Opera House Head Resigns Amid Wave of Festival Withdrawals

The 34th edition of the Arab Music Festival, scheduled to take place in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, from October 20 to 30, is facing unprecedented challenges culminating in the resignation of the head of the Egyptian Opera House following a wave of mass withdrawals by prominent singing stars. These artistic storms came in the wake of a press conference held yesterday, Wednesday, by Opera House head Reda El-Wakil to unveil the details of the upcoming edition, during which he addressed financial obstacles represented by a scarce allocated budget. Following this, artist Mohamed Tharwat announced his boycott of the event—even though the edition bears the name of his late friend Hany Shaker—explaining in a statement via social media that he refuses any insult to Egyptian artists. It was not long before singer Ali El-Hagar followed suit, noting that this is the first time he will be absent from the festival since its inception, attributing the reason to meager wages allocated to his accompanying musical band and the opera leadership's disregard for this matter. In the same context, the list of withdrawers expanded to include other prominent names such as May Farouk, Ahmed Saad, and Mohamed Mohsen, placing the organizing committee in a dilemma that pushed it to quickly search for alternatives. These developments culminated in the resignation of the Opera House head via his personal account, affirming his rejection of interference in his artistic choices or acceptance of practices incompatible with the cultural landmark's status, while expressing hope for success for everyone and contenting himself with the role of artist and friend. The festival is considered one of the most prominent major artistic events in the Arab world, having attracted the region's music icons across its previous editions such as Majida El Roumi, Assala, Saber Rebai, Wael Jassar, Assi El Hallani, Angham, and others.