Chantal Chamandy Performs the 'Beladi Concert' From Her Historic 'Live at the Pyramids' Concert July 3rd at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center, (Michael A. Guido Theatre) Dearborn
Born in Egypt to parents of Egyptian, Lebanese and Greek descent and raised in Montreal, Canada, Chantal Chamandy is a pop singer born and bred to ignore boundaries and fuse the accessible with the exotic. Her new studio album and historic DVD Beladi: A Night at the Pyramids showcases a lavish, romantic, entertaining and inclusive musical vision that bridges gaps and brings musical cultures together with love and celebration. On July 3rd, Chantal will re-create this historic concert in Dearborn.
When many in the West are curious and apprehensive of Middle Eastern culture and society, Chantal — who recently received the Excellence in the Arts award from the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee — refuses to surrender to fears, stereotypes or negative portrayals. Instead, her music is a refreshing reminder that at its best, music has the power to bridge our differences and inspire listeners the world over. Chantal writes and performs a vibrant style of alluring, danceable pop music that has been a hit on dance floors and pop charts internationally including the song “You Want Me” which went to #4 on the UK Dance Charts. Said London’s Evening Standard, “Chantal mixes East and West to emerge as a strutting talent who exudes both breathy sensuality and vocal control worthy of Celine Dion.” The single “Feels Like Love” went Platinum in Canada.
On September 7, 2007, she became the first person ever granted permission by the Egyptian Ministry to perform and film a concert at the base of the Pyramids on the Giza Plateau in Egypt. The evening, documented on the 90-minute DVD Beladi: A Night at the Pyramids, found Chantal performing thousands of fans backed by the Cairo Symphony Orchestra. Her dancers included Canadians, traditional Egyptian “tanoura” dancers, and Ahmed Nabil, the principal dancer of the Cairo Opera House Ballet Company. Her collaborators for the show also included some of the top names in cutting-edge theater and musical entertainment: director Gerard Pullicino is responsible for shows by Beyonce, Celine Dion and Madonna, among others, while choreographer Genevieve Dorion-Coupal and set designer Guy St-Amour are veterans of Cirque du Soleil. (Dorion-Coupal choreographed the company’s Grammy-winning Beatles show Love, currently a sensation in Las Vegas.)
The concert is currently being broadcast on PBS stations nationwide; the DVD contains additional footage not included on the PBS broadcast, including a feature-length documentary, “The Journey,” with behind-the-scenes footage that follows the creation and staging of this extraordinary event.
Chantal’s studio album Beladi is a companion piece to the DVD, with studio recording of various songs she performed at the Pyramids. She wrote most of the songs herself, often collaborating with the noted Indian musician Subir Dev. Driving and danceable one moment, sensuous and alluring the next, her music speaks with passion and intelligence of an artistic vision that recognizes no boundaries as it draws from all of Chantal’s experiences and influences.