Eight Egyptian artists honored in 26th Citadel Festival

CAIRO- 14 August 2017: Eight Egyptian artists were honored during the opening ceremony of the 26th edition of Citadel Festival on Saturday, 12 August at the open air Mahka Theatre.

The eight Egyptian artists are Ali Osman, Bassma Saad, Harpist Manal Mohie Eldin, Soprano Tahia Shams Eldin, Religious chanter and composer Ahmed Abdalla, Dean of the Cairo Ballet Institute Lamia Zayed, and former head of recitals of the Cairo Opera Hussein Badawi and Theatre and Opera director Abdalla Saad.

Ali Osman is 59-years-old born and he is the late composer and conductor of Al-Nour Wal Amal Chamber Orchestra. The orchestra is made up of 40 women suffering from blindness or visual impairment. These women play musical instruments and perform concerts around the world. Among them the leader of Al-Nour Wal Amal Chamber Orchestra is first chair violinist Bassma Saad.

The Ministry of Culture’s Helmy al-Namnam is the chairperson of the Cairo Opera House Ines Abdel-Dayem, and Cairo's Governor Atef Abdel Hamid attended the opening ceremony during which eight Egyptian artists were honored. The festival featured Egyptian music band ‘Les Petits Chats’ in its opening ceremony. The band is made up of members who contributed to pop music starting from 1967.

There will also be performances feature Spanish folklore by Mona Burkhard, music by Ali El Helbawi, Wave Jazz Band, Glass Onion, Sufi band Egyptian Mawlawi, jazz band Boghdady Band, musician Fathi Salama, and Solo Opera by Orchestra El Nile. The festival will also feature classical performance by Rola Zaki and Amr Yehia and will be conducted by Maestro Mohamed Saad Basha, with music by Nesma Abdel Aziz, Tunisian artists Ghalia bin Ali, Mohamed Mohsen, and renowned Egyptian singer Medhat Saleh, among others.