Egyptian Oriental Music Takes France by Storm

When the late, legendary singer Om Kolthom performed in Paris, she was resoundingly successful not only among the Arab immigrants who flocked to her concerts, but also among the French people, officials and media.

Recently Le Mond newspaper published a full page report about modern Egyptian music, giving special attention to popular music and singers in the Upper Egypt areas of Luxor and Nubian.

The report highlighted an ongoing French festival for Egyptian music. The event, taking place in Toulouse, marks Egypt’s year in France. It is part of the wider celebration of 200 years of modern Egyptian-French relations.

The festival tackles the development of Egyptian music since the 17th century through the life of Yousef Beskash, who lived in Luxor and was the first to combine Nubian music with tunes and instruments used by the gypsies.

The newspaper report also dealt with modern Egyptian pop music, which it said was led by Amr Diab and Hakim. It said their albums sell very well in Egypt, the Arab world, and among Arab communities abroad.

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