Rabat – Fifteen countries participated in this week’s 26th Festival of World Sacred Music in Fez, themed around architecture and religious tolerance.
The event is a yearly international festival that provides an occasion where various religious music artists meet to celebrate in different languages and approaches. The 2022 edition of the festival started with an opening concert on Thursday, June 9 at Dar Al Makina in the old Medina of Fez. Thursday’s show featured various different artists and bands from several countries, including India, Iran, Spain, Tibet, and Morocco. The invited performers represented the world’s five main beliefs, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.
La Tempête band at Jnan Sbil, Fez the 11th of June 2022
Gavino Murgia & Tenore Goine di Nuoro at Dar Adiyel
The three following days of the festival hosted four performances per day in different authentic locations in the old Medina of Fez, with music playing from Fez’s Synagogue, Jardin Jnane Sbil, Dar Adiyel, and Bab Al Makina.
Simon-Pierre Bestion at Jnan Sbil, Fez
On the 10th of June, the daytime concerts started. The atmosphere was electric, feeding off the enthusiasm of the performing artists. A unique ambiance surrounded the crowd, as many of them closed their eyes in reverence to the spiritual music. It was wonderful to connect and relate to such a variety of music genres in different languages as the performers were from Senegal, Lebanon, France, Kazakhistan, India, Italy, Morocco, and other countries. This diversity was not an obstacle or divider between human beings. It was music and spirituality that united all the attendees.
Al Zawya band from the Sultanate of Oman (the 12th of June 2022)
June 12 featured the last night of the festival. The concluding ceremony started with a performance of the Omani band Al Zawya, followed by an epic Andalusi performance directed by Mohamed Briouel. The festival ended with a beautiful fusion between the Omani and the Andalusi bands.
It was the first visit and performance in Morocco for the Al Zawya band from the Sultanate of Oman. The head of the band, Mohamed Moussa Al Balouchi spoke to MWN. Al Balouchi explained that “this is our first international performance, and we had the honor to have this experience at Fez festival which has a great reputation.” He added that his group was “happy and proud to perform with all these wonderful artists who all meet to celebrate love, peace, and revive the spiritual meaning of the human.”
Mohamed Moussa Al Balouchi shared his delight with the Moroccan generosity and hospitality. Moussa expressed his pride in Morocco for hosting this noble occasion, as “the message of our nation with the rest of the world, which is a message of love and brotherhood,” as he described.
The Al Zawya band for Samaa Al Irfani focuses on transferring Soufi music through poems.
Andalusi Orchestre led by Mohamed Briouel at Bab Al Makina, Fez
The Andalusi band led by Mohamed Briouel is enriched by the diversity in terms of the origins of its band members, who come from different Morocco regions, including Chaouen, Fez, and Meknes. The band is diverse in terms of genders as well, as one of the members is the Moroccan artist Abir El Abed. The young artist expressed to MWN her happiness for being part of this international festival. She described the performance with the diverse Andalusi group as “the meeting of the beloved people.” Abir told MWN about her emotional attachment and feeling of belonging to the city of Fez, as it is the home city of her mother.
El Abed was born in Tanger, before joining the world of art at the young age of 9 years old. By joining the national conservatory, Abir developed her artistic skills by learning solfege, piano, and Andalusi music. Then, in 2017, El Abed participated in the television show “Arab’s Got Talent” which introduced her to Middle Eastern and North African audiences.
