Original projects
“ exquisitely beautiful scene…soulfully played with great sincerity by Fairouz Foty, who is gifted with a rich soprano voice….delivers a powerhouse performance”(DC Theatre Scene – Goyescas).
original projects
“ exquisitely beautiful scene…soulfully played with great sincerity by Fairouz Foty, who is gifted with a rich soprano voice….delivers a powerhouse performance”
(DC Theatre Scene – Goyescas).
Projects
Projects
My parents first met on stage as my mother translated, to an American audience, the traditional songs my father sang and played on his oud, the Arabic lute. Through that union, merging elements from two sides of the world, their love was born and later so was I. I grew up in the fruits of that love with the transmission of not only emotional and physical love, but love of intercultural music beginning with the rich history of Arabic music. As a musician, I have always been fascinated with how accurately and intrinsically one’s culture can be expressed through music. As native Washingtonians, my siblings and I, also musicians, started to explore the fusion of diverse artistic genres present in our home of D.C. My passion for classical music suddenly took off In high school when I became fascinated with opera. Through my college years and graduate studies, I became fully immersed in the study of vocal technique, music theory, and acting.
I’ve been working diligently for 16 years mastering the legato fluidity and spontaneous expression of the voice, by using colors and subtext of the lyrics to depict the intention of the singing actor. Through my training, I have focused on the works of Giacomo Puccini, W.A. Mozart, Benjamin Britten, Giuseppe Verdi, Georges Bizet, Enrique Granados, Seymour Barab, Charles Gounod, among others.
Although I have focused on European composers, my training as an Arabic singer came full circle when I embarked on a new journey, the fusion of Arabic music and Opera. As a graduate student, I became very interested in how images of the Orient were depicted in the librettos and operatic scores that I was studying on a daily basis. The inaccuracies I witnessed in the portrayal of the Arab world inspired a quest to find the accurate and “true” expression of Arabic musical modes and culture in Opera. Of course “truth” is all subjective, but through my research a plethora of new music and interpretations opened up. My first stop was finding operatic elements in the 20th century artists and composers of the Arab world, namely Asmahan. The song Ya toyoor (Oh Birds) was my first attempt at fusing these elements, singing the song first in traditional Arabic style and then singing the cadenza-like section operatically. Through this journey I am now exploring many different Arabic operatic composers as well as studying the standard repertoire.
Quartertonez Music
Fairouz Foty is the Founder and Artistic Director of Quartertonez Music.
“I believe that performance practice combined with positive reinforcement allows students to express their utmost potential and push themselves beyond the horizon”