Sana Ahmed Nabil Ali al-Mursi has recently made her mark singing in the universities and cultural halls of Egypt. The 14-year-old has particularly impressed wherever she performs with her rendition of the songs of Umm Kulthum.
The relative unknown until now is at the same time a familiar name on the streets of Egypt : This makes more sense when you discover that she is a relative of the late Umm Kulthum - her great, great niece, to be precise!
Sana -- quite the precocious starlet -- discovered that she had inherited her ancestor’s talent for singing at the young age of seven.
She says: "I asked my father to let me go to the Palace of Culture in El Senbellawein or any other club in the city during the summer to fill my spare time. I joined the Palace of Culture, and there I began singing in the Palace Theatre.”
“People began to notice my voice, which they liked, and they asked me to join the Palace band which provides musical interludes at nationalist events in the province. Gradually, everyone began to pay attention to me and my voice, and their admiration for me grew, as I perform my grandmother's [sic] songs in her voice.”
“This is what made the manager of the Palace ask me to participate in a number of concerts in the theatres of the province, and of Egypt.”
Sana hopes to receive a fraction of the fame of her forebear Umm Kulthum, one of the most prolific Arab singers of the twentieth century, who gained international renown for her extraordinary vocal abilities.
She confesses, however, that she prefers modern singers Amr Diab and Asala, whose choice of melodies and lyrics she adores.
