Sufism vs. Modernism Sheikh Mahmoud El Tuhami & Fathy Salaam

29 July 2024

Among the ongoing activities of the Summer Festival, the Cairo Opera House hosts a special concert under the title “Sufism vs. Modernism” that witnesses the cooperation between Fathy Salama and Sheikh Mahmoud El Tuhami at the Open Air Theater on Wednesday, 31 July 2024 at 8:30 p.m.
During the concert, Mahmoud El Tuhami’s Sufi chanting and Fathy Salama’s Oriental jazz are fused together into a perfect harmony resonating within the hearts of the listeners.
This concert is part of the "Sufism vs. Modernity" project established in cooperation between Fathy Salama and Sheikh Mahmoud El Tuhami several years ago. The project’s main aim is to revive the Islamic Sufi heritage and at the same time introduce Egyptian heritage and folklore to the international audience.
Fathy Salama is a composer, arranger, music producer, and pianist. Being the Arab world’s only Arab Grammy award winner (2004), he also received the BBC Music Award and the Best Soundtrack Award at the Cairo International Film Festival in 2000. He composed and arranged songs for many famous Egyptian musicians and bands, including Mohamed Mounir, Amr Diab, Ali El Haggar, Anushka, etc. Salama participated in the most important international jazz and “World Music” festivals and presented about nine albums in which he collaborated with world music and singing icons.
The son of the famous Sufi chanter, Sheikh Yassin El Tuhami, Mahmoud followed in his father’s footsteps by mastering the deep-rooted Islamic musical art of Sufi chanting. Through his extensive concert tours in Arab, European, Asian, and African countries, he succeeded in creating a large fan base. El Tuhami won the title of Ambassador of Culture in the Arab World from the International Association for Intellectual and Cultural Creativity in France, in addition to many awards and honors.