| Achraf Wassim |
Maestro ‘Omar Khairat is famous Egyptian composer, pianist, founder and conductor of "‘Omar Khairat Band". He was born in Cairo, raised in a family of musicians. His uncle is Abou-Bakr Khairat, the great Egyptian composer and architect, established the “Cairo Conservatoire” and enriched the Arab music with great symphonic pieces. Influenced by this legacy, ‘Omar Khairat discovered new musical dimensions in the emotions and memories of the Egyptian and Arab personality. He joined the Cairo Conservatoire in 1959, studied piano with Italian Maestro Vincenzo Carro and followed correspondence courses in music theory and composition with the Trinity College in England. ‘Omar Khairat shaped his musical identity as a professional independent composer achieving new musical visions characterized with deepness and richness. His debut performing in film music was “Leilet el-abd ‘ala Fatma i.e. The night of Fatma was arrested (1983)”. According to music experts and critics, ‘Omar Khairat's music bridges contemporary Arab music and Western music reflecting genuine maturity. Moreover, he is considered to be one of the most outstanding composers presenting successful works like “Al-‘arraafa wal-‘otour al-saahera i.e. The fortune-teller and the Magic Perfumes (1989)”, and the “Arab Rhapsody (1992)”. He also composed music for international events like the “National Feast of Oman (1993)”, the Inauguration Ceremony of “Bibliotheca Alexandrina (1996)”, “Carthage Festival”- Tunisia, “Operetta al-Sheikh Zaayed - Emirates (2000)”, “Panorama al-Abour” - Symphonic Poem - Cairo (1991), “Fine Arts Cycle - Spain (2004)”, “October Celebrations (2000)”, “Celebration of the Royal Jordan River Institution (2005)” , “Jarash Festival (2003), “Three Civilizations Celebration – Spain”, “Celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of the Egyptian Cinema” and many other. He regularly performed at the Cairo Opera House and all the Egyptian and Arab ceremonies during the last fifteen years. His repertoire includes more than fifty works for cinema and more than 20 in TV.
‘Omar Khairat received more than Arab and international awards such as; “Oman Award (1993)”, a Certificate of Merit and the Shield from the “7th Cairo International Song Festival (2001)”, the “Emirate Ministry of Media Award (2004)”, the “Royal Jordan River Institution Award (2005)”, Certificate of Merit and the Shield from the “Alexandria International Song Festival (2006)”, Certificate of Merit and the Shield from the “30th Cairo International Film Festival (2006)”. In 2008, he received the Middle East Music Award (MEMA).
‘Omar Khairat married actor Jala Fahmy nad they got divorced. He is now married to Mrs. Naglaa al-Ghannaam, he is the father of ‘Omar (junior) and Sherine and he is the grandfather of Adam.
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