Cairo Opera House Launches the 33rd Arab Music Festival and Conference Honoring Umm Kulthum

Under the patronage of Dr. Ahmed Fouad Henno, Minister of Culture, the Cairo Opera House held a press conference to announce the details of the 33rd Arab Music Festival and Conference, which this year honors the legendary Umm Kulthum as its central figure on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of her passing.

The conference was attended by Dr. Alaa Abdel Salam, Head of the Cairo Opera House and Festival President, Maestro Dr. Mohamed El-Mougy, Deputy Director of the Festival, Dr. Sherine Abdel Latif, Head of the Scientific Committee, Ms. Amani El-Sayed, Head of the Central Administration for Arab Music, along with poet Gamal Bakhit, media personality Jasmin Taha, Dr. Emad Ashour, Maestro Ahmed Amer, Maestro Dr. Mostafa Helmy, and Maestro Ahmed Atef.

The festival will run for ten consecutive days from October 16 to 25, featuring 41 concerts and musical performances with the participation of 83 artists from Egypt and the Arab world, including Amal Maher, Medhat Saleh, Wael Jassar (Lebanon), Hany Shaker, Omar Khairat, Mohamed El-Helou, Riham Abdel Hakim, Ali El-Haggar, Marwa Nagy, Mohamed Tharwat, Mai Farouk, Souma, Saber Rebai (Tunisia), Fouad Zabadi (Morocco), Nadia Mostafa, and many more.

The scientific conference, held in parallel with the festival, will feature 41 researchers from 15 Arab and international countries (Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Palestine, Kuwait, Lebanon, USA, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Bahrain, Sudan, Iraq, Oman, Yemen, and Morocco). Sessions will be hosted across various venues, including the Opera House theaters in Cairo (Fountain Theater, Small Hall, Arabic Music Institute, and El-Gomhouria Theater), as well as the Alexandria Opera House (Sayed Darwish Theatre) and Damanhour Opera House. The discussions will focus on the theme “Arab Music in the Age of Digital Transformation: Horizons and Challenges”, covering four main axes:

• The future of Arab music in the age of artificial intelligence

• Horizons of music education in light of technological development

• Documentation approaches since the 1932 Cairo Conference and their evolution in the digital era

• Challenges of Arab music production (composition, performance, and distribution) in the digital era

The festival will also host a competition in three categories:

1. Dr. Ratiba El-Hefny Award for Arab Singing (ages 17–40) with a total prize of EGP 120,000, requiring participants to perform one Umm Kulthum song and another of their choice.

2. Arab Takht Ensemble (ages 18–45) with groups of 5–7 musicians performing traditional Arab music forms, with a prize of EGP 70,000.

3. Dr. Ratiba El-Hefny Award for Children’s Arab Singing (ages 6–12) with prizes totaling EGP 90,000, also requiring one Umm Kulthum song.

In addition, an Arabic calligraphy exhibition by artist Yousry Al-Mamlouk will be held from October 16–25 at Salah Taher Hall, alongside a Young Calligraphers Exhibition from October 19–22 at Ziad Bakir Hall in the Opera Music Library.

The opening ceremony, directed by Mahdi El-Sayed with stage and graphic design by Abdel Moneim El-Masry, will include a documentary film on Umm Kulthum’s artistic journey directed by Samer Mady. The evening will culminate in a grand performance by star Amal Maher accompanied by her orchestra under the baton of Maestro Tamer Fayed.

During the ceremony, Minister of Culture Dr. Ahmed Fouad Henno and Festival President Dr. Alaa Abdel Salam will honor 11 prominent figures who enriched the artistic scene in Egypt and the Arab world, including Dr. Hesham Sharaf (Jordan), the late artist Naima Samih (Morocco), the late poet El-Hadi Adam (Sudan), flute virtuoso Ibrahim Fathi (Egypt), Dr. Sherine Abdel Latif (Egypt), the late composer and guitarist Galal Fouda (Egypt), Maestro Hassan Fikry (Egypt), poet Wael Helal (Egypt), composer Khaled Ezz (Egypt), singer Mohamed El-Helou (Egypt), and singer Amal Maher (Egypt).