Minister of Culture & Chairman of Cairo Opera House launch the 31st Session of the Citadel Festival for Music & Singing  

23 August 2023

Dedicated to Dr. Moustafa Nagui, the 31st Session of the Citadel Festival for Music & Singing Honors Eleven Cultural and Intellectual Figures

Faia Younan and Medhat Saleh are the Stars of the Opening Ceremony of the 31st Session of the Citadel Festival

Dr. Nevine El Kelany, Minister of Culture, and Dr. Khaled Dagher, Chairman of the Cairo Opera House, launch the 31st Session of the Citadel Festival for Music & Singing. The Cairo Opera House organizes this annual Festival in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the Egyptian Tourism Authority. Dedicated to Dr. Moustafa Nagui, former Chairman of the Cairo Opera House, the Citadel Festival will kick off at El-Mahka Theatre on 25 August 2023 at 8 p.m.

The opening ceremony, directed by Mahdy El Sayed, will include the National Anthem, an audio-visual documentary on the history of the Citadel (graphics by Abdel Moneim El-Masry and music by Tamer Gohneim) and the honoring of eleven cultural and intellectual figures who influenced and enriched the cultural and artistic scene in Egypt and the Arab world: Dr. Moustafa Nagui, Mostafa Hegab (Poet), Ahmed Mounib (Composer), Abdel Hamid Abdel Ghaffar (Conductor), Magdy Naguib (Poet), Tahia Shams Eldin (Soprano and Artistic Director of Cairo Opera Company), Nayer Nagui (Conductor), Reham Abdel Hakim (Singer), Yasser Shaalan (Lightning Manager), Ebtisam Helmy Attia (General Director of the Artistic Office) and Mohamed Abdel Maksoud (technician at the Cairo Opera House workshop).

Following the honoring ceremony, Faia Younan, the famous Syrian singer, will present a collection of her songs in addition to famous classical Arabic songs.

After that, Medhat Saleh accompanied with the famous pianist, Amr Selim, and conducted by Ahmed Amer will present a wide variety of his popular songs.

The 31st Session of the Citadel Festival for Music & Singing will last for 14 days, from 25 August till 7 September 2023. The program of the Festival gathers numerous renowned artists and music ensembles like Faia Younan, Medhat Saleh, Cairo Symphony Orchestra, Wust El-Balad, Nadia Moustafa, Hany Shaker, Simone, Hisham Abbas, Ezz El Ostool, Mona Burkhardt, Moustafa Hagag, Moustafa Shawki, Ahmed Gamal, Ali El Haggar, Nesma Abdel Aziz, Aziz Maraka, Said El Artist, Faculty of Music Education Choir, Walid Tawfik, Hisham Kharma, Ghalia Benali, Ahmed El Emari, Sheikh Yassin El Tohami, Abeer Nehme, Mohamed Mohsen, State of Harmony, Nesma Mahgoub, Lena Chamamyan, Talents Development Center Choir, Omar Khairat, in addition to international troupes.