Old Cairo (Egyptian Arabic: Masr el Adīma) is a part of Cairo, Egypt, that contains the remnants of those cities which were capitals before Cairo, such as Fustat, as well as some other elements from the city's varied history. For example, it encompasses Coptic Cairo and its many old churches and ruins of Roman fortifications. Modern tourists visit locations such as the Coptic Museum, the Babylon Fortress, the Hanging Church and other Coptic churches, the Ben Ezra Synagogue and the Mosque of Amr ibn al-'As. Fort Babylon is a Roman fortress around which many of the Egyptian Christians' oldest churches were built.

Count Gabriel Habib Sakakini Pasha (1841–1923), who had become a household name in his time, built a palace and a church in the Sakakini area in 1897 and established the Roman Catholic Cemetery in Old Cairo.

During the latter half of the 15th century, two final major transformations took place in Cairo: the port of Bulaq, and a district called al-Azbakiyyah in the northwest section of the city. The perimeters of the city had been unchanged for the past 300 years according to the map done by the French expedition in 1798 A.D. With the Baybars’s conquest of Cyprus in 1428, Bulaq became the major port of Cairo. By the end of the 15th century, Bulaq was even able to take over the role as the major commercial port from misr al-Qadima (Old Cairo).

Cairo ( /ˈkaɪroʊ/ KYE-roh; Arabic: القاهرة‎ al-Qāhira, literally "The Vanquisher" or "The Conqueror"), is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Located near the Nile Delta, it was founded in the year 969 A.D. making it 1,043 years old. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life. Cairo was founded by the Fatimid dynasty in the 10th century AD.; but the land composing the present-day city was the site of national capitals whose remnants remain visible in parts of Old Cairo. Cairo is also associated with Ancient Egypt due to its proximity to the ancient cities of Memphis, Giza and Fustat which are nearby to the Great Sphinx and the pyramids of Giza.

Egyptians today often refer to Cairo as Maṣr (Arabic: مصر‎), the Arabic pronunciation of the name for Egypt itself, emphasizing the city's continued role in Egyptian influence. Cairo has the oldest and largest film and music industries in the Arab World, as well as the world's second-oldest institution of higher learning, al-Azhar University. Many international media, businesses, and organizations have regional headquarters in the city, and the Arab League has had its headquarters in Cairo for most of its existence.

Omar Khairat (Arabic: عمر خيرت; A composer, pianist, founder and conductor of "Omar Khairat's Group". Born in Cairo. He was raised in a family of musicians. His uncle is Abou-Bakr Khairat, the great Egyptian composer and architect who established the Cairo Conservatoire and enriched the Arab music with great symphonic pieces. Influenced by this legacy Omar Khairat discovered new musical dimensions in the emotions and memories of the Egyptian and Arab personality. He joined the Cairo Conservatoire in 1959, studied piano with Italian Maestro Vincenzo Carro and followed correspondence courses in music theory and composition with the Trinity College in England. Omar Khairat shaped his musical identity as a professional independent composer achieving new musical visions characterized with deepness and richness. His debut performing in film music was The Night of Arresting Fatma in 1983. According to music experts and critics, Omar Khairat's music bridges contemporary Arab music and Western music reflecting genuine maturity. Moreover, he is considered to be one of the most outstanding composers presenting successful works like The Fortune-teller, The Magic Perfumes (1989), and the Arab Rhapsody (1992). He also composed music for international events like the National Feast of Oman 1993, the Inauguration Ceremony of Bibliotheca Alexandrina 1996, Carthage Festival, Tunisia, Operetta El Sheikh Zaid, Emirates 2000, Panorama El Abour "Symphonic Poem", Musical Impact Cairo 1991, Fine Arts Cycle Spain 2004, October Celebrations 2000, Celebration of the Royal Jordan River Institution 2005, Garash Festival 2003, Three Civilizations Celebration in Spain, Celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of the Egyptian Cinema etc. Omar Khairat understands Arab emotions and music which helps him to attract a large audience from the whole Arab region. He regularly performed at the Cairo Opera House and all the Egyptian and Arab ceremonies during the last fifteen years. His repertoire of cinema includes more than fifty works: The Sixth Day, 1984, Am Ahmed Case, The Execution of a Dead Man, A Divorced Woman, The Servant, Elhanna Neighbors, The Terrorist, 1993, Hell under Water, Take Care of Your Mind, Grandchildren Conflict, Sokoot Hansawar, The Ostrich and the Peacock, 2001, Mafia 2002, Girl's Love, 2003, The Embassy in the Building, 2005, The Deer's Blood, 2006 and Mafish Gheir Keda, 2006. His works in television drama music are Ghawayesh, The Miser and Me, Abla Hekmat's Conscience, Moon Face, The Fox, Knight's Age, Escaping to Prison, Afandina's Daughter, Agent 1001, The Salt of the Earth, The Emperor, Matter of Principle, Law in Islam, In Bad and Good Times, Date with Destiny and others. Omar Khairat also rearranged works of the great composer Mohamed Abdel Wahab like Wahabiat 1 and 2 in addition to songs of Um Kulthoum which achieved great success. Omar Khairat received Arab and international awards like the Oman Award 1993, a Certificate of Merit and the Shield of the 7th Cairo International Song Festival 2001, the Emirate Ministry of Media Award 2004, the Royal Jordan River Institution Award 2005, Certificate of Merit and the Shield of the Alexandria International Song Festival 2006, Certificate of Merit and the Shield of the 30th Cairo International Film Festival 2006. And in 2008 he received the Middle East Music Award (MEMA)

Steve Tilston (born 26 March 1950)^{[citation needed]} is an English singer-songwriter.

Steve Tilston was born in Liverpool and raised in Leicestershire. Tilston was a graphic designer before taking up music in 1971, living in Bristol at the time, where he recorded his first album "An Acoustic Confusion". In the early eighties he ran a folk club with Bert Jansch in New Kings Road, London. 1982's "In For A Penny - In For A Pound" was a rock album, but he soon reverted to quieter music. In 1985 he toured with Ballet Rambert, playing in the on-stage band for 'Sergeant Early's Dream' (and again when the ballet toured England in 2000-2001) as a guitarist and mandolin player. In 1987 he formed his own record label, called "Run River". He was a member of John Renbourn's group "Ship of Fools" (1988), who released one eponymous album on his label. In 1990 he was a session musician on Peter Bellamy's album "Soldiers Three". By the 1990s he performed frequently with Maggie Boyle, his on-and-offstage partner at that time. His 1992 album "Of Moor and Mesa" got very positive reviews in the States. This contained his compositions "SlipJigs and Reels" and "Naked Highwayman", which were later recorded by Fairport Convention. In 1995 he formed Hubris Records. By 1999, he had separated from Maggie Boyle.

Rageh Samy Daoud (Arabic: راجح داود‎; b. Cairo, Egypt, November 23, 1954; first name also spelled Ragueh and last name also spelled Dawood) is an Egyptian composer of contemporary classical music. He is a member of that nation's third generation of such composers.

He is also a pianist and music professor (teaching at the Cairo Conservatoire), and has composed score for several Egyptian films. He began his studies at the Cairo Conservatoire at the age of nine, later studying composition there with Gamal Abdel-Rahim, graduating in 1977. He also studied piano at the Conservatoire with E. Puglisi.

He has composed for piano, voice, and orchestra, and has composed a number of film scores.

Daoud is married to Mona Ghoneim (b. 1955), who is also an Egyptian composer. His notable students include Mohamed Saad Basha.

Rageh Daoud was born in Cairo, November 1954. He began his musical education early, when he joined the Cairo Conservatoire at the age of nine, studying piano. Later he joined the class of Etore Puglisi at the higher stage. While continuing his piano studies with him, he also attended the composition class which the late Carnal Abdel-Rahim had founded in the Conservatoire, where he studied with him composition, the theory of traditional Arab modes and contemporary composition.