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Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, March 2008, page 53 Music & Arts MESTO in Egypt
THE 42-MEMBER Multi Ethnic Star Orchestra of Los Angeles traveled to Egypt in November at the invitation of Egypt’s Festival and Conference of Arab Music. The first conference took place in Cairo in 1932 and this year’s 16th event took place in Cairo and Alexandria. Mindful that MESTO’s founder and conductor, Dr. Nabil Azzam, wrote his doctoral dissertation at UCLA on Egypt’s foremost composer, Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab, this year’s musical conference was dedicated to the music of al-Wahhab. MESTO performed Nov. 4 in the Cairo Opera House and Nov. 6 in Alexandria’s Opera House. Featured artists were singer Dalal Abu Amneh of Nazareth and tar virtuoso Mohammed Omranifar of Azerbaijan. The orchestra also was featured on Egyptian TV’s Mufid Fawzi show. Festival director Dr. Ratiba El-Hefny praised the MESTO performance for elevating the standards of the conference. Orchestra members were treated to a cruise on the Nile and sightseeing of the Sphinx and pyramids at Giza. —Pat McDonnell Twair |
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