BBC World Service South Asia

Music Extra

Music

Selected BBC music documentaries drawn from across the world.

Music Extra: Light and Hope in the Revolutionary Era

Discussion & Talk

Al Nour Wal Amal Orchestra

03/03/2018 GMT

Light and Hope in the Revolutionary Era

BBC World Service - Music Extra, Light and Hope in the Revolutionary Era

The world's only blind female orchestra described as 'Egypt's Miracles'

The story of the world's only blind female orchestra, surviving in a macho society where classical music is underappreciated.

In Cairo there is a 44-strong orchestra known as Al Nour Wal Amal (Light and Hope), the only one of its kind in the world.  It is made up entirely of blind and visually impaired women from underprivileged backgrounds, between 20-40 years of age. 

All the women musicians are now educated (many with degrees and one at the doctoral level) and a few are married - some with children. Waiting in the wings is a junior orchestra of girls from 8-20 years of age.

And yet, although the Al Nour Wal Amal Institute was founded in 1961, going on to build a compound in the Nasr City District of Cairo (with a kindergarten, a boarding school and a call centre that facilitates employment for the blind) and despite staging regular monthly concerts, annual international tours and attracting multiple donors, the organisation is struggling to secure a viable future.

Sarah El-Rashidi, who has written about the orchestra in the pre-and post revolutionary era, returns to find out how it is coping now.  She discovers how the individual members learn everything by heart without being able to see the notes, let alone the conductor.  She explores how their lives as visually impaired female musicians in Egypt have changed in the years since the 25 January Revolution, and what their aspirations now are.  And she attends their rehearsals as they prepare for a special concert in the shadow of the Giza Pyramids.

(Photo: Al Nour Wal Amal orchestra about to perform)

BBC World Service

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service East Asia

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Music Extra

Light and Hope in the Revolutionary Era

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service South Asia

About BBC World Service