BIOGRAPHY
The Cairo Guitar Collective (CGC) is dedicated to the performance of quality works for small guitar ensembles. CGC was founded in June 2015 and is comprised of some of the best teachers and advanced students of classical guitar in Egypt who perform music from various cultures and eras. Experience hearing the guitar played in surprising ways!
.كايرو جيتار كوليكتيف مكرسة لأداء أعمال ذات جودة من مقطوعات مؤلفة خصيصيا لمجموعة صغيرة من عازفين الجيتار
.كايرو جيتار كوليكتيف تتكون من أفضل المعلمين و الطلاب المتقدمين فى الجيتار الكلاسيكي فى مصر الذين يؤدون الموسيقى من مختلف الثقافات والعصور . نحن نقدم لجمهورنا تجربة سماع الغيتار بطرق جديدة و مبتكرة
MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of the Cairo Guitar Collective is to:
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perform quality chamber music for guitars and guitar-like instruments.
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unite a community of classical guitar enthusiasts throughout Egypt.
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provide professional performance experience for aspiring classical guitarists.
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conduct educational outreach presentations and workshops throughout Egypt.
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spread awareness of AUC’s Bachelor of Musical Arts degree program.
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perform beyond Egypt as representatives of Egypt’s music culture.
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commission new compositions for guitar duet, trio & quartet.
بيان المهمة
:مهمة مجموعة غيتار القاهرة هي
أداء و تقديم موسيقى ذات جودة للغيتار والآلات التى تشبه الغيتار *
توحيد مجتمع من عشاق الغيتار الكلاسيكي في جميع أنحاء مصر *
توفير تجربة الأداء المهني لعازفي الجيتار الكلاسيكية الطامحين *
تقديم العروض التثقيفية والتوعية وورش العمل في جميع أنحاء مصر *
نشر الوعي ببرنامج البكالوريوس في الفنون الموسيقية في الجامعة الأمريكية بالقاهرة *
أداء الجيتارخارج مصر كممثلين عن الثقافة الموسيقية في مصر *
تقديم و تأليف مقطوعات جديدة ثنائية ، ثلاثية او رباعية للجيتار الكلاسيكي. *
CURRENT MEMBERS
Rowies Ezzat
Rowies Ezzat joined the Cairo Guitar Collective in 2022 to record and perform new commissions by renowned Egyptian composers Amr Okba and Karim Frege. He was born in 1995 and started playing classical guitar at the age of 11. Rowies started his musical studies at the Conservatoire de Musique d'Alexandrie under the supervision of Mr. Hossam El-Shafey. In 2014, Rowies became the classical guitar student of with Dr. Karim Frege. Rowies obtained a Diploma from the Associated Board of Royal Schools of Music in Guitar Performance (DipABRSM) in 2017. Three years later, Rowies obtained a Licentiate from Trinity College London (LTCL), with distinction in guitar performance.
Rowies is currently a guitar instructor at the British School in Alexandria and the Conservatoire de Musique d'Alexandrie. Rowies has performed many solo classical guitar concerts at prestigious venues such as the Alexandria’s Jesuit Culture Center and Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
Taha El Mansy
Taha El Mansy specializes in both Arab and Western classical music. He began studying voice and oud as a child in Mansoura, Egypt. In his youth, he performed throughout Egypt as a classical Arabic singer. In 2015, Taha graduated from the Arab Music High School with an emphasis in oud playing. Currently, he is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree at the Arab Music Institute in Giza.
In 2016, Taha performed on the electric guitar in Szczecin, Poland. The following year, Taha shifted his focus to classical guitar performance under the mentorship of Paweł Kuźma. Taha’s rapid improvement and musicality earned him an invitation to join the Cairo Guitar Collective. He performed with CGC for the first time on the Baroque Inspired program in Nov. 2017. Two of the pieces on the Egyptian Composers for Guitar project were composed with Taha's oud playing in mind.
Taha performs on a guitar by Egypt's premier luthier, Jean-Paul Haggar.
Paweł Kuźma - Artistic Director
Classical guitarist Paweł Kuźma was born in 1985 in Piekary Śląskie, Poland. He is currently an adjunct professor at The American University in Cairo where he teaches World Music and private applied guitar. Along with composer Bahaa El Ansary, Kuzma co-directs Cairo Impro, a group dedicated to the education and performance of avant-garde improvisation. As a performing artist, Pawel has given many concerts in Poland, Finland, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria and, more recently, Egypt.
His passion for classical guitar started in his first year of primary school. At the beginning of his musical education, Pawel won many national music competitions. Later, he won international competitions and grants from the Polish Ministry of Culture and City Council.
Considered by many to be one of the most promising guitarists in Poland, Pawel graduated from high school with honors. Pawel continued his education at the Szymanowski Music Academy in Katowice, Poland. There, he studied under the renowned professor, Alina Gruszka. During this time, Pawel was awarded a grant by Young Poland, an organization founded by Ministry of Culture.
After graduating from the Szymanowski Academy, Pawel moved to Finland to continue his education at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, which is widely considered to be one of the best music programs in the world. Pawel studied under Dr. Jukka Savijoki. Pawel became co-director of CGC in fall 2017.
Chelsea Green - Founder & Executive Director
Chelsea Green is an associate professor of music at the American University in Cairo. She teaches music history, introductory ethnomusicology, music theory, music entrepreneurship and guitar performance. Drawing on her experience as a professional guitar soloist and ensemble player, Chelsea also directs Cairo Guitar Collective and the AUC Guitar Ensemble. Both ensembles consistently perform throughout Egypt.
Chelsea is the author of Sight-Reading for Guitar: The Keep Going Method Book & Video Series which launched on April 2, 2020. It is an open resource, meaning it is online accessible and free to all. This series is the culmination of two years’ work and genuine collaborative effort between the author, composers, specialists at the Center for Learning & Teaching (American University in Cairo), members of the Rebus Community, peer-reviewers, and beta-testers. We are all excited to share it with you!
Along with teaching and performing, Chelsea transcribes music for guitar. In 2016, Chelsea completed a set of French art songs for guitar and voice. Her transcriptions are published and distributed by California Guitar Archives (CGA). CGA also distributes her full-length album The Mélodies of Eric Satie and Reynaldo Hahn, performed by duo Les Copines (Risa Larson, soprano & Chelsea Green, guitars). In 2011, she published a philosophical article entitled Permission to Play: Obstacles and Open Spaces in Music-Making. The article describes how the phenomenon of play, as articulated by the philosopher Hans George Gadamer, relates to the performing arts.
In 2010, Chelsea was selected to participate in the month-long Asian Pacific Performance Exchange (APPEX) in Bali, Indonesia. During the exchange, artists from East Asia and the United States studied traditional Balinese performing arts and created collaborative performance pieces. In 2006, Chelsea co-founded an electric guitar octet entitled the Los Angeles Electric 8. The octet's repertoire spans the late Renaissance to today. During her six-year membership in the octet, the Los Angeles Electric 8 recorded three full-length albums and performed in a variety of US national festivals including the Strathmore Guitar Festival, Sundays Live at LACMA, REDCAT’s Summer Studio, World Festival of Sacred Music andMicroFest.
She holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts, with a specialization in guitar performance, from the University of California, Los Angeles. For more information please visit: www.chelseacgreen.com.
FORMER MEMBERS
Mohamed Abou Rehab
Mohamed Abou Rehab was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1997. He graduated with a Bachelor of Musical Arts in Guitar Performance and Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Communications Engineering degrees from the American University in Cairo (AUC).
Like many guitarists of his generation, Mohamed’s first interest was in heavy metal and electric guitar playing. However, upon joining the music program at AUC, he began to formally study classical guitar; Western music theory and history; Arab music theory and history; and arranging.
In 2018, Mohamed won the AUC Concerto Competition and performed Vivaldi's Concerto in D Major with the Cairo Festival Orchestra. He joined CGC in spring 2019 for the Electric Ethereal program.
Youmna Zakarya
Youmna Zakarya is a graduate of the Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University. She currently works as a network engineer. Youmna began studying classical guitar in 2012 when she joined the Music for All program at the American University in Cairo (AUC). She studied classical guitar performance with Shady Nagy and music theory with Khaled Shoukry. In 2013, Youmna continued studying classical guitar with Chelsea Green. During that time, Youmna performed at Music for All concerts as well as with the AUC Guitar Ensemble.
Thanks to the encouragement of her teachers, Youmna has composed two pieces for guitar entitled Inspiration and Over Years. Both pieces have been recorded and were debuted at AUC's Guitar Ensemble concert. In 2015, Youmna became a founding member of the Cairo Guitar Collective. As part of the group, she has performed at the Oufoqy Festival (Alexandria, May 2015) and AUC's Ewart Hall (Cairo, May 2016).
Shady Nagy
Shady Nagy is one of Egypt's most prolific classical guitar performers and teachers. He also composes and performs in rock bands, experimental jazz ensembles and on film soundtracks. Noted for his technical skill and sensitive interpretation of classical guitar repertoire, Shady frequently performs—as a soloist and an ensemble player—at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Cairo Opera House and other leading venues for classical music in Egypt. Since 2015, when he became a founding member of the Cairo Guitar Collective (CGC), Shady has dedicated himself to the performance of innovative and quality chamber music for classical guitar.
In 2008, Shady was invited to perform in Syria as part of Echanges Culturels en Méditerranée (ECUME). Always in demand as a versatile guitarist, Shady was the lead guitarist and backup vocalist for the bands Love & Peace and Massar Egbari. Currently, Shady performs with the Yehya Khalil, the legendary jazz composer, performer and bandleader. Shady composed the soundtrack to the film Islands and performed the guitar parts for the film Eyes of the Thief, as well as the Ramadan series Under Control. Presently he has composed a few pieces for Massar Egbari, as well as a few works for small ensemble featuring classical guitar and Arab instruments.
When not performing, Shady teaches classical guitar throughout Egypt. He currently teaches at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Conservatoire de Musique d'Alexandrie, British School of Alexandria and American University in Cairo.
Shady holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Tanta University and a LRSM Diploma in Classical Guitar Performance (Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music) from the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM). In 2013, Shady attended a master class with Manuel Barrueco and Odair Assad at the Cordoba Guitar Festival in Spain.
To listen to Shady Nagy's music click: https://soundcloud.com/shady-nagy.
César Mora
César Mora (1989) is a Venezuelan/Ecuadorian guitar performer, teacher, composer and entrepreneur living in Cairo, Egypt. He began studying guitar under Maestro José Gamboa, at the age of 14. One year later, he entered Juan Manuel Olivares Conservatory, where he studied classical guitar under Maestro Efrén Suárez.
In 2013, César completed his bachelor of musical arts degree from the National University of Arts (UNEARTE) in Caracas. He specialized in classical guitar performance under the guidance of Maestro Luis Zea. César has participated in master-classes with the following internationally renowned guitarists: Leo Brouwer, Flavio Sala, and Miguel Trápaga. He won first prize at the “First Guitar Contest – VI. International Guitar Festival & World Academy Soloists, 2011” and the “First National Guitar Competition, Alirio Diaz, 2011”.
Currently, César is a guitar professor at The American University in Cairo (AUC) where he mentors the first student to earn a bachelor of musical arts degree, with a specialization in guitar performance, in Egypt. He also leads a social project called The Guitar Orchestra System (GOS). The GOS provides free guitar lessons to children in Cairo. César regularly performs throughout Egypt as a guitar soloist and in a variety of chamber ensembles.