Samha Amin El-Kholy was a noted Egyptian musicologist. She published widely about the traditional music and contemporary music

Contemporary classical music

Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...

 of Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, including several articles about contemporary Egyptian composers in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians

Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, it is the largest single reference work on Western music. The dictionary has gone through several editions since the 19th century...

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She received her doctorate from the University of Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...

 in Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, where she studied with Henry George Farmer

Henry George Farmer

Henry George Farmer was a British musicologist specializing in Arabic music...

. In 1958, she became the first musicologist on the faculty of the newly opened Cairo Conservatoire

Cairo Conservatoire

The Cairo Conservatoire is the primary music conservatory in Egypt. It was established in 1959 and is located in the same building complex as the Cinema Institute and the Higher Institute for Theatrical Arts, Haram, Giza, Greater Cairo, while the Cairo Symphony Orchestra is based at Cairo Opera...

.

She was married to the Egyptian composer Gamal Abdel-Rahim

Gamal Abdel-Rahim

Gamal Abdel-Rahim , was an Egyptian classical music composer, educator, and pianist. His best-known work is the symphony Osiris.-Life and career:...

. From 1972 to 1981 she served as Dean of the Cairo Conservatoire, and from 1982 to 1985 she was President of the Academy of Arts University in Cairo.

She also organized an orchestra for the blind and hosted a television program about music. She organized many concerts and recordings of the works of Egyptian composers.

Her notable students include Mohamed Abdelwahab Abdelfattah

Mohamed Abdelwahab Abdelfattah

Mohamed Abdelwahab Abdelfattah is an Egyptian composer of contemporary classical music and educator. He is a member of Egypt's third generation of classical composers.-Biography:...

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Books

• El-Kholy, Samha. Al-qawmiyya fī mūsīqā al-qarn al-‘ishrīn’ (Nationalism in 20th-century music) (1992). Kuwait: World of Knowledge.
• El-Kholy, Samha. The Function of Music in Islamic Culture. In the Period Up to 1100 A.D. (1984). Cairo: General Egyptian Book Organization.
• El-Kholy, Samha. The Tradition of Improvisation in Arab Music.
• El-Kholy, Samha, and John O. Robison, eds. (1993). Festschrift for Gamal Abdel-Rahim. The Occasional Paper Series, v. 2, no. 2. Cairo: The Binational Fulbright Commission in Egypt.

External links

• Samha El-Kholy obituary from Music Research Institute site
• Samha El-Kholy obituary from Al-Ahram