An Interview with Mr. Hossam Ramzy, egyptian musician and composer

April 02nd, 2014

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conducted by Tatjana Sehic, ICD Vienna office

June 7th 2014

Q. Mr. Ramzy, how Universal is music as a form of cultural diplomacy?

A.  Muasic will always be understood by every person who hears it.        Music is like a pyramid that has 360 sides and each side is different        and has its own perspective and each line will communicates to someone       in a different way. 

Q. How do you think musical arts can foster better interfaith dialogue      and understanding? And, what is your opinion on the transformative role of Arts as      Cultural diplomacy in international and intercultural relations?

A.  Art has the potential to arouse emotions in a positive way in people of all denominations.       Music can be interpreted as free style and choice. And this is a good example for        democracy My music is not politically created. It is composed as aesthetical respond of my       culture to the audience anywhere. I learned about polyrhythms, and how rhythms work       against one another. I am always interested to see why they work against one another,       and where are the counterpoints or the harmonizing points. I believe that music is about        listening to other people rather than only playing and hoping other people follow you.        And this is where I feel that it will encourage the interaction between people from different       faiths and will bring a dialogue of peace and enjoyment as well as creativity between them.       in many countries. This emotional value must be translated to the language of a particular         region and understood and practiced by those people as their life style. I dedicated the       music of the album “Egypt unviled “To every Egyptian man, woman, child and elder who       stood up to the suppression and who are creating the future of history to come.”

 Q. In your opinion how has the reception of your music around the world demonstrated      the ability of culture to transcend boards and challenge the globalisation of borders?

A. I feel that my music hase been accepted across the whole planet as I have presented it to them in two styles. One is amongst their own music, interacting with the western artists such as Peter Gabriel, Jimmy Page & Robert Plant, Shakira, Ricky Martin, Gypsy Kings. Phil Thornton and many, many more. The list is longer than I can recall.  The second style was withing my own style. Bringing that Pyramid aspect of the my music and introducing the sounds of Egypt in a way they can accept. You see... we have had many civilzations occupy Egypt along the mellenia. These different civilizations, occupations and colonizations of Egypt... Starting from as far back as the Pharaos, the Hititis, the Greeks, the Romans.... From the French, to the British, the Italians, and the attempts by the Germans, to the British occupation of Egypt, you see many artistic things changed in our music. We had the big introduction of the violins, and the symphony orchestras, and brass sections. We now compose dance music with big orchestrations, but the original Egyptian ensemble is still there. I worked with Indian violins , western jazz musicians and Arab pop-rock singers and with various other. Their music is a great melange with eclectic drawings on various musics. So it was easy for us to collaborate. I think this opened many doors and I believe the more we culturally exchange we will have a better world to live in."