Sheikh Zayed Book Award Names Omar Khairat as Cultural Personality of the Year

The Sheikh Zayed Book Award, at its 17th session, named Egyptian musician Omar Khairat as the Cultural Personality of the Year award. This comes in honor of Omar Khairat's creative career, during which he presented timeless musical works that contributed to shaping the culture of the people.

In a statement, the Award’s Board of Trustees approved the award’s scientific committee’s decision to grant musician Omar Khairat the Cultural Personality of the Year award in recognition of his distinguished efforts and remarkable musical works, which made a shift in presenting musical works with a special and clear imprint.

Choosing Omar Khairat as the Cultural Personality of the Year stems from the fact that Abu Dhabi City is the capital of art and creativity, and is classified by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as the "City of Music"

One of the top musicians in the Arab world, Khairat has hundreds of compositions in his repertoire.

He has written scores for numerous films and television series, including The Sixth Day (1984), The Terrorist (1993), Mafia (2002), Girl’s Love (2003), The Embassy is in the Building (2005), and Deer’s Blood (2006).

In his concerts, Khairat usually features the best-known compositions, all works that are beloved by generations of his followers.

Khairat was born in Cairo in 1949 and belongs to an artistic family. His uncle the composer Abu Bakr Khairat, was the founder of the Egyptian Conservatory institution and was its first dean. In 1959, Khairat joined the Conservatory (Cairo Conservatoire) and studied piano and musical theory.

After graduating, he continued his studies at the Trinity College of Music in London. In parallel, he became involved in international popular music and jazz and played the drums for one of the top bands in Egypt, Les Petits Chats. This experience added another dimension to his musical influences.