The reason is not financial.. Assi El-Hellani withdraws from the Arab Music Festival in Egypt

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The crisis of the 34th edition of the Arab Music Festival is still ongoing, as the Lebanese singer Assi El-Hellani announced his apology for participating, hours after the withdrawal of singers Mohamed Tharwat, Ali Al-Hajjar and others.

The media office of the singer Assi El-Helani announced in a statement yesterday evening, Thursday, that the artist had apologized for participating in the activities of the thirty-fourth session of the Arab Music Festival, which is scheduled to be held during the month of October, in light of the recent administrative developments witnessed by the Egyptian Opera House.

The statement explained the reason for Al-Helani’s withdrawal, saying: “In an effort not to get into any controversies or circumstances related to the recent administrative developments, Assi Al-Helani apologizes for not participating in this session, with full appreciation and respect for the Egyptian Opera House and its honorable audience.”

This apology came despite the Lebanese singer’s earlier announcement of his donation of his full salary, a move that reflects his keenness to participate in the well-known music festival, and his appreciation for the Egyptian audience, which confirms that the reason for his apology for participating is not related to any financial disputes.

The festival witnessed a crisis of major artists' withdrawals hours after a press conference by the head of the Egyptian Opera House, Reda El-Wakil, about the details of the festival, as some of them expressed their criticism of the agent's statements, considering them to represent an insult to Egyptian art.

Singers Mohamed Tharwat and Ali Al-Hajjar withdrew, and subsequent withdrawals and apologies from participating in the Arab Music Festival included 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: “Whoever knows my history knows that my relationship with art and opera has never been material,” stressing that he had already waived more than 75% of his wages due for the concert.

Tharwat clearly criticized the method of presenting wages in the festival’s press conference, stressing that the artist, whether he receives a wage or donates it, deserves full appreciation, and it is not permissible to reduce it to numbers or make the ancient institution appear financially helpless.

He added that disclosing such details harms the value and stature of every participating Egyptian and Arab artist, before it affects those who apologized.

Regarding the direct and fundamental reason for his decision, Tharwat stressed that his objection stems from the core of professional ethics out of respect for artistic figures, refusing to turn the lofty message of art into a discussion or disagreement about budgets.

The great singer Ali Al-Hajjar said in a post Thursday morning on his Facebook account: “I apologized for participating in this year’s Arab Music Festival, and it is the first time that I will not participate since the establishment of the festival.”

He added: "The real reason is that the opera house adopted a weak and humiliating financial budget for the members of the orchestra accompanying me, which I did not accept, and it is the fact that the president of the opera house neglected to talk about in the press conference."

Al-Hajjar continued: “The strange thing is that the head of the Opera House mentioned that during his reign I held concerts at the Citadel Festival, in Alexandria, and on the Grand Theater of the Opera, which is what I had become accustomed to for more than thirty years before his arrival, and not by virtue of him.”

The crisis developed with the resignation of the head of the Opera House, Reda El-Wakil, after major artists withdrew from participating in the festival.

Reda Al-Wakil announced his resignation from his position as president of the Egyptian Opera House during a post on Facebook, during which he said: “Before I leave you in peace to continue the previous customs and methods that I hope will not return, and which within a short period of time I began to modify them for our interests, and I have already begun to successfully change some behaviors and actions whose presence I have not and will not accept throughout my period of presidency of this great edifice, the Egyptian Opera House is our second home... I apologize to you.”