Marrakech – The Royal Theater of Rabat held its inaugural concert on Wednesday evening, marking the first live performance inside the Zaha Hadid-designed venue 16 years after its conception. At the center of the moment stood Brahim El Mazned, the newly appointed Deputy General and Artistic Director of the theater.
El Mazned told the media at the event that the Royal Theater represents “a symbol of architectural audacity and cultural ambition” carried by the vision of King Mohammed VI. He described the opening night as “a major milestone in the cultural development and influence of Rabat and Morocco.”
The theater houses a 1,800-seat main auditorium, an intimate secondary theater, and a 7,000-seat outdoor amphitheater. El Mazned noted that the inaugural show featured around 100 exclusively Moroccan artists performing classical works and national creations.
The concert brought together the Orchestre Philharmonique du Maroc and the Orchestre Symphonique Royal – 76 musicians and 40 choristers – under the baton of pianist and conductor Dina Bensaïd.
Pianist Marouan Benabdallah performed classical repertoire, while Mezzo-soprano Ahlima Mhamdi sang opera arias and Soprano Samira Kadiri performed Arabo-Andalusian heritage pieces. Meanwhile, composer Driss El Maloumi played oud in a contemporary creation with Moroccan accents. The program paired Tchaikovsky, Bizet, and Verdi with Andalusian themes.
Morocco is ‘resolutely turned toward the future and open to the world’
Princesses Lalla Khadija, Lalla Meryem, and Lalla Hasnaa attended alongside French First Lady Brigitte Macron. Princess Lalla Hasnaa serves as president of the Royal Theater Foundation, established in May 2025.
The opening night “embodies a Morocco faithful to its roots, valorizing its artistic heritage,” El Mazned said, adding it “affirms a country resolutely turned toward the future and open to the world.”
The late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid, the first woman to receive the Pritzker Prize in 2004, was personally selected by King Mohammed VI in 2010 to design the building. No competition was held.
The project carried an initial budget of €120 million, though the final cost reached approximately MAD 2 billion ($200 million). Hadid died in March 2016, and her firm, led by Patrik Schumacher, completed the work. The 27,000-square-meter structure was technically finished by 2021 but remained closed due to the pandemic and unfinished programming.
El Mazned’s appointment places a veteran cultural operator at the theater’s artistic core. Born in Essaouira in 1967, he has spent over 25 years in Morocco’s cultural sector. El Mazned has served as artistic director of the Timitar Festival of World Music in Agadir since 2004.
The festival, dedicated to Amazigh culture and world music, drew more than 380,000 spectators at its 17th edition in 2022.
In 2014, El Mazned founded Visa For Music in Rabat, the first professional music market for Africa and the Middle East. He also created MoMEx in 2016, an export office promoting Moroccan music internationally. He served as a member of the EU/UNESCO expert facility from 2019 to 2022, advising on cultural policy and creative industries.
El Mazned produced the anthology “Chioukhs et Cheikhates de l’Aïta,” which received the Académie Charles Cros Prize in 2017. A second anthology on the Rrways tradition earned another Charles Cros distinction in 2021. He founded the Anya cultural agency and the Atlas Azawan association, both focused on preserving Morocco’s intangible musical heritage.
