Amal Choucri Catta speaks with flautist is the administrative director of Cairo Symphony Orchestra and dean of Cairo Conservatoire. She is a brilliant soloist, a remarkable musician and a great promoter of the performing arts. Born to an artistic family -- her father was the violinist and music professor Mustafa Hassan Abdel-Dayem -- she started her musical studies at a very early age at Cairo Conservatoire, obtaining her diploma with honours. In 1990 she obtained a scholarship to pursue her musical studies at the Ecole Normale in Paris, where she completed a masters degree and PhD. Abdel-Dayem is one of the most popular Egyptian performers, always enjoying a full house when she comes on stage. She has been awarded numerous prizes and has represented Egypt at many international festivals. In 1999 she began a class for flute, teaching children at Cairo Opera House, just as she has been teaching the flute at the Cairo Conservatoire for many years now. As administrative director of Cairo Orchestra she is happiest when talking about their recent successes and is eager to disclose her plans for the orchestra's future. "I believe that the experience of the orchestra under Steven Lloyd as principal conductor has been very successful. One of his main qualities is his quietude; he is extremely patient and serene and not easily perturbed. Another quality is his age: he is young and the relationship between himself and the orchestra is based on mutual respect and appreciation. He understands the instrumentalists and knows how to handle them. Lloyd is, furthermore, a very good musician and conductor, with a particular talent for motivating the orchestra, particularly the younger generation. I am very happy with the results of last season and I am looking forward to the coming one. We will have to see what happens after that: foreign conductors, the good ones, receive tempting offers from abroad and it is up to them to decide whether they want to leave or stay with us. I do not like to change conductors too often, but we shall have to wait and see. On the other hand, we have some excellent Egyptian youngsters coming into the limelight: I must say I admire their efforts and their sincerity. "As you know, we are living in difficult times: youngsters today are faced with the most unbelievable temptations, financial and otherwise, and when I realise that these young musicians are faithfully following our line of music, which is the music they have been studying for years at the conservatoire, I am impressed by their efforts to resist temptations. And we do have excellent local conductors. The first of them was Ahmed El-Saedi. We also had Taha Nagui, Mustafa Nagui and now we have Nader Abbassi, who is particularly talented and successful with his orchestra, and there are a number of young, promising musicians doing a good job in these difficult times. "I have been with Cairo Symphony Orchestra for over 20 years and I realise today to what extent the orchestra's situation has changed. Twenty years ago we were all enthusiastic about our music and we were all seeking perfection. We were not thinking about making money, but we were eager to give good concerts. Today everything is different: society has changed, values have changed and I cannot blame the youngsters who would rather make good money than give a good concert. Helping young instrumentalists to resist the many temptations they face is an incredibly difficult task. "We are naturally interested in recruiting the best students and graduates of Cairo Conservatoire. It is a fact, though, that many of them prefer either to try their luck abroad, or to accept a contract with one or the other of the local orchestras or studios, where they receive higher wages. Keeping them in the symphony orchestra, under present conditions, requires diplomacy and sagacity. Some of them do resist temptation and remain. The situation is the same with foreign musicians. Around 10 years ago many were happy to come, accepting our terms of employment. But times have changed, even those coming from Eastern European countries are not as keen to work with Cairo Symphony Orchestra as they used to be. We do, however, need the foreign element among our local musicians because they come from a European background, a European culture, and they understand their music. I always insist on an excellent musical standard and on dedication. If our local musicians are ready to give me excellence and dedication, I would be ready to help them achieve better salaries, guiding them to performances worthy of their talents. But I must be sure of their faithfulness to our orchestra. The new generation of musicians we have in our orchestra, deserve all our efforts. "In the coming season we have invited a number of guest conductors, while others have contacted us, expressing their wish to come. Cairo Symphony Orchestra has often been asked to perform with foreign companies. In October it will be working with a Danish company that has planned an Ibsen celebration at the pyramids. We will also be participating at the Bahrain Festival in November and next May plan to take part in the Abu Dhabi Festival. It will be the first time Cairo symphonists perform in Arab countries and I believe that our presence there will open new perspectives. "As for our annual festival dedicated to Egyptian and Arab composers, I believe that it has yet to make the kind of impact it could on audiences and on the composers themselves. I am therefore planning a real get-together between Arab and Egyptian composers, with lectures and workshops and meetings, enabling the composers to talk about their ideas, conceptions and perspectives. This time we will hopefully have more funds at our disposal and be able to invite a larger number of Arab composes and musicians. I believe that this yearly festival should turn into a real event. I would also like to say that, though not devoid of difficulties or problems, Cairo Symphony Orchestra is well on its way to a bright future..."
