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Egypt tour blog 2024

The blog for our tour to Egypt 31st March-7th April 2024

6th April

The Pyramids! We explore the massive site independently and join together for lunch at Khufu’s restaurant. The view can’t be bettered, and the food is a very classy version of the Egyptian staples we’ve been enjoying over the last week.

5th April

We leave on the bus for the American University in Cairo’s New Cairo complex for a day in the recording studio! After a tour of the beautiful though deserted campus from John Baboukis (it’s the weekend, and during Ramadan - we don’t see a single student out on the campus), we get started on a 3-hour session, expertly directed by David Rafferty. The students and members of faculty are all very kindly giving up their time at the weekend to help us. We are very pleased to be able to work again with Dr Wael and John Baboukis on qanun, this time joined by a talented riqq player (a kind of tambourine) - and Nouran Khalil joins us from Cairo Choral Society to sing the verses of the monophonic version of Lamaa Badaa, also giving us expert tips on pronunciation!

4th April

Today many of us explore the mosque, synagogue and many churches of Coptic Cairo, meeting for lunch in Restaurant el Khan. We regather at the AUC campus off Tahrir Square for a rehearsal and sound-check at 7 (after a bite to eat in its peaceful gardens), before our concert - a late start of 9pm due to Ramadan. It’s a really memorable performance - we start the concert with some of our English and Latin repertoire at the front of the stage, then join the ranks of the Cairo Choral Society to perform monophonic versions of Lamaa Badaa and El Helwa-Di followed by SATB arrangements by ourselves. Cairo Choral Society sing a short set by themselves and we finish off tutti with Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine and the Kyrie and Gloria from Schubert’s Mass in G.

3rd April

Most of us spend the morning exploring the mosques and souqs of Islamic Cairo, coming together for lunch in the Naguib Mahfouz café in Khan el Khalili. In the evening we make our way to the Tahrir Square campus of the American University where we meet our collaborators, John Baboukis and his choir, the Cairo Choral society. Dr Wael plays some intricate qanun accompaniments to our Arabic pieces along with John, and accompanied by Mehmad Mamdouh on tabla. The Ewart Hall is a wonderful performance venue - once performed in by Toscanini, as John tells us!

2nd April

We bid a sad farewell to Anafora, having first visited its souvenir shop and its marvellous big church, currently being painted by a Finnish lady the nuns call Mother. She and her 2 apprentices have spent the last 11 years covering every inch of the inside and outside of the walls with parables and episodes from the Old and New Testament. Our upper voices sing Poulenc’s Tota Pulchra Es to say thank you to our fabulous host, Sister Maria, who has looked after us all marvellously. We head to Cairo and are pleased to find our home for the next 5 or more nights in the complex of All Saint’s cathedral. Some of us squeeze in a visit to the Egyptian Museum before reconvening for another feast at Abdou El Sid restaurant.

1st April

A packed day! We visit three of the Coptic monasteries in Wadi Natrun. We are delighted to be given permission to sing in all three - Bishoy, Syrian and Makarios. Each one has a different feel. In the first, we sing the Kyrie from Byrd’s 4 part mass in the main nave of the ancient church, founded by St Bishoy in 340 AD. In the 2nd we have a wonderful and extensive tour , including St. Bishoy’s original cell, and some fascinating explanations of the layers of different frescoes, the door of prophecy, and the recent discoveries made by scholars from Leiden University. We sing the Byrd Agnus Dei in the frescoed altar. In the third we have a brief but very warm tour, where the monk explains the Coptic language and their daily routine and answers some of our questions (he could confirm to the children that they also celebrated Easter by eating chocolate!). He sang a chant, accompanied by cymbal, and we sang Clemens non Papa Ego Flos Campi in the main nave. On our return to Anafora we had a short break followed by our main rehearsal of the tour. We then had dinner in the fabulous Anafora communal dining area. After dinner we attended Anafora’s daily evening prayer in their church. This was packed with devotees kneeling and sitting facing the altar. The service was entirely chanted, led by a priest also facing the altar. There was a joint hymn accompanied by guitar at the end after which we sang the Byrd Benedictus and Joanna L’Estrange’s Drop, Drop, Slow Tears to the light of some mobile phones. We finished the day with a roaring bonfire lit by Sister Maria.

31st March

We leave on the bus for Alexandria. It’s a smooth journey until we reach the city outskirts, but we finally see the sea and the Corniche, and have lunch in Rooftop Restaurant. We explore independently in the afternoon, taking in the views and the sights and regather in Teatro Eskendria where we have a feast, and do our first singing after our meal to thank the staff.

30th March

We’ve arrived! On various different flights, and with more or less complicated journeys, we arrive in Anafora. For those of us who arrive in the dark it’s a mysterious place, lit mainly by candle. We have a very tasty dinner.

24th and 25th February 2024

It was great to meet up and rehearse the repertoire for the tour in St. Paul’s West Hackney, and a real privilege to sing some of our pieces in a lovely meditative service on Sunday. Thanks to Niall Weir and all the team for their warm welcome! We look forward to our next visit. Next stop, Cairo!