Mohamed Abdelwahab Abdelfattah Egyptian contemporary classical music composer and teacher Country: Egypt

Biography of Mohamed Abdelwahab Abdelfattah

Mohamed Abdelwahab Abdelfattah is an Egyptian composer of contemporary classical music and a pedagogue. He was born in Giza, Egypt in 1962. Abdelfattah completed his bachelor's degree at the College of Applied Arts at Helwan University. He then pursued his second and third degrees in composition and solfeggio at the Cairo Conservatoire, where he studied under Gamal Abdel-Rahim, Samha El-Kholy, and Awatef Abdel Karim.

In 1990, Abdelfattah received a scholarship to study composition in Austria. He first studied in Graz and later in Vienna, where he gained expertise in electroacoustic and experimental music under Dieter Kaufmann. In 1996, he obtained a master's degree in humanities from the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. This degree was later converted to a doctorate by the Minister of Higher Education in Egypt in 1998.

Upon returning to Egypt, Abdelfattah became a senior lecturer at the Cairo Conservatoire in 1989 and an adjunct professor in 2003. He is a versatile artist who incorporates various disciplines into his musical compositions, including poetry, painting, photography, and film editing, utilizing computer technologies. Abdelfattah blends traditional Egyptian melodies with sound effects from machines, instruments, and everyday life.

Abdelfattah's first concert of instrumental and acoustic music in Egypt took place at the Cairo Opera House on November 22, 1999. His works have been covered by both state and cultural media, hailing him as a "multifaceted artist" and a "musical pioneer of multimedia" in Egypt and Arab countries. He has written several parts of a musical composition titled "Nine Miniatures for String Quartet" in contemporary graphic notation, with its premiere taking place in Rome on December 2, 1999.

In addition to his compositional achievements, Abdelfattah became the first composer to write music for the deaf in a special notation. He assisted in the formation of a chamber ensemble consisting entirely of deaf students and conducted the ensemble in a visual musical composition called "Seeing the Sound" during a public concert at the Cairo Opera House on March 29, 2005.

Over the past five years, Abdelfattah has focused on research, publishing two books on orchestration and sound extraction. His works delve into the embodiment of art and music, discussing new sounds and musical terms. He also contributes to Arab cultural magazines, shedding light on topics related to contemporary composition and the practical application of music in society. His interests extend to writing music for the deaf and comedic music as a means to combat depression.

Abdelfattah has collaborated with Egyptian biologists and doctors to study the efficacy of sound vibration on human bones and the effects of sound frequency on blood pressure and brain functions. He composed a "therapeutic work" using sound effects of water, which was performed at a hospital in Maadi in 2006.

Mohamed often combines Eastern and Western cultures in his works, reflecting his belief in the importance of "cross-cultural" experiences. Going beyond the theory of "art for art's sake," Abdelfattah assigns a vital social role to his art in establishing intercultural dialogue and understanding, particularly between Western and Arab peoples.