Ahmed El Saedi

Maestro Ahmed El Saedi has been serving for a second term since 2014 as Principal Conductor and Music Director of the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, affirming his central role in the development of symphonic life in Egypt and beyond.

His international debut took place in 1982, when he conducted the Slovak Sinfonietta at the Wiener Konzerthaus in Vienna. Since then, he has appeared as guest conductor with more than sixty orchestras and opera companies worldwide, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Suk Chamber Orchestra, the Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de la Société Philharmonique de Montréal, the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra da Camera Milano Classica, the Orchestra da Camera Florentina, the Sofia National Opera, the Prague Symphony Orchestra, the Prague Chamber Orchestra, and the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra.

He studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst) with Othmar Suitner (conducting), Friedrich Cerha (composition), and Franz Eibner (theories of Heinrich Schenker). He further refined his artistic philosophy through studies in conducting and musical phenomenology with Sergiu Celibidache in Germany.

Maestro El Saedi has conducted in many of the world’s most prestigious concert halls, including the Wiener Musikverein, the Philharmonie Berlin, the Kölner Philharmonie, and the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

His artistic achievements have been widely recognized with numerous distinctions, among them the Villa-Lobos Centennial Medal from the State of Brazil (1988), the State Prize for Composition (1995), and the State Prize for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts (2000) from the Egyptian Ministry of Culture, as well as the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art (2004).