A Night with Chantal at the Pyramids
It doesn't matter if you have never heard her name before-singer Chantal Chamandy's music has the power to cross cultural boundaries-and she's bringing it to PBS this spring.
"My songs bear a message and a mood that appeal to the collective soul," says Chantal. "I want the world to see the beauty that my music carries; a place with no borders."
When Chantal's television special, "Beladi: A Night at the Pyramids with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra," goes out over the PBS airwaves throughout March, audiences will get a rare opportunity to witness a sensation that many in Canada consider to be one of the greatest Arabic-language singers of all time. They also get the opportunity to be exposed to her unique way of musically combining the four roots she says keep her own world glued together-the Lebanese, Egyptian, Greek and indigenous roots.
Chantal's inimitable ability to use her music to fuse cultures into one makes her just the right singer to be granted permission to record an event for television at the pyramids. This special, shot this past year before an audience of over 5,000, came about, she explains, because her personal mission to convey a positive image of the Middle East drove her to get this image out to the American public-at-large.
"There's so much that we see on television that is harmful to our image," she says. "I wanted to produce something that would showcase the bridge I wanted to create between cultures."
Symbolic of the metaphorical bridge in her mission and music is the actual bridge constructed and placed on the Beladi set and used throughout the filming. "I knew I wanted a bridge. The bridge between Eastern and Western culture is vital to the special, to my life and the world that surrounds us. I had to have it. As soon as I came up with this idea, I knew exactly how the special should go from A to Z; sound, costumes, stage direction. I was determined to stay on course, and ultimately we accomplished what we set out to do: let people see Middle Eastern culture in a positive light."
However noble her mission, she agrees that luck is a key factor in any big picture success she rationalizes, "If anyone tells you that some kind of luck isn't central to making your dreams real, they are lying." She found some of the luck right at home.
Although she is the driving force on the creative side, she is the first to say that her manager and husband of 13 years, Greg Chamandy, is the behind-the-scenes key to her success. "Greg is where I make the leap from 'a dreamy artist' to the realm of making the dreams real," she explains. "He captured my vision of the special and turned my dreams into something tangible. From working with the Canadian Embassy to working with the Egyptian government, in all the business dealings, he was and is the star. Before him I often asked, 'When will I find someone who sees what I see?' He answered that immediately and helped me make some luck. He's the someone who takes the craziness away. He's the someone who shows me off and makes me shine. I can't go to record and television executives and say how great I am. He does that. I'm lucky to have this kind of relationship. He doesn't need to be in the right or the wrong. I can't accept where someone does 30 percent and the other 70 percent. It has to be 50-50."
Whatever the reason-luck, talent, timing, support at home-this singing star makes the best of a spectacular opportunity. Her performance with the pyramids and the Great Sphinx providing a stunning backdrop, showcases a night that full of love, pride and songs nurtured by time and history.
"A lot of difficulties and discrepancies are caused by mutual ignorance, and once you bridge those lines, people actually understand more. It's not only about, 'Oh, look how different the Middle East is,' but it's actually, 'Look at all the connections, all the way from Canada, all the way to the U.S., to Egypt and beyond,'" Chantal says. "There are things that bring the world together."
