We have a rich Saudi musical heritage with artists whose fame has spread across the Arab world. We are talking about such well-known artists as Muhammad Abdu, the late Talal Madah and the more recent, Rashid Al-Majid, Abdullah Rashad and Aseel Abu Bakr to name but a few. These names may not mean much to non-Arabs but they are the local equivalents of Elvis Presley and Phil Collins.
Music is greatly appreciated by many Arabs. Here in the Kingdom, there are hundreds of shops selling music cassettes, videos and CDs. Shops also sell magazines and books dealing with music, singers, songwriters and composers. There are university courses and special subjects in Egypt and London teaching the history of music in the Arab world. Arab music can be traced back in history to Andalusia and Yemen. Its long history and heritage has made it very significant in the Arab world.
These Arab singers have traveled throughout the Arab world, America and Europe singing in concert halls and in such historical sites as the great Kartaj in Tunisia and Jerash in Jordan. The concerts are always packed with Arab fans — men, women and children. The summer concerts held here in Abha and Jeddah were a great success and audiences from all over the Kingdom have flocked to them. Unfortunately, they were only open to men.
It is understandable that concert halls in the Kingdom were not designed to accommodate men and women separately, but many women would appreciate the opportunity to attend such functions. After all, they go to amusement parks, fashion shows and charity functions that are exclusively for women. The concert halls could be partitioned so that women are seated at the rear of the concert hall with men at the front and thus there would be no mixing of the sexes. Women are simply asking for a chance to attend a concert, segregated from men, entering and leaving by a separate entrance, as they would at a wedding function. This of course could be regulated easily with a fully trained staff.
A Saudi couple mentioned their passion for music and said they often go to Kuwait and Dubai for concerts. They save throughout the year so they can afford to travel. They said if they could go to concerts here in the Kingdom they would not mind being separated since the quality of the experience would be the same.
An idea cannot become reality overnight, but with the proper organizational plans, it would be simpler to carry out than people assume.