Assi El Hallani withdraws from Arab Music Festival in Egypt

The crisis of the current session of the Arab Music Festival continues as Lebanese singer Assi El Hallani announced his apology for participating, hours after singers Mohamed Tharwat, Ali El Haggar and others withdrew. The media office of singer Assi El Hallani announced in a statement the artist's apology for participating in the activities of the thirty-fourth session of the Arab Music Festival, scheduled to be held during this October, in light of the recent administrative developments witnessed by the Cairo Opera House. The statement explained the reason for El Hallani's withdrawal, saying: "Out of his keenness not to enter into any altercations or circumstances related to the recent administrative developments, Assi El Hallani apologizes for participating in this session, with full appreciation and respect for the Cairo Opera House and its generous audience." This apology came despite the Lebanese singer's previous announcement that he would donate his entire fee in a step reflecting his keenness to participate in the well-known music festival and his appreciation for the Egyptian audience, confirming that the reason for his apology for participation is not related to any financial disputes. The festival witnessed a crisis of senior artists withdrawing hours after a press conference by Cairo Opera House head Reda El Wakil about the details of the festival, where some of them expressed criticism of El Wakil's statements, considering them an insult to Egyptian art. Both singers Mohamed Tharwat and Ali El Haggar withdrew, followed by a succession of withdrawals and apologies for participating in the Arab Music Festival to include Mai Farouk, Mohamed Mohsen, Ahmed Saad and others. For his part, singer Mohamed Tharwat revealed in a statement on Friday morning the reasons for his apology for participating in the festival, saying: "Those who know my history know that my relationship with art and the opera was never financial," stressing that he had already waived more than 75% of his due fee for the concert. Tharwat clearly criticized the way wages were presented in the festival's press conference, stressing that the artist, whether he received a fee or donated it, deserves full appreciation, and it is not permissible to reduce him to numbers or make the ancient institution appear financially helpless. He added that disclosing such details affects the value and stature of every participating Egyptian and Arab artist, before affecting those who apologized. Regarding the direct and essential reason for his decision, Tharwat stressed that his objection stems from the core of professional ethics in respect of artistic figures, refusing to turn the lofty message of art into a debate or dispute over budgets. The great singer Ali El Haggar had said in a post on Thursday morning on his Facebook account: "I apologized for participating in the Arab Music Festival for this year, and this is the first time I will not participate since the establishment of the festival." He added: "The real reason is that the Opera House adopted a weak and insulting financial budget for the members of the musical band accompanying me, which I did not accept, a fact that the head of the Opera House ignored talking about in the press conference." El Haggar continued: "The strange thing is that the head of the Opera House mentioned that during his tenure I held concerts at the Citadel Festival, in Alexandria, and on the Grand Theater of the Opera, which I have been used to for more than thirty years before his arrival and not as a favor from him." The crisis escalated with the resignation of Opera House head Reda El Wakil after senior artists withdrew from participating in the festival. Reda El Wakil announced his resignation from his position as head of the Egyptian Opera House in a post via Facebook, saying: "Before I leave you in peace to complete the previous habits and methods that I hope will not return, which I started within a short period to modify for our interests, and actually started in successfully changing some behaviors and actions that I did not and will not accept their presence throughout my presidency of this great edifice, the Egyptian Opera House, our second home... I apologize to you."