World Sacred Music Festival: The magic still works

The 26th edition of the Fez Festival of World Sacred Music (FFMSM) was short. Only four days (June 9 to 12) instead of the usual ten, but it was a success from start to finish.

■ Distinguished guests attended the Festival

After a majestic opening, Thursday, June 9, in the presence of Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Hasnaa, the Minister of Culture, Mohamed Mehdi Bensaïd, the President of BMCE Bank Of Africa, Othmane Benjelloun, and the President of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE), Ahmed Réda Chami, among others, the Festival has invited distinguished guests from Morocco and elsewhere to its journey into “architecture and the sacred”. Notably present were diplomats from France, Spain, Italy, and Israel, but also artists such as the couple of American actors Bart John­son and Robyn Lively, in addition to Noureddine Bensouda, Treasurer Ge­neral of the Kingdom, and big bosses such as Mohamed Karim Mounir, CEO of the BCP group, Dounia Taar­ji, president of the executive board of the Hassan II Fund, and Ali Ghannam, former president of the National Tou­rism Federation (FNT). The latter at­tended, on Saturday June 11, the show of trumpeter Ibrahim Maalouf and his very cosmopolitan friends of ten years, the Haïdouti Orkestar with its armada from Eastern Europe, North Africa, Northern Europe, Andalusia, the Middle East… It was a cocktail of nomadic, soothing, and nostalgic music, coupled with oriental dance and Lebanese and Kurdish songs. At times, the artist invited festival-goers to stand up to accompany his rhythmic music. In any case, that was a hell of a party, this Saturday evening June 11, at Bab El Makina, for sacred music, carried by a hot wind coming from the steppes.

■ A still palpable enthusiasm

More than 26 years after its creation, the flagship event of the spiritual capi­tal has not aged a bit. The enthusiasm for this cultural event is still palpable. Evidenced by the media coverage pro­vided throughout the festival by the Moroccan and foreign press, by the support of the sponsors which remains unfailing, as well as by the multiple requests for tickets received by its or­ganizers, which are difficult to satisfy.

■ Recitals, poetry, Indian Sufism…

The festival appeals to the audience won over by a rich and varied pro­gramme. Thus, at the Aben Danan synagogue, people were able to appreciate the magnificent reci­tal by pianist Michaël Levinas and soprano Marion Grange, “Espen­baum”: a cycle of melodies on texts by the Romanian poet Paul Celan. Festival-goers also savored, at Jnane Sbil, the mystical and philanthropic music of the Al Zawya Ensemble. The sublime “Roohani Sisters”, Dr Jagriti Luthra Prasanna and Dr Neeta Pandey Negi, sketched out the traditions of Indian Sufism and classical Jugalbandi music. The two sisters pulled off a most fascinating and moving performance, drawing the audience into a powerful burst of spiritual elevation.

■ Bab Makina, Dar Adiyel, Aben Danan…

The program has honored an excep­tional selection of artists and forma­tions in unique and rare sites that celebrate the heritage of the spiri­tual capital of Morocco, namely Bab Makina, Dar Adiyel, the Aben Da­nan synagogue, and Jnan Sbil. The conference room of Les Mérinides hotel, for its part, hosted the Fez fo­rum under the theme of “Architec­ture and the Sacred”. Under the lea­dership of Driss Khrouz, Director of the forum, Souad Belakziz, Andrea Anastasio, Susana Calvo Capilla, and Danielle Cohen-Levinas, answe­red questions on the links between “Spaces and ways of life in relation to the sacred in architecture” then on “Symbols of the Sacred in Archi­tecture”.

Youness SAAD ALAMI