In Thursday’s (12/6) Al-Ahram (Cairo, Egypt), Ati Metwaly writes, “The Egyptian Sinfonietta that will give its inaugural concert on Sunday 9 December is the child of the Egyptian Philharmonic Society (EPS); it represents an expanded Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra formation and as such it can offer a much larger repertoire. Founded in 2004 by conductor Ahmed El-Saedi, the Egyptian Philharmonic Society is an NGO aiming to contribute to the musical life of Egypt outside governmental institutions. In short, as explained on the EPS web site, its main goal is to ‘create and expand a new public for classical music in Egypt.’ The Society consists of the Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, the Philharmonic String Quartet, both launched together with the society, in addition to the newly formed Egyptian Sinfonietta. Apart from regular concerts, the EPS also organises many musical activities reflecting its main mission. … As part of its educational activities aiming to discover and encourage new musical talent and encourage private music education, in 2005—and in cooperation with the Austrian Cultural Forum—EPS established El-Sakia Music Competition for Piano and Violin. Targeting musicians aged six-18 who were studying music as an extra-curricular activity, the competition was held annually at El-Sawy Culturewheel and other locations, and was interrupted by the 2011 revolution.”
Posted December 7, 2012
