Final preparations for the sacred music festival
The flagship event of the spiritual capital is already celebrating its 27th edition. From May 24 to June 1, 2024, the Fez Festival of World Sacred Music (FFMSM) will welcome over 200 artists from 18 countries, including France. It will be an opportunity to celebrate the peaceful coexistence of the three mono-theistic religions through a rich and varied program.
Initiated under the patron-age of His Majesty the King, the new edition will feature Spain as a country. In the meantime, preparations are continuing at the Bab El Makina square and the Jnan Sbil garden, which will host the various concerts. Of particular interest is the show-creation on Friday, May 24, 2024. As a reminder, this festival is inaugurated every year in the presence of HRH Princess Lalla Hasnaa. As such, it is the only national festival to welcome such a high-profile figure for its official inauguration. The national and international elite also respond to the organizers’ invitation, as do the sponsors and other in-stitutional supporters. For its 2024 edition, the festival’s theme is “The Quest for the Spirit of Al An-dalus”, the period of peaceful cohabitation of the religions of the Book in An-dalusia from the 8th to the 15th century, a “Golden Age” whose spirit lives on in Fez. “The FFMSM is intended to be a special occasion to celebrate this ca-pacity for ‘living together’, dialogue, and tolerance, promoted at the highest level by the Kingdom”, said Abderrafia Zouitene, President of the Esprit de Fès Foundation, who adds that “Spain is in the limelight for this 27th edition, whose program will illustrate the historic and perennial links that bind the Peninsula and Morocco through performances and fusions of artists from both countries”.
On the program side, the spiritual capital’s flagship event will open with a crea-tion entitled “Zyriab ou la cinquième corde” (Zyriab or the fifth string). The show, which usually lasts an hour and a half, will highlight the Place Moulay El Hassan using mapping techniques and offer a journey to the sources of inspira-tion of Andalusian music, between sky and earth, mountains, and palaces.
The fresco will revisit Arab music when it became Andalusian, and will inherit the teachings of ancient philosophers such as Al Firdûsî and Al Kindi, themselves inspired by the thought of Pythagoras and Plato. “Their vision of the cosmos and of the planets in relation to music is akin to that of the desert poet, who contemplated the immensity of the starry sky”, explained Alain Weber, Artistic Director of the festival. A poet, singer, and musician of Kurdish origin, Abu Al-Hassan Ali Ibn Nâfi, known as “Zyriab” (“the bird or the blackbird”), the flamboyant prince of this great Andalusian epic, takes us through skies and mountains, to the Umayyad court of Amir ‘Abd al-Rahman II of Cordoba in a show featuring artists from Uzbekistan, Iran, Syria, India, Spain, Egypt, Italy, Armenia, France, and Morocco.
This year’s festival also features major artists including Sami Yusuf and Vicente Amigo. Presented by Time Magazine as “the greatest musical star of the Mus-lim world”, the former is expected to perform a memorable concert on Satur-day, May 25, 2024. Sami Yusuf is considered one of the most influential musi-cians of our time in the World Music category. Prolific guitarist Vicente Amigo will be making his second appearance at the Fez Festival. The artist will give a memorable concert where flamenco, as well as Andalusi and Spanish culture and art will be majestically highlighted.
Gospel music too
This year’s closing show will be grandiose. Gospel will be on display from June 1, 2024, with Kim Burrell for “a world premiere in Fez”, say the organiz-ers. For this unique project in the world of gospel, more than fifty artists will perform an exceptional and spellbinding creation based around gospel music, with diva Kim Burrell, famous in the USA for having sung with Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Jay-Z, and Pharrell Williams, among others. Designed and directed by conductor Pascal Horecka, this unique project offers a universal gospel, fusing the world of Western classical music with the voices of sacred, black, and inspired America.
A fun race
After 4 years of suspension, due to Covid, the Fès-Saïss Association reiterates the successful experience of a race to the rhythm of sacred music and thus hosts the 8th edition of the foot race on the occasion of the 27th anniversary of the Sacred Music Festival. The event is scheduled for Sunday, May 26, 2024 at 9 a.m., and will be attended by world track-and-field champions Nawal El Moutawakel and Soufiane El Bekkali. For Hassan Slighoua, president of the association, the aim is to gather around 3,000 participants for this 10-kilometer family race, which is primarily aimed at promoting tourism in the city of Fez and its magnificent Medina.
Youness SAAD ALAMI
