Anamel Sharqiya (Fingertips from the East) music concert by Dr. Manal Mohei Eldin
Band Members:
Manal Mohei Eldin: Harp
Alaa Abdallah: Chello
Khaled Oweida: Violin
Noha: Violin
Emad Hanafy: Viola
Hisham Kamal: Percussions
Hani El Sawaf: Percussions
Hani El Badry: Oriental Flute
Wael El Naggar: Accordeon
Iman El Mahdy: Double Bass
Biography:
The harp is one of the oldest instruments known to mankind, and it is an important part of modern chamber music and symphonic orchestras. Our artist is the first Egyptian female solo harpist in the Egyptian Symphony Orchestra, and she has played concerts in numerous venues and countries all over the world. Let's get to know her; Dr. Manal was born in Cairo, and she started playing the harp at the age of ten under the tutelage of the esteemed Nahed Zikry, Professor of the Harp and Head of the String Instruments Department at the Cairo Conservatoire.
She attained a baccalaureate from the Cairo Conservatoire in 1987 with an excellent grade, and she completed her post-graduate studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main (Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts) through a DAAD scholarship. Dr. Manal gained the highest degree the university offered in the harp, and studied under Professor Giselle Herbert, the internationally acclaimed French harpist who also performed duets with Dr. Manal in the Cairo Opera House, Theatre of Arabic Music, Beit El Seheimy and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Dr. Manal is currently a professor at the Cairo Conservatoire.
Dr. Manal Mohei Eldin has performed in Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor and Aswan locally, and in Italy, France, Greece, Austria, Germany, America, New Zealand, Congo, Lebanon, Jordan, Qatar and Brazil as a solo harpist, and has collaborated with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, the Daughters of the Nile group and with Omar Khayrat. She also contributed to several TV and radio projects and the scores of several iconic works of Egyptian cinema including "Al Maseer" (Fate) and "Al Muhajer" (The Immigrant) by Youseef Shahin, and the movie "Fata min israel" (A Girl from israel). Dr. Manal Mohei Eldin has also played with Najaat al Saghira, Angham and Magda El Roumy in one of her biggest concerts that took place in Beirut in 2006.
She also performed at the show accompanying the opening of the Egypt Wing at the Louvre museum in Paris in 1997, and many harp festivals and conventions such as the International Harp Festival in Rio de Janeiro in 2007, the 2009 festival with Arabic music along with 7 musicians and the 2010 festival with 9 musicians. She represented Egypt in a UNESCO women's festival in Greece, and also performed in Prague, the Czech Republic and the European Symposium in Amsterdam, Nederlands.
In spite of her classical musical instrument background, Dr. Manal Mohei Eldin did not forget her Arabic roots and love for Arabic music, so she started a project in 2002 where she collected authentic melodies from Arabic heritage, works by Mohammed AbdelWahab and other contemporary musicians, and employed the harp to play these melodies. This musical experience was performed at the Cairo Opera House, Sawi Culturewheel and other conventions and national celebrations. A record called "Anamel Sharqiya" (Fingertips from the East) was released for her music project.
