Thursday March 28th, 2024
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Renowned Egyptian Violinist Mahmoud Sorour Teaches First National Music Course In Saudi Arabia

The Egyptian's popularity in the Kingdom has skyrocketed in the last year.

Staff Writer

After gaining popularity in the Kingdom with a number of sold-out concerts last year, famed Egyptian violinist, Mahmoud Sorour, was asked by Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman to set up the country's first music institute in the capital, Riyadh. On Saturday, Sorour began training 50 Saudi violinists in the institute to set them up to join KSA's first ever opera house in Jeddah, due to open in 2022, Arab News reports.

More than 250 people have registered to be trained by Sorour, who kicked off the training program by leading three classes of five students each. Inquiries about lesson availability have been on the rise, particularly from Saudi women.

Sorour, who mostly studied under European and Russian teachers, decided to focus on Arabic music in his training program in Saudi, which he explained is a tribute to our own Arab culture. Sorour plans to train enough musicians to assemble the first Saudi national orchestra.

"Why not? It would be a wonderful thing to have an all-Saudi orchestra representing the country," he said to Arab News. "This is only the beginning of what could be something amazing."