El Dor El Awal participates in International Summer Festival

CAIRO – 17 July 2017: Bibliotheca Alexandria Arts Center will host Egyptian band El Dor El Awal in the 15th International Summer Festival on Tuesday July 18.

El Dor El Awal is the first band in Egypt to have their own oriental jazz by mixing Jazz and oriental tunes, forming amazing melodies that capture sensation.

The band started in 1999 when a group of seven talented musicians got together and held a six-month rehearsal to build the repertoire of El Dor El Awal.

The band consists of: Ahmed Omar - electric bass; Mohamed Samy - violinist; Bob - kajun, djembe and various percussions; Mizo - konga, doff, table and various percussions; Nour Ashour – saxophone, mizmar and didgeridoo; Hisham Issam – oud; and Fady Badr - qanun and keyboards.

They named themselves El Dor El Awal (First Floor), as they were practicing on the first floor of a building, and they felt that they poured their soul out on that floor.

Their first album was Qarar Izala in 2006.

The 15th Annual International Summer Festival started on Monday, July 10 and runs until Saturday, August 26.

The International Summer Festival is a massive music and arts festival organized by the BA Arts Center with the goal of adding a “colorful taste” to summers in Alexandria, as explained in their mission statement. The festival attracts a diverse audience through its combination of classical Egyptian art and new and varied mediums of art and music.

The 2017 addition will house more than 60 versatile artistic events, varying between music, theatre, cinema and dance.