pm: The Modern Dance Theatre Company presents “Deeper Than It Seems”.
Al-Ghouri Caravansary Mohamed Abdou St, off Al-Moaiz St and Al-Azhar St, Tel 02 2514 7475 every Sat, Mon and Wed (9.30pm, free admission) Al-Tanourawhirling dervishes perform to live Sufi music.
Makan Saad Zaghloul St, Al-Mounira, Cairo, Tel 02 2792 0878 Every Monday: (fixed event) Zikr and Sufi night. Every Tuesday, 9pm (doors open at 8.30pm): Mawawil and Gamalat Shiha present traditional music of the Nile Delta; Nubian Fadeka music and songs with Aragid, featuring Saleh Abbass and Farah Al-Masri; traditional Sudanese music and songs performed by Queen of Henna Settouna; Al-Jaafra music played by musicians from Aswan; Nass Makan (People from Makan) and Sanet perform traditional music from Eritrea. Every Wednesday, 9pm: Zar music and songs by Mazaher, featuring Umm Sameh, Umm Hassan and Nour Al-Sab.
Al-Mastaba Centre for Egyptian Folk Music 30 A Al-Balaqsa St, Abdeen, Downtown. Tel 011 5099 5354 Al-Dammah Theatre for Free Arts Thurs 12, 8pm:Mazamer Al-Nileband, comprised of talented musicians and singers from Upper Egypt, plays folk musiccharacterized by a diversity of instruments, such as the rababa (spike fiddle), kawala (end-blown flute) and arghul (double pipe, single-reed woodwind, an ancient instrument depicted on the walls of Pharaonic tombs). The band performs regularly in the towns and villages of Upper Egypt, as well as in Cairo.
Misr Opera House Al-Motamayez District, next to Dar Al-Fouad Hospital, 6th of October City, Giza, Tel 010 9444 4273/4/5. For reservation of tickets call 16828 Thurs 26, 8pm: A recital by pop singer Angham performing a collection of her much-loved songs and songs from her latest hit album.
Al-Muaaz Street
Al-Mansour Qalawun Complex, for information and ticket reservations call 010 0488 8479/011 5876 7774 between 12pm-10pm before Thursday 7 April Fri 13, 9.30am-4pm: Al-Muaaz Street Carnival, the day opens with performances by Al-Tanoura whirling dervishes, Mizmar band playing folk music on Egyptian oriental instruments and Hassaballah band (the oldest Egyptian folk music band). Visitors can also tour the area's landmarks, including Al-Mansour Qalawun Complex, the mosque and the school of the Mameluke Sultan Al-Zaher Barquq.
El Sawy Culturewheel End of 26th of July St, under the 15th of May Bridge, Zamalek, Tel 02 2736 8881/6178/2737 4448 River Hall Thurs 12, 7.30pm: Contemporary Sufi singing by YasserAl-Maghrabi. Fri 13, 8pm: Basata band plays contemporary Egyptian songs. Sat 14, 7pm:Live music showbyMuzikEstra band, thefirst band in the world to imitate the sound of musical instruments by only using their mouths, including the saxophone, trumpet, violin, guitar electric, flute, drums and xylophone. Thurs 19, 7pm: Al-Kawkab (Planets) Arab Rock Festival. Wisdom Hall Thurs 12, 8pm: Khayal band plays Arabian rock. Sat 14, 7.30pm: Singing recital by Khaled Youssef. Sun 15, 8pm: A classical Arab music concert featuring singer Zeinab Barakat. Tues 17, 7pm: Al-Asala Fi Rabiaa Al-Omr (Authentic Music) troupe plays classical Arab music. Wed 18, 8pm: Halakit Zikr, a modern Sufi singing band performsreflections, monologues and hymns. Thurs 19, 8pm: A classical Arab music concert featuring singers Eman Al-Esaily and Ibrahim Farouk.
Sound and Light Theatre The Sphinx Sq, Al-Haram, Giza Pyramids Thurs 26, 8pm: A spectacular night with Chris de Burgh live at the Pyramids (tickets are available at 48 Al-Thawra St, Dokki; for information call 02 3338 1199).
ALEXANDRIA
Alexandria Opera House (Sayed Darwish Theatre) Fouad St, Mahatat Al-Raml, Alexandria, Tel 03 486 5106 Thurs 12, 8pm: Alexandria Opera Company for Arab Music and Singing. Sun 15 & Mon 16, 8pm: Fursan Al-Sharq lil Turaath wa Al-Raqs Al-Hadith (Knights of the Orient for Heritage and Modern Dance) company presents “Al-Waly” (The Prefect) show. Wed 18, 8pm: The Wood Blowing Quintuple plays contemporary Egyptian and Swiss compositions.