Concerts from six different countries at El Genaina Theatre in Ramadan
Culture Resource presents “Hay” Ramadan’s annual festival at El Genaina Theatre in Al Azhar Park starting Thursday 27th of August till Saturday 12th of September 2009. The festival includes a variety of musical performances such as traditional Syrian song, Sufi singing, praises and traditional Mawal and rock music performed by different artists from six different countries.
Hayy starts on Thursday the 27th of August with Wust El Balad from Egypt. Wust El Balad consists of Seven talented guys from all across Egypt. The band was established in 1999 and has since then been performing to an ever-growing young audience.
On Friday the 28th of August, Hayy presents a night of traditional Syrian songs by the Syrian singer Lena Chamamyan. Lena Chamamyan studied music at the High Institute for Music in Damascus and graduated in 2007. Her debut album Hal Asmar Ellon was released to high acclaim in 2006 with a production grant from Culture Resource. In September 2006 Lena Chamamyan received the Radio Monte Carlo Music Award. In 2007 Lena launched her second album Shamat.
Aziz Maraka and Razz Band from Jordan will present a concert on the third night of the festival,Thursday the 3rd of September. Razz mixes oriental music with jazz and rock. Aziz Maraka was born in Tunisia and lives in Jordan. He studied music composing at the Jordan Academy of Music before moving to the University of Arkansas in the US to finish his studies. In 2002 Aziz won the First Prize for Music Composing for Orchestra from the organizers of Amman: Capital of Arab Culture. In 2008 Razz released their debut album Master Copy.
On Friday the 4th of September, Hayy festival presents the Syrian Sufi Singer Waed Bouhassoun. Waed Bouhassoun studied Opera Singing at the High Institute for Music in Damascus, and Oud playing with the Azerbaijani Oud master Askar Ali Akbar. Waed participated twice in Al Motakhial Festival at the House of World Cultures at the Institute de monde Arabe in Paris. She has also performed at Assilah Festival in Morocco in 2006 and in Fes’s Festival of Sacred Music in 2007. Waed released her debut album La voix de l’amour.
For the first time at El Genaina theatre, Sheikh Ahmed Barrayn will present a night of praises and traditional Mawal on Thursday the 10th of September. Sheikh Ahmed Barrayn was born in 1944 in Esna. He is one of the leading performers of the Mawal singing tradition of Egypt. A graduate of the University of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Barrayn has used his distinctive vocal skills to praise the Prophet and become one of the greatest Munshidin of Upper Egypt. Together with his ensemble, Sheikh Barrayn continues to resurrect this ancient musical tradition. In 2003 he recorded and released his album Sufi Songs from the Institute de monde Arabe in Paris.
Hayy concludes on Saturday the 12th of September with a concert for trio Luthomania. The Chinese Pi-pa, the Arab Oud and the Western Lute come together to converse in Luthomania. Xia Hua (China), who studied music in China and Belgium and became a member of the Pi-pa Research Society, Abid El Bahri (Morocco) who studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, and Philippe Malfeyt (Belgium) who’s a self-taught Lute player with a diploma in Lute performance from the Royal College of Music in London have been performing together this exciting project around the world.
All concerts start at 9.30 PM
Please make sure you arrive at Al-Azhar Park 30 minutes before event starting time
Tickets: 5 EGP (Excluding park admission)
Except 27, 28 August Tickets: 10 EGP
For more info and for press interviews call: +202 2362 50 57
