It resembles another of Al Nahyan Camp's nondescript homes, but the sense of occasion inside is grand. Slowly the seats inside the villa - the home of the Abu Dhabi branch of the global music school Bait Al Oud of Arabia - are filling and the VIPs start to arrive. Tonight the school will graduate its third student since it opened its doors in 2007.
But the celebratory mood among the crowd is undercut by nerves. Abu Dhabi's Faisal Al Saari, the would-be graduate, must pass his final music exam - an hour-long oud performance of 10 varied compositions - in front of a three-man specialist panel of oud composers and performers.
The performance hall is in what could be the villa's majlis. Those not able to find a seat in the main room are content sitting in the small reception area outside, watching the live proceedings on a projector screen.
Al Saari emerges from the dark side of the stage, his silhouette revealing a navy blue khandoura and hands clasping two ouds.
Mumbling a soft greeting to the crowd, he launches into his first piece, Sama'i Shat Araban by the classical Ottoman composer Tanburi Cemil Bey.
Hidden among the crowd is someone possibly even more nervous than Al Saari.
It is the modern day oud virtuoso and the school founder Naseer Shamma.
With arms tightly folded across his chest, Shamma's nerves are not only for his student. Both have a stake in the evening reaching a successful outcome.
For Al Saari, graduation from Bait Al Oud is his calling card to a global music career as a performer.
It is also a culmination of a journey spanning nearly four years that saw him entering the school as an intermediate student and graduating as a soloist.
For Shamma, it is another step in his quest to return the oud to its rightful place as what he deems "the soul of Arabic culture".
It was in 2007 that Shamma first met Al Saari. The Iraqi composer had just opened the school and Al Saari was one of the first students. What struck Shamma about his pupil was that his enthusiasm was not only limited to playing the oud. With a diploma in sound production from Abu Dhabi's Higher Colleges of Technology, Al Saari's interest extended to the physical production of the instrument itself.
"I had a sense of how serious he is about learning," Shamma recalls. "Every discussion we had would raise questions for him, and he would later research these points and write about them."
For Al Saari, enrolment in the school was a dream come true. It also saved him travel expenses as he had planned a trip to Egypt to track down the maestro in the school's Cairo campus.
"I was going to buy a ticket and just go there and see if I can find him," Al Saari says. "I thought if I can go and ask him about the different plucking methods he used than it would be a successful trip. Then I heard the school will come here and basically be down the road; I could not believe my luck."
But Al Saari's road to mastering the instrument began with a few broken strings. He remembers first becoming interested in the oud 15 years ago while living with his family in Sharjah. In his early twenties, Al Saari was contemplating a career in painting, but the oud's resonance struck a deeper chord. "It is really hard to explain," he says. "The first time I heard it I was surprised by how deep and flexible it sounded; I felt this thing could do anything and it had so many possibilities."
However Al Saari's conservative parents were not so impressed. Believing that music is a violation of Islamic teachings, they destroyed the first three ouds he brought home. Running out of options, Al Saari decided to take matters in his own hands. Returning home from an evening out, his parents found the family television missing.
"They asked me where the television is and I said I threw it out because the drama show they were watching had music in it. My mother said that she listened to the dialogue and not the music and I said that it was not my problem because you could still hear it," he laughs. "Later we agreed that I will return the television home if I could bring the oud home."
Al Saari shakes his head when recalling the story, amazed by his audacity. But it also hints at the steely determination that allowed him to seek out visiting oud teachers in an era where the instrument was viewed as a relic.
When Shamma brought his famed Bait al Oud to Abu Dhabi in 2007, Al Faisal was there with his enrolment papers on the first day.
For Shamma, opening Bait Al Oud in Abu Dhabi was a result of 20 years of performances in the UAE. He would return annually for a series of solo and festival shows playing his own material and desert classics. Shamma recalls how after each performance, audience members would approach him, expressing delight at being enchanted by an instrument they deemed quaint.
"They would speak about how they fell in love with it," he says. "This is very important because it is part of the culture of the Gulf. The Gulf even has its own style of playing in that it is very rhythmic and melodic. So when ADACH (Abu Dhabi Culture and Heritage) invited me to open the school here I immediately said yes."
Born in 1963 in the Southern Iraqi city of Al-Kut, Shamma studied at Baghdad's Institute of Music, specialising in the oud. He blames the oud's waning profile in the Arab world on the dearth of music institutions teaching the instrument. This was his primary reason for founding the first Bait al Oud school in Cairo in 1998. Mirroring his education at the Baghdad institute, he wanted the oud to be taught with rigour and with a focus on technique, composition and performance.
Bait al Oud courses run up to two years, with education streams ranging from beginners to the advanced soloist level. With all the schools' instructors hand-picked by Shamma, each student must commit to three half-hour classes per week, as well as group performance sessions and an additional six hours of home practice daily. The courses also includes music theory with a focus on the Turkish, Egyptian and Iraqi schools of oud composition, with each style having its own modes and focus on either ensemble or solo performance.
In between touring, Shamma visits each campus "every 30 or 45 days" for masterclasses and to give private tutorials for advanced students.
Shamma's methodical approach proved to be successful, with the school growing to include campuses in Alexandria, Algeria, Abu Dhabi and a new one in Madrid to be opened next month. The Abu Dhabi campus currently operates at full capacity with 80 students enrolled, some as young as six. This year the school is set to graduate up to 10 students, with monthly graduation ceremonies to be held at the villa until December.
Shamma expects his graduates to blaze their own path using the oud. "With their instruments they will be holding their culture," he says. "The best way one can speak about themselves is through their culture and by understanding the technique of the oud they will be able to do that."
As well as sharing Emirati culture with global audiences, Al Saari hopes the oud can also embrace some of the best music from the West. A fan of the 19th-century Austrian composer Franz Schubert, Al Saari says the oud can be a unique addition to western classical music.
Indeed, included in his exam performance is Nino Rota's The Godfather film score and Johann Sebastian Bach's Prelude in D Minor.
He introduces the latter as "possibly the first time it was ever played on the oud". The judges are impressed with the performance and Al Saari graduates with distinction. After the ceremony, Al Saari meets his beaming teacher as he emerges from the audience.
"You can relax now," Shamma says after their warm embrace.
Al Saari says he plans to follow Shamma's lead and go on the road immediately. But first, Al Saari agrees to one more request from Shamma.
He must return to school. This time, however, as a fellow teacher.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
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How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Expo details
Expo 2020 Dubai will be the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia
The world fair will run for six months from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.
It is expected to attract 25 million visits
Some 70 per cent visitors are projected to come from outside the UAE, the largest proportion of international visitors in the 167-year history of World Expos.
More than 30,000 volunteers are required for Expo 2020
The site covers a total of 4.38 sqkm, including a 2 sqkm gated area
It is located adjacent to Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai South
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
'Ghostbusters: From Beyond'
Director: Jason Reitman
Starring: Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace
Rating: 2/5
What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Mica
Director: Ismael Ferroukhi
Stars: Zakaria Inan, Sabrina Ouazani
3 stars
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Teaching your child to save
Pre-school (three - five years)
You can’t yet talk about investing or borrowing, but introduce a “classic” money bank and start putting gifts and allowances away. When the child wants a specific toy, have them save for it and help them track their progress.
Early childhood (six - eight years)
Replace the money bank with three jars labelled ‘saving’, ‘spending’ and ‘sharing’. Have the child divide their allowance into the three jars each week and explain their choices in splitting their pocket money. A guide could be 25 per cent saving, 50 per cent spending, 25 per cent for charity and gift-giving.
Middle childhood (nine - 11 years)
Open a bank savings account and help your child establish a budget and set a savings goal. Introduce the notion of ‘paying yourself first’ by putting away savings as soon as your allowance is paid.
Young teens (12 - 14 years)
Change your child’s allowance from weekly to monthly and help them pinpoint long-range goals such as a trip, so they can start longer-term saving and find new ways to increase their saving.
Teenage (15 - 18 years)
Discuss mutual expectations about university costs and identify what they can help fund and set goals. Don’t pay for everything, so they can experience the pride of contributing.
Young adulthood (19 - 22 years)
Discuss post-graduation plans and future life goals, quantify expenses such as first apartment, work wardrobe, holidays and help them continue to save towards these goals.
* JP Morgan Private Bank
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
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A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
Top Hundred overseas picks
London Spirit: Kieron Pollard, Riley Meredith
Welsh Fire: Adam Zampa, David Miller, Naseem Shah
Manchester Originals: Andre Russell, Wanindu Hasaranga, Sean Abbott
Northern Superchargers: Dwayne Bravo, Wahab Riaz
Oval Invincibles: Sunil Narine, Rilee Rossouw
Trent Rockets: Colin Munro
Birmingham Phoenix: Matthew Wade, Kane Richardson
Southern Brave: Quinton de Kock
