Stravinsky on Gezira Sherif Sonbol captures the spirit of the Rites of Spring, performed last week at the Cairo Opera House Main Hall by Erminia Kamel's ballet company and the Cairo Opera Orchestra. photos: Ayman Barayez Present on the occasion of reopening the Sofitel Al-Gezira Hotel were Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, Minister of Tourism Zoheir Garanah, Minister of Petroleum Sameh Fahmi, Minister of Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid, Minister of Communications and Information Technology Tareq Kamel, former foreign minister Ahmed Maher, Sofitel General Manager Dino Van Eeckhaut, French Ambassador Philippe Coste, businessman Mansour El-Gammal and his wife, actress Laila Elwi, filmmaker Inas El-Degheidi, head of the Garden City Lions Club Awatef Serageddin and Alexandria University President Mohamed Abdallah. The 16th Arab Music Festival opens tonight at the Cairo Opera House Main Hall in the presence of Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, Cairo Opera House Director Abdel-Moneim Kamel and festival director Ratiba El-Hefni. Ten figures will be honoured at the start of the ceremony, including the name of the late composer Hassan Abul-Soud, composer Hani Mehana, Iraqi musicologist Sobhi Rashid, poet Salah Fayez, singers Medhat Saleh, Mohamed Tharwat, Nadia Mustafa, art critic Mohamed Mustafa and calligrapher Ahmed Abdel-Aziz. This round's guest of honour is the great singer-cum-composer Mohamed Abdel-Wahab, whose work makes up a significant part of the programme. Running through 10 November, a total of 41 concerts will be staged at the Opera's main and small halls, Al-Gomhuriya Theatre, the Arab Music Institute, and the Sayed Darwish Theatre in Alexandria. Among the star singers included are Mohamed Tharwat, Mohamed El-Tokhi, Medhat Saleh and Amal Maher from Egypt, Carol Samaha and Marwan Khouri from Lebanon, Ahlam from Emirates, as well as Fouad Zabadi and Hayat Al-Edressi from Morocco. To mark Mahatma Gandhi 's 138th anniversary at the Maulana Azad Centre, Indian Ambassador A Gopinathan and UN Information Office director Maher Nasser inaugurated an exhibition entitled "Gandhi: His Life and His Message", featuring portraits, photographs, books and other items associated with the champion of non-violent resistance. At the Cairo Opera House Art Gallery, Farid Fadel 's latest exhibition of 61 "Proverbs and Sayings" drew in a large crowd including Minister of State for Administrative Development Ahmed Darwish, Minister of Social Solidarity Ali Moseilhy, British Ambassador to Egypt Sir Derek Plumbly, Qalyoubia Governor Adli Hussein, chairman of the board of the Children's Cancer Hospital Ola Ghabbour, as well as former Egyptian ambassador to France and Egyptologist Isis Zaki. Together with the rest of the cast and crew of the popular Ramadan TV serial Al-Daly, actor Nour El-Sherif -- the star of the show -- attended a seminar at Hilton Alexandria Green Plaza, where he was welcomed by the hotel's Revenue Manager Ali Ibrahim, Guest Relations head Dina Yehia and Assistant Manager Hashem Prince. French Ambassador Philippe Coste gave a press reception at his residence in Giza, where journalists from various organisations enjoyed themselves. Guests included Al-Ahram Weekly columnist the veteran actress Lubna Abdel-Aziz, former minister of information Mohamed Fayiq, head of the Middle East News Agency Abdallah Hassan, Manal Rezqallah from the press office of the US Embassy, the ambassador's new media councellor Jean-Marie Safaa as well as high-profile media figures like Salma El-Shamaa, Randa Abul-Azm and Wael El-Ibrashi. Moroccan Ambassador to Egypt Mohamed Farag Al-Dokali and his wife Khayra Al-Fassi celebrated the wedding of their daughter Rania, a French University graduate, to engineer Zoheir Al-Sabati, executive director of a big American communications company in New York. The lavish party, held at Al-Tazzi Palace in Rabat, brought a host of Moroccan senior officials together with Arab ambassadors and Egyptian friends. Speaking of which, the Garden City Lions Club, presided over by Awatef Serageddin, held a party for the crew of the Ramadan hit TV serial Qadiyat Ra'i Aam (A Case of Public Opinion). Among those present were actress Youssra, star-in-the-making Leqaa El-Khamissi, actor Riyad El-Kholi, producer Gamal El-Adl and scriptwriter Mohsen El-Galad as well as former prime minister Ali Lotfi, councellor of the Dialogue of Religions Committee Ali El-Saman, Arab League assistant secretary- general Mohamed Sobeih, Lebanese Ambassador to Egypt Khaled Zeyada and his Saudi counterpart Hisham El-Nazer. photo: Mohamed Mustafa Ambassadors of the Southern African Economic Community, together with the Secretary-General of the African Chambers of Commerce Union Julianna Lumumba, celebrated Southern African Development Community (SADC) Day at the residence of the Congo ambassador in an event organised by their wives. Coinciding with the 43rd anniversary of independence of Zambia, the event, according to Zambia Ambassador Cecil Holmes, reflected the spirit of solidarity between the member states. Intellectually disabled athletes dedicated 45 medals claimed at the Special Olympics Summer World Games held in Shanghai, China, to Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, honorary president of Special Olympics Egypt. The Egyptian delegation in Shanghai included President of Special Olympics Ismail Osman, Executive Manager Magda Moussa and board members Nagwa Gomaa, Mohamed El-Alfi, Mohamed El-Shafie and Ola Lotfi Zaki. Goodwill ambassador actor Mahmoud Qabil was there to support the athletes.
