Listen to Upper Egypt's mizmar in downtown Cairo

CAIRO – 13 June 2017: Listen to the tunes of mizmar, the original reed woodwind instrument of Upper Egypt, Thursday in El-Mastaba Center for Egyptian Folk Music.

Mazameer el-Nile, a well-known band from Sohag and Asyut governorates, will perform at el-Dammah Theatre of El-Mastaba in downtown Cairo at 9:30 p.m.. Ticket cost LE 30.


The band also uses rababa, also known as the spike fiddle, the kawala, an end-blown flute instrument, the arghul, a double-pipe said to have survived since the time of the Pharaohs, and nakrazan, a percussion instrument similar to a kettledrum.

The lyrics vary from love and marriage to the beauty of nature and the River Nile, all highlighting the Upper Egyptian cultural identity.

El Mastaba hosts performances by 11 traditional bands with a focus on simsimia, a traditional lyre and a trademark of Port Said and the Suez Canal region in general, Rango, which hails from Sudanese and Egyptian zar rituals and the Bedouin music in the Sinai, and other bands from Sinai and Nubia.