CAIRO — The 28th edition of the Salah Al-Din Citadel International Festival for Music and Singing is undoubtedly a success insofar as attendance is concerned. The festival took place Aug. 12-Sept. 2 and was attended by 13,000 spectators; 42 concerts took place. However, the festival — which prides itself on being international — had one major problem: It had just three singers from abroad.
The three singers — Syria’s Majd Alqasem, Tunisia’s Ghalia Benali and Lebanon’s Tania Kassis — were far from being regional superstars.