Min. of Culture, Opera House to present series of concerts in July

CAIRO - 24 June 2020: The Ministry of Culture, headed by Inas Abdel Dayem, in partnership with the Egyptian Opera House, headed by Magdy Saber, will present a series of huge concerts for famed stars in July.

The concerts will be held on a newly constructed stage at the Opera Square, located on a large area in front of the fountain and in its background appears the Opera building.

The stage is currently 90 percent ready to receive the performers, with only the lighting fixture remaining.

The concerts will be initially held without an audience, although the new theater can accommodate approximately 1000 seats, while adhering to social distancing between the seats, thanks to the width of the theater, which is about 70 meters.

The Opera House signed a contract to purchase seven sterilization gates for all theaters in Cairo, Alexandria and Damanhur, and temperature detection devices were provided.

In a related context, a schedule for the concerts and participating singers has been prepared, and is now being reviewed by Minister of Culture Inas Abdel Dayem. Following Abdel Dayem's approval, the schedule will be sent to Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly for a final approval.

The concerts will be broadcast online with zero audience, for the purpose of photography. A group of opera troupes will perform alongside the big stars, who include Mohammed Mounir and Sherine Abdel Wahab. The latter is yet to confirm participation with the Ministry of Culture.

Stars who confirmed participation include Mostafa Hagag, Mohammad Hamaki, Medhat Saleh, Ali al-Haggar, Hisham Abbas, and Dina el-Wedidi. This is in addition to a number of youth bands including Massar Egbari, West el-Balad, Black Theama and Marimba player Nessma Abdelaziz.

The concert’s map will include eight concerts per month; however, this number may increase. So far the concerts will only be held inside the Opera House, with no current intention to transfer the concerts to the Citadel Square, Hurghada or Sharm El-Sheikh.

For its part, the Opera’s Administration decided to offer the new theater for rent, to shoot concerts of bands and singers, and broadcast them via their official channels.

Also, Opera House's Open Theater underwent developments to enlarge its area to allow the application of the precautionary measures and to secure a safe distance between the musicians on the stage.

For his part, famed star Mohammed Mounir affirmed that the aim of the concerts is to delight the Egyptian people and contribute to serving the country. He emphasized that art is an effective way to express thoughts and feelings.