World-renowned soprano Amira Selim received positive feedback after releasing her latest song “Benheb El Masreya” on YouTube, social media, and digital music stores.
She collaborated on the song with musician and composer Skander Guetari, Tunisian poet Rafqa Ben Ali, music arranger Youssef Alaa El-Din, and sound engineer Sherif Abdul Majeed.
Selim stated, “This song is a tribute to Egyptian women. We’re in need of such innovative ideas. The Tunisian poet Rafqa Ben Ali wrote the lyrics of the song and I asked her to change the lyrics into Egyptian colloquial Arabic".
"I felt that the lyrics should highlight the Egyptian spirit. Additionally, I think that the audiences were surprised as it is the first song in colloquial Arabic by an opera singer,".
"The song delivers two messages; a social message, as it is a tribute to Egyptian women, and an artistic one, as we prove that opera singers can communicate with all social groups through music that is close to their hearts; they are not restricted to a specific type of art," she noted.
Selim was born in Cairo, daughter of pianist Marcelle Matta and painter Ahmed Fouad Selim.
After studying piano, ballet and painting, she started voice training and Italian repertoire in Italy with soprano Gabriella Ravazzi.
Selim graduating from the Cairo Conservatoire and received a scholarship from the French Government to study with soprano Caroline Dumas at the l’École Normale de Musique de Paris and preparing repertoire and roles with French soprano Beatrice Malleret.
She won also the first prize winner at the international competition of Orvieto, Italy.
Selim started her career as a member and soloist at the Cairo Opera company, where she debuted in her leading role in Rossini’s Opera Il Barbiere di Siviglia.
It was followed by a number of other productions such as Donizetti’s “Don Pasquale” , l'Elisir d'amore" and “Verdi’s “Rigoletto”.
Selim featured in many leading roles in Italy, like Rigoletto and L'Elisir d'amore at the Mancinelli Theatre in Orvieto, Il Barbiere di Siviglia at Opera Mantova.
For her debut in France, she interpreted the title role of opera “Lakme" by Leo Delibes at the opera of Rennes in 2004 as well as later at Opera Saint Etienne 2007 and Opera Bielefeld ,Germany 2008.
She also participated in many Festivals like "les nuits des Suquets" in Cannes with the "Orchestre Regional de Cannes" conducted by Philippe Bender, Festival "Grand Air" in Bretagne with the Bretagne Symphony Orchestra conducted by Darrell Ang, and “Festival de Sceaux” with the Peniche opera company.
Selim presented a series of concert with Orchestre National de Bretagne at Theatre National de Bretagne as well as a tour around Bretagne, France. Various concerts in Paris, Troyes, Fontainebleau, and other venues around France , Europe, and the Middle East like Jordan, Morocco, Algeria, Qatar and Bahrain.
Selim was also the main singer in the soundtrack of the documentary film "Footnote in Ballet History" directed by Hisham Abdel Khalek, as well as in the film "AMIRA" by the Egyptian director Mohamed Diab.
In 2021, she sings the hymn of Isis in ancient Egyptian language in the Pharaohs Golden Parade where she received national and international acclaim.
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