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Since its foundation in 1959 under its first director Franz Litschauer, the Cairo Symphony Orchestra has played a major role in the classic music life in Egypt. The performance of regular weekly concerts and the accompaniment of international guest ensembles of opera and ballet has been a main target for 35 years. Although resident at the new Cairo Opera House, the Cairo Symphony Orchestra with its 110 positions for musicians has restricted its activities since September 1994 to Symphonic Concerts. This devotion to the performance of Symphonic Music has enabled the orchestra under its recent Music Director, Ahmed Elsaedi, to strike new dimensions in both repertoire and volume. Works by Mahler, Ravel, Debussy, Bartok, Hindemith and Stravinsky have become regular parts of the Cairo Symphony Orchestra's repertoire. This serious classical music is the main aim of the Orchestra's work but also a new series of performances has been developed recently to satisfy the interests of wider audience. Many first performances of works by Egyptian and international composers were realized by the orchestra. The orchestra has performed under the button of guest conductors of international caliber such as Charles Munch, Carlo Zecci, Ottokar Truhlik, Ole Schmidt, Yehudi Menuhin, Gennady Rozhdestvensky and Janos Kulka. Among soloists who have performed with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra are Rudolf Buchbinder, Abdel Rahman El-Bacha, Jorg Demus, Ramzy Yassa, Andre Navara, Mstislav Rosrtropovitch, Victoria Postanikova, Nicolai Petrov and Christina Ortiz. The Cairo Symphony Orchestra has toured Lebanon, Tunisia and recently Germany, France, Croatia and Austria. Performances of the orchestra in such prestigious halls as the Berliner Philharmonie and the Grosser Saal of the ORF in Vienna have been a big success and were praised both in public and in press. The Cairo Symphony Orchestra has been invited to take part in different concert tours in Europe and America in the coming seasons. It has participated in different Music Festivals among which the "Cannes Evenementiel" and the Festival of Saint Cere" in France in 1998. The 1999-2000 season includes tours to Germany, Austria and France. Since 1996 the orchestra has started a series of CD recordings of standard and Egyptian symphonic repertoire including Beethoven's 9 symphonies among others.

Contact: Cairo Symphony Orchestra Cairo Opera House, Gezira Postal Code 11211 Cairo - Egypt P.O. Box 11567 El Borg Tel: (+202) 3398157 / 3414957 Fax: (+202) 3398186 / 3398089

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