Home | Composers Index | Musical Epochs | Musical Forms | Contact Musical Instruments | Updates | Cairo Opera House | Links

Cairo Opera House -
Cairo Symphony Orchestra

Although the Cairo Symphony Orchestra performed under this name for the first time in 1959, the artistic activity of this institution began some years earlier as Egyptian Broadcasting formed an orchestra to satisfy its need for music programs. The orchestra was developed when Franz Litchauer, an Austrian conductor, became its music director and after months of hard work started to perform regular concerts at the old Opera House in Cairo.

Subsequent affiliation to the Ministry of Culture with its new name in 1959, the orchestra has been playing a major role in classic music activities in Egypt. In addition to its regular. Symphonic concerts it has accompanied the foreign and local Opera and Ballet seasons in the old Opera House with companies such as the Bolshoi, Kirov and recently The London City Ballet in the new Cairo Opera House.
 

Since 1990 the Cairo Symphony Orchestra became part of the new National Cultural Center and performed in all Opera Productions in the new Cairo Opera House, such in Operas as Figaro. Aida , Carmen, Tosca and Don Giovanni as well as Productions of the Cairo Opera Ballet Company including Don Quixote and Romeo & Juliet.
 

The orchestra has performed under guest conductors of international caliper such as Charles Munch, Carlo Zecchi, Otokar Trihuk, Ole Schmidt and Graham Bond.

Well known composers as Aram Khatschatruian, Boris Papandopulo and Ahmed Adnan Saygun have conducted the Cairo Symphony Orchestra with programs of their own works.

Among soloists who have performed with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra are Rudolf Buchbinder, Abdel Rahman El Bacha, Jorg Damus, George Themeli, Sergio Particaroli, Ramzi Yassa, Yfrat Neamann, Josef Sivo, Lukas David, Bruno Giruanna, Andre Navara and Mstislav Rostropovitch.

The Cairo Symphony Orchestra played a major role in promoting Egyptian musicians, composers. Soloists and conductors including the wellknown Egyptian names,such as  Moushira Issa, Hassan Sharara, Mustafa Nagui. Youssef El Sisi, Sayed Awad among others.

Under its recent music director Ahmed Elsaedi, the Cairo Symphony Orchestra strikes a new dimension in both, repertoire and volume. Composers like Debussy, Ravel, Bruckner, Mahler, and Proke's becoming regular names on the Cairo Symphony Orchestra repertoire