Egypt’s renowned composer and pianist Omar Khairat will give a concert at St. John’s Smith Square in London, marking the musician’s first appearance in UK’s capital.
Organised by FACE for Children in Need, and under the patronage of the Egyptian Embassy in London, the concert is expected to gather an audience of over one thousand.
Khairat, 69, is a reputed composer and pianist, whose original compositions, which bridge contemporary Arab music and western tunes, have earned him a large following in Egypt and the region.
Khairat composed the musical scores of over 50 Egyptian films, including The Sixth Day (1984), The Terrorist (1993), Mafia (2002), Girl’s Love (2003), The Embassy in the Building (2005) and Deer’s Blood (2006).
In television, his memorable works include Lailat El Qabd Ala Fatma (1984) and Dameer Abla Hekmat (1991).
He also composes music for theatre and special occasions, such as the opening ceremonies of important Egyptian cultural and regional festivals.
Khairat has also arranged compositions by celebrated Egyptian musician Mohamed Abdel-Wahab, releasing them as “Wahabiat” 1 and 2. His arrangement of the well-known songs of Um Kulthoum brought him additional acclaim.
He is particularly known to audiences in the Arab world for his frequent performances with his Omar Khairat Group, which continues to fill concert halls to the brim.
“Although I re-recorded my music in London, this will be the first time I will be performing to an audience in England, and I hope it will be a successful concert and achieve the noble goal for which it was organised,” Khairat commented in the press release for the London event.
The event aims to raise funds and increase awareness of the problem of street children and orphans in Egypt, of whom up to 2,500 are cared for by the FACE charity every year.
Founded in 2003 in Egypt by a mother of three young children, today FACE has grown into a prominent organization with several projects underway.
Supported by Egypt’s Ministry of Social Solidarity, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of the Interior, FACE’s mission is to assist and protect orphans, street children, their families and communities, and to equip these children for a better life. The group aims to instil self-esteem and hope in the children by providing them with the means to become strong adults in society.
The association currently operates four shelters for orphans and two centers for street children with plans to expand in other areas inside Egypt.
Programme:
Friday, 1 December at 7pm
St John’s Smith Square, London
Source: Ahram online
