Amal Choucri Catta counts her Arab musical blessings Fourth Arab Perspectives Festival, 29 Jan - 12 Feb. Venues: Main Hall and Small Hall, Cairo Opera House, 8pm. When Ahmed El-Saedi, former principal conductor and director of Cairo's Symphony Orchestra, organised his "Arab Perspectives Festival" from 2 to 16 February 2002, he aimed at promoting symphonic and chamber works by Egyptian and Arab composers, both nationally and internationally. As creator and director of the festival's first seven concerts, he followed a plan concentrating mainly on the output of the first and second generations of composers born in the first half of the twentieth century, such as Gamal Abdel-Rehim, Aziz El- Shawan, Tarek Aly Hassan, Abu Bakr Khairat and Mohamed Refaat Garana among others. A total of 20 composers took part at the inaugural festival, fascinating their audiences with symphonies, chamber music and solo recitals hitherto unknown to a considerable majority of listeners. Works such as Tarek Aly Hassan's impressive Fanfare for the Opening of the New Opera House, or his colourful Sinfonietta on Egyptian Folkloric Themes, as well as Abu Bakr Khairat's Third Symphony, or Walid Gholmieh's Fifth, were among the interesting compositions the audiences came to discover. The event's extraordinary success resulted in a larger participation of composers at the Second Arab Perspectives Festival, which took place from 25 January to 8 February 2003, with a total umber of 10 concerts presenting works by 30 different composers. Among the newcomers, audiences applauded Atteya Sharara, Mona Ghoneim, Sherif Mohieddin, Patrick Bishay, Safwan Bahlawan and Heba El-Qawas. However, with the departure of Ahmed El-Saedi from the Opera House's symphonic scene and the advent of Mexican Sergio Cardenas as principal conductor and musical director of the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, interest in the Third Arab Perspectives Festival, from 31 January to 14 February 2004, seemed to wane: 26 composers are presented this year, with only five newcomers, while a number of authors participating in previous years showed no intention of taking part in a festival about to turn somewhat repetitive. This year's Fourth Arab Perspectives Festival, taking place from 29 January to 12 February, closed its nine performances with an impressive concert at the Opera House's Main Hall featuring, among others, Gamal Abdel-Rehim's eloquent Awakening for baritone, chorus and orchestra. Based on a poem by Salah Abdel-Sabour, the work was interpreted by soloist Reda El-Wakil and the "A Capella Choir", conducted by Christoph Mueller from Switzerland, currently artistic director and main conductor of the Cairo Symphony Orchestra. This time the number of participants dwindled down to 24, with only two newcomers: Jordanian Haytham Sukareya -- who opened the festival with his symphonic poem Wady Om -- and Lebanese Mahmoud Turkmani -- who closed it with his Concerto for lute and strings. Haytham Sukareya is the author of North Bride, a suite for orchestra and piano; Meshwar, a violin concerto; Petra, a symphonic poem, and a variety of other compositions. He studied with Aziz El-Shawan and graduated from the Higher Institute of Arabic Music in 1992 with excellence. Sukareya was awarded a number of prizes for his compositions and is teaching composition at the Jordan Academy of Music. Lebanese Mahmoud Turkmani, who treated his audience to a nostalgic encore on his oud on Saturday night, was born in 1964 to a family of musicians. Although he began playing the guitar aged six, it was the oud that captivated his fascination. In 1984 he began his studies of classical guitar at the Moscow Academy of Music, performing in the majority of Russia's big cities, before pursuing his studies at the Ben Conservatory in Switzerland, in 1994. Three years later he was awarded the title "concert guitarist" and is at present professor for classical guitar at various musical schools in Switzerland. He is currently composing an orchestral work for an Arab-European ensemble, with soloists and choir, based on Khalil Gibran's The Prophet. His Concerto for Lute and Strings, of a somewhat abstract Euro-Arab vein, was highly appreciated by the audience. Among the symphonic concerts of this year's festival, audiences once again applauded young piano virtuoso Wael Farouk who gave us a brilliant performance of Adel Afifi's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra. Works by Shawan included, this time, arias from his Arabic opera Anas El-Wougoud performed by six members of the lyric department at Cairo's Opera House, as well as lovely excerpts from his ballet Isis and Osiris. He is one of the major Egyptian composers of the second generation: born in 1916, he began his musical studies at an early age with French teachers residing in Egypt, before leaving for Russia where he was one of the best pupils of renowned Aram Khatchaturian. He played the violin, the clarinet and French horn and studied composition. He wrote three symphonies, two operas, a ballet, several works for piano solo and chamber music. Shawan was awarded a number of prizes and honourary nominations in Egypt and Oman. He died in 1995. Since last year's festival, works by Ahmed El-Saedi have been missing from the different performances, whereas Sherif Mohieddin has once again returned to this year's musical events. He is one of the young Egyptian geniuses of an international standard. Artistic director of the yearly "Citadel Festival for Music and Song" from 1989 to 2001, Mohieddin founded the "Akhenaton Chamber Orchestra" in 1992, and in 1995 became managing director of the recently created Cairo Opera Orchestra, increasing the number of musicians from 50 to 103. In 1999 he conducted the orchestra on a tour in France and Germany and in 2001 he left Cairo's Opera House, having been appointed director of cultural activities at the arts centre of the new Bibliotheka Alexandrina. Mohieddin is one of the most active and prolific members of Egypt's young musical world: he composed a number of works for instruments and voice, as well as Three Operas in One Hour, performed at different intervals at Cairo's Al- Gomhouriya Theatre. Another eminent musician-conductor-singer-composer of the younger generation is phenomenal Nader Abbassi, author of a number of remarkable compositions and principal conductor-director of Cairo's Orchestra. He studied bassoon, piano and composition at Cairo's Academy of Arts before leaving for Geneva, Switzerland, where he obtained his "first prize of virtuosity". He worked with several famous Swiss orchestras and celebrated conductors like Pierre Boulez, Gyorgy Kurtag and others. He studied conducting in France where he received his diploma, enjoying an unusually wide professional experience as composer, bassoonist and singer. A third important composer of the younger generation is doubtlessly Patrick Bishay, who studied composition at Berkley College of Music in Boston, before moving to Newcastle. In 2001 his composition was selected runner up in Northern Symphony's young composers competition. He has composed several works including a Concerto for contrabass and harp, the opera Machine Justice, three symphonies and a ballet titled The Second Life of the Pharaoh. The Arab world is undoubtedly privileged to have promising young composers actively working on a national and an international scale, bringing musicians together and building musical bridges between countries and continents. Well- organised yearly Arab Perspectives Musical Festivals are sure to be of valuable help in supporting and promoting the composers' multiple efforts. Hopefully a larger number of newcomers will be participating at next year's festival.
