Baroque & Impressionist Music Concert by Awtar Quartet

CAIRO – 3 March 2018: Egyptian string ensemble Awtar Quartet will be hosting a free Baroque & Impressionist Music Concert at the ‎Gusour Cultural Center on Saturday, March 9, 2018.

Founded in December 2012, the Awtar Quartet is comprised of: Yasser Ghoneim on violin, Cellists Mohamed Abdel Fattah, Nicolas Latif, Strings Competition 2017 winner Mohamed Ahmed, Essam Abdel Hamid on viola and Khaled Saleh on violin.

Most of the members have graduated from the Cairo Conservatory, with some holding postgraduate degrees. Proficient in classical string, the Quartet is also skilled in various other musical fields such as Classical Arabic, Jazz, waltz, tango, pop and much more.

They frequently play in venues such as weddings or other events, providing a special ambience like none other. The Awtar Quartet has performed not only across all of Egypt but abroad as well, participating in numerous workshops and festivals locally and internationally.

For this event, Awtar will be playing 17th century classical Baroque music from the likes of Matteis, Vivaldi & Bach alongside 20th century impressionist musician Ravel’s works. The Quarter has previously played alongside Glass Onion in August 2017 at the Cairo Opera House, providing a tribute to the Beatles. At around this time they also held a joint performance with the Sufi band Al-Hadraa on August 9, also at the Cairo Opera House.

They joined forces with Michael Onsy, Egyptian Oud Player, to partake in the historical theater of the Arabic Music Institute for a special event on February 9. It marked the Quartet's first time having an Oud player amongst them.

Awtar Quartet is also remarkable for being one of the few musical groups in Egypt to frequently play across poorer neighborhoods. In support of Egypt’s ‘Year of Disabilities’, Awtar Quartet member Khaled Saleh helped organize the event, which was held at the El-Hanager Arts Center and gathered numerous artists from all across Egypt. This event was organized by the Council for Music, Opera, and Ballet.