Andre Ryder(1908-1971)

Andre Ryder was a well-known Greek-Egyptian composer during the 1950s and 1960s. During the 1940s, Ryder was one of the leading musicians performing in small ensembles in music halls. According to musician Munir Mourad, Ryder was a teacher at the Mario Zeno Institute in Alexandria and had helped him enroll there. Ryder began his film career with Egyptian-Greek films produced by Mellas and El-Nahhas in the early 1950s. His first work was the "A Pebble in the Lake" (1954), for which he composed the music and even appeared performing with his band in one of the scenes. His first contribution to Egyptian films was composing the title track for [title/tt0318478/]. He went on to compose and arrange film scores for nearly 70 Egyptian films.

Ryder was best known for his musical arrangements for Arab music legends such as Umm Kulthum, Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Farid El-Atrash, Abdel Halim Hafez and Fayzah Ahmad. He also participated in international festivals, including Barcelona (1969), Tokyo (1970), and Athens (1970-1971). Ryder composed and arranged Franco-Arab songs, the most famous being (Take Me Back to Cairo). He was awarded the Order of the Republic by President Gamal Abdel Nasser and became an Egyptian citizen in 1970.

He was a judo player who earned a black belt, became a recognized international referee, and held the position of Secretary of the Egyptian Judo Federation. He died in Chile while participating in Viña del Mar International Song Festival. Ryder's body arrived in Egypt on March 9, 1971, and his funeral was held at St. Constantine Church, attended by Egyptian Minister of Culture Badr El-Din Abu Ghazi, Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Umm Kulthum and others. During the Centennial Celebration of Egyptian Cinema in 1996, he was chosen as the best composer of film scores in the history of Egyptian cinema.