Cairo Symphony Orchestra

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The Cairo Symphony Orchestra (Arabic: اوركسترا القاهرة السيمفونى; Orkestra el-Qāhera el-Semfōni) is an orchestra based in Cairo, Egypt. It was founded in 1959 by its first music director and conductor, Franz Litschauer. Its current chief conductor is Andreas Spörri. Formerly, its music director and principal conductor (beginning in August 2005) was Steven Lloyd.

The Orchestra was founded in 1959 under its first music director and conductor, Franz Litschauer, and from mid-1959 to 1960 it was conducted by the Yugoslavian Gika Zdravkovitch. Two Egyptian conductors, Ahmed Ebeid and Youssef Elsisi, succeeded Litschauer as conductors of the Cairo Symphony Orchestra. Performing in the former Cairo Opera House, the orchestra gave symphonic concerts, and accompanied opera and ballet performances including both local and foreign companies among which were the Bolshoi, the Kirov, and the Royal Ballet of London.

Since the beginning of the Cairo Symphony Orchestra's residence at the New Cairo Opera House in 1990 and with Maestro Ahmed El Saedi as its music director and principal conductor, the orchestra restricted its activities to symphonic concerts. This enabled the orchestra to forge new horizons in both repertoire and number of concerts. Works by Bruckner, Mahler, Ravel, Debussy, Schoenberg, Bartok, Hindemith, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, and others have become an integral part of the orchestra's repertoire. Since the integration of the A Cappella Choir into the Cairo Symphony Orchestra both have performed together major works for chorus and orchestra such as Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and the “Missa Solemnis”, Mahler’s Second Symphony and Brahms' “A German Requiem”.

The Cairo Symphony Orchestra has played a crucial role in the development of Egyptian contemporary music and in the inspiration of Egyptian musicians-soloists and conductors alike, Among the successful highlights organized and performed during the past seasons was the “Beethoven Festival’ celebrating the 175th anniversary of his death, the “Twentieth Century Music Festival.” and “Arab Perspectives Festival.” The latter festival was founded by Ahmed El Saedi and first held in February 2002; it has been held each February since, except for 2008.

Many international guest conductors such as Charles Münch, Yehudi Menuhin, Alexander Frey, Carlo Zecchi, Ottokar Truhlik, Ole Schmidt, Gennady Rozhdesivensky, Janos Kukla, Patrick Fournillier, and others have led the Cairo Symphony Orchestra. Among the soloists who have performed with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra are Rudolf Buchbinder, Abdel Rahman El-Basha. Joerg Demus, Ramzy Yassa, André Navarra, Mstislav Rostropovich, Viktoria Posinikova, Stefan Vladar and Christian Alienburger. During the past several years the Cairo Symphony Orchestra has regularly toured many European countries and China with great success.